#island of doctor moreau

[halloweenhundreds]

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau collects all the horror stories you’ve heard about making this flick or any famous disaster or fraught genre picture into one place. Even this movie is so weird, like Thewlis never comes up at all…a bananas chapter from start to stop.

#halloween hundred #halloween hundreds #halloween #horror movies #halloween movie #horror film #monster movies #horror #monsters #horror documentary #lost soul #island of dr moreau #island of doctor moreau #lost soul documentary #lost soul: the doomed journey of richard stanley’s island of dr. moreau

[pandoramsbox]

Sci-Fi Saturday: Island of Lost Souls

Week 9:

Film(s): Island of Lost Souls (Dir. Erle C. Kenton, 1932, USA)

Viewing Format: Blu-Ray: Criterion Edition

Date Watched: July 9, 2021

Rationale for Inclusion:

Since antiquity humans have been telling stories about humans becoming animals, animals becoming humans, and human-animal hybrids. As humans moved from superstition and religion into scientific methodology for understanding the world around them, it follows that this obsession would inspire science fiction narratives.

In 1896, author H.G. Wells combined contemporary discourses around Darwinian evolution, Galtonian eugenics, and the anti-vivisection movement with a shipwreck narrative and published The Island of Dr. Moreau. All subsequent science fiction narratives that have involved the creation of animal-human hybrids through surgery or other technological means derive at least some of their inspiration from this book.

The novel was adapted into a silent film twice (once in France, once in Germany) before a sound adaptation was produced in Hollywood by Paramount Studios, Island of Lost Souls (Dir. Erle C. Kenton, 1932, USA). As with Frankenstein (Dir. James Whale, 1931, USA) and Doctor X (Dir. Michael Curtiz, 1932, USA), this film is part of the cycle of Pre-Code horror films produced in the wake of the popularity of Dracula (Dir. Todd Browning, 1931, USA). It also marks the first time a work of H.G. Wells is featured on the survey, which at 9 weeks into this series seems late given that he's one of the authors competing for the title of "Father of Science Fiction."

Aside from its place in the overall scientific genre, Island of Lost Souls would have been worth including for no other reason than its dialogue inspiring Devo's 1978 album Q: Are We Not Men? We are Devo!. The Criterion collection disc release even includes an interview with band members Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh talking about how the film inspired them.

Reactions:

Whilst Doctor X was a horror film with science fiction aesthetics, Island of Lost Souls is more science fiction film with horror aesthetics. The beast-men makeup makes Moreau's creations indeed disquieting and monstrous. The uncredited work of Charles Gemora and Wally Westmore lacks the artistry of Jack Pierce, but is nevertheless quality for the era. Dr. Moreau's laboratory in the House of Pain is minimalist compared to the apparatuses seen in the laboratories of Doctors Xavier and Frankenstein, but he is operating further from concentrated civilizations on a South Seas island, and apparently doesn't require as showy equipment.

As an adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau it's fairly accurate in terms of core plot and themes. The accuracy diverges due to including a love interest for the protagonist, Edward Parker (Richard Arlen), in his worried, yet resilient fiancee Ruth Thomas (Leila Hyams) and the retooling of the novel's Half-Finished Puma-Woman into Lota, The Panther Woman (Kathleen Burke). As with adaptations of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Hollywood filmmakers felt compelled to include a sexy, dark woman and a pure, wholesome fiancee counterpoint in what had previously been a homosocial narrative of male psychology and interpersonal dynamics. Apparently, the male filmmakers found it necessary to insert a Madonna-whore complex where there was none, or more likely wanted a "whore" and felt obligated to include a "Madonna" for the sake of propriety, and/or to not alienate the female audience as they perceived it and the censors.

However, the male filmmakers were not just interested in adding sex in Island of Lost Souls, but amping up the original novel's violence. Scenes of abuse, torture and surgery without anesthesia directed at the beast-men were all carryovers from the source material, but the grisly fate of Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton) was unique to this adaptation. In The Island of Dr. Moreau the Half-Finished Puma-Woman and Moreau battle to the death. In Island of Lost Souls the beast-men rebel and get revenge on Moreau, dissecting him with his own surgical tools in the House of Pain.

To my partner and my 2020s eyes the dispatch of Moreau by his creations was shocking and horrific. We noted it was gruesome even by Pre-Code standards. Apparently to its contemporary audiences it went too far, and this scene, as well as others seen as too explicit, resulted in censored versions circulating or the film being outright banned in various countries. Other Pre-Code films, such as Frankenstein and King Kong (Dir. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933, USA), suffered similar fates, and like them Island of Lost Souls would not be in circulation in their original theatrical cuts until restorations were performed decades later.

