by Everett Jensen

Created on: April 06, 2010

Isle of the Dead

directed by Mark Robson

written by Ardel Wray

starring Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helen Thimig, Alan Napier, Jason Robards, Ernst Deutsch, Skelton Knaggs

Based on the late nineteenth century painting of the same name by Swiss symbolist painter  Arnold Böcklin and produced by RKO mastermind Val Lewton, this film explores the legend of the Vorvolakas, a modern Greek demon that has been said to spread a plague like disease wherever it travels.  It is set in Greece during the 1912 Balkan War and immediately sets up a scene where loyalty, trustworthiness and duty are exemplified as pure virtues that are here betrayed with dire consequences.

Gen. Nikolas Pherides (Karloff) has an exceedingly strict and exacting demeanor and as the film opens he is faced with a General who has failed in his duty.  There are no words as Pherides pushes a revolver over to the unfortunate man and we see him leave and then a shot.  Life in these times adheres to a fundamental order and any breaches are met with harshness and immediacy. Immediately we understand the difficult situation Pherides is in as a routine.  His men are dying and he must have the best leaders on the field to ensure the fewest amount of casualties.   He is met by a reporter named Oliver Davis (Cramer) who wants to see the cemetery on a nearby island.  Pherides happens to have made plans to visit the grave of his wife that same night and they travel by boat there together.
Long time Lewton director Mark Robson creates a landscape where anything is possible and one must always remain on guard lest something ghastly creep out of the shadows and wreak a nasty havoc.  The threat of the Vorvolakas is decidedly real throughout and Robson uses expert pacing and an effective score by Leigh Harline to create a genuinely disturbing story that never lets up.  This is a film that deserves to be studied by budding film makers as it is a veritable treasure trove on how to create mood by slowly building up the horror until it reaches a crescendo and the audience is left gasping yet entirely relieved.

Once on the island Pherides learns that his wife’s crypt has been opened and the body removed.  They hear a woman singing and follow her voice where they happen across a group of people who are dining together.  Introductions are made and everyone retires for the evening.  During the night a tinsmith named Andrew

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