Island of Lost Souls offers more than shock value and a Pre-Code case study, however. Karl Struss' moody cinematography and the emphasis on the characters as much as the narrative situation makes for an engaging film. Bela Lugosi's Sayer of the Law, with make-up like a budget Wolfman, may play more as camp these days, but he is absolutely committed to his character. Similarly, Laughton's impish Moreau steals every scene that he is in. For fans of monster or mad scientist movies it's a necessary watch.

#sci-fi saturdays #pre code #horror #island of doctor moreau

[bizarre-blorbo-bracket]

Round 1 poll 7: Fraszka from the 2004 Warsaw production of Cats! the musical vs Azazello from the 1996 adaptation of The Island Of Dr. Moreau

Propaganda under the cut:

Fraszka:

Okay, so in 2004 there was a production of Cats which is widely known as the first Non-Replica, which means it doesn't use the same costumes/choreo/theming as the West End and Broadway productions. Cats has a lot of nonreps, like a weird number of "what if they were cats.... in a circus" productions, and at least one "what if the cats were in a WWII bunker in London?" production. So Cats Warsaw is kinda set on a closed film studio, and kinda on a roof in Warsaw. And for some reason in this nonrep they had just loads of characters. Like 36 characters, and seven of them are original. That's where Fraszka comes in. She's a Warsaw exclusive kitten and she is the love of my life. She's so bubbly and excitable and lovely. She looks a little like a racoon. She's a random chorus character. She's inexplicably on the Wikipedia page for Cats. She's almost indistinguishable from Kocik Le Miau, an adult character. I had to recheck my reference guides for Warsaw to double check the Wikipedia pic is her. I have included her in a fic. I don't have a 100% rate of recognising her. I think I might be her 2nd biggest fan on all of Tumblr. I'm not sure if she sings any lines by herself. And I don't speak a word of Polish. Well that's a lie, I know several Cats themed words in Polish. The picture included is the one of her on Wikipedia.

Azazello:

Everyone except me hates that movie and Azazello used to be a Saint Bernard

#Azazello #island of doctor moreau #cats! #cats #Fraszka

[gosh-darn-sucking-vacuums]

Do y’all remember Spliced?

That show that was supposed to a modern adaptation of the Island of Doctor Moreau fOR CHILDREN?!

Like, who green-lit this? Who thought taking a horror novel about a vivisection and making it a goofy slice of life show for kids was a good idea?

I’m not against dark elements in kids media, I in fact am for it quite often, but this seems… out there.

#spliced #island of doctor Moreau #h g wells #adaptation #kid shows

[nicklloydnow]

#island of doctor moreau #hg wells #bill sienkiewicz #guillermo del toro #beehive books #books

[monstermaster13]

#Starlog #Island of Doctor Moreau

[barbaragenova]

THIS getting me a Best of the Net nomination will never stop filling me with absolute MIRTH. 

#short story #best of the net #mirth #come on now #more #I like it another #bureau of complaint #lolololol #island of doctor moreau #lost soul #Richard stanley

[weirdlookindog]

Lawrence Sterne Stevens - The Island of Doctor Moreau

(Famous Fantastic Mysteries - October 1946)

#lawrence sterne stevens #the island of doctor moreau #h. g. wells #famous fantastic mysteries #pulp art #horror art #fantasy art #story illustration #art #illustration

[kinsey3furry300]

Me, going into Guardians of the Galaxy 3: “Oh Boy, time for a fun space romp with my space palls! Rocket is my favorate, so I hope we get lots of laughs with him” Me, leaving Guardians of the Galaxy 3: Cold, wet, afraid, unsure if i’ll ever recover emotionaly.

#gotg #Guardians of the Galaxy #guardians of the galaxy 3 #oh my god the fucking spider-bunny #and i don't want to boast but i fucking called it in a fanfic #in a fanfic in like 2014 i called it we'd get some shit right out of island of doctor moreau #MCU #Rocket Raccoon #good to see we're keeping up that tradition of at least one film per generation emotionaly scaring all the kids who see it #also good to see we got body-horror James Gunn and not weirdly pervy James Gunn this time round

[nemeyuko]

This poll was inspired by @cutechallenger.

I appreciate reblogs for this post.

#poll #gothic literature #classic literature #jekyll and hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #frankenstein #mary shelly's frankenstein #frankenstein or the modern prometheus #herbert west reanimator #reanimator #lovecraft #the island of doctor moreau #the invisible man #twenty thousand leagues under the sea #the time machine

[thefugitivesaint]

Charles Burns, ''Esquire Magazine'', Jan. 2000 Source

#charles burns #american artists #esquire magazine #esquire #The Island of Doctor Moreau

[mrhyde-mrseek]

CLASSIC LIT MEN RANKED FROM LEAST TO MOST DATABLE (As Decided By A Lesbian)

•DRACULA - crusty old creep, absolutely horrid, ruined the lives of at least eight people, turned one of said people into a vampire and nearly turned another, Hollywood likes to ship him with Mina for reasons that I don’t understand because he ALMOST TURNED HER INTO A VAMPIRE THAT HER FRIENDS AND HUSBAND WOULD HAVE HAD TO KILL.

•DR. MOREAU - it’s been a hot minute since I last read the book, but the fact that he performs vivisections on wild animals to turn them into humans is fucked up on SO many levels.

•ERIK - murderer, stalker, would probably combust if shown any semblance of actual affection.

•CREATURE - made to be pretty but Victor fucked that up somehow, killed 3 people out of revenge, would also combust if shown any sort of real love.

•GRIFFIN - canonically buff & smart, but he’s also an egomaniac & self-admitted ass (there is textual evidence for that latter point) with a god complex who plotted a reign of terror so . . . maybe not the best choice.

•THE TELL-TALE HEART NARRATOR - yeah, he doesn’t need romance. He needs psychological help. Desperately. If murdering an old man because his glass eye creeped you out, hiding his body in the floor, then hallucinating his heart beating during a police interrogation isn’t a red flag, then I don’t know what is.

•JEKYLL/HYDE - on one hand, he’s a middle-aged chemist who represses every desire he has; on the other hand, he’s an Uncanny Valley-flavored criminal who beat a man to death with a cane, so you can’t really win with this one.

•ICHABOD CRANE - he’s not a bad person, and he is well-educated, he’s just less interested in an actual, committed romantic relationship and more interested in the money he’ll inherit from it.

•SHERLOCK HOLMES - he’s in the middle because I actually don’t think he’d make a bad boyfriend—he’d just be oblivious to the efforts of anyone who tried to make a move on him.

•VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN - like Griffin, he also has a god complex, but this twink somehow managed to make Robert Walton fall head-over-heels in love with him two seconds of seeing him freezing to death in the Arctic, so there has to be SOMETHING there.

•THE TIME TRAVELLER - he seems like a really sweet, passionate guy. He’d definitely ramble to you about his time machine. My only qualm is that we hardly see him interact with people (at least, people in this stage of evolution).

•JOHN WATSON - he’s kind, he’s supportive, he’s a badass, he’s canonically good-looking and charming (a feature that Holmes uses to their advantage multiple times in the stories), and he’s a doctor. He’s perfect.

#gothic literature #gothic lit #classic literature #classic lit #dracula #count dracula #the phantom of the opera #erik poto #the island of doctor moreau #dr moreau #the creature #adam frankenstein #frankenstein or the modern prometheus #frankenstein #the invisible man #griffin the invisible man #the tell tale heart #the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde #dr jekyll and mr hyde #dr jekyll #mr hyde #jekyll and hyde #the legend of sleepy hollow #ichabod crane #sherlock holmes #acd sherlock holmes #acd watson #victor frankenstein #the time machine #the time traveller

[miseru346]

Forbidden Nights Intermission - R.E.D (Crossover, Jonathan X Dracula, Prendick X Montgomery, etc)

Meanwhile, the AO3 version has reached this far that Dracula cast finally properly appeared!

Summary:

Months passed as Jonathan's whereabouts became unknown as he had vanished off the face of the Earth. However, the Demeters' crash onto the shore of Whitby clued in the Noble's Isle group that everything is not as it seems. What other events will be changed from this moment onward? Qill it be for the better or worst? And who will be responsible for it?

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50036800/chapters/126341086

Hope you enjoy it!

#dracula #jonathan harker #john seward #mina harker #arthur holmwood #edward prendick #montgomery #island of doctor moreau #jack seward #lucy westenra #dr moreau #moreauxvan helsing #count dracula #dracula daily #dracula novel #mention of R.M Renfield #quincey morris #jonathan x dracula #prendickxmontgomery #jonathan x arthur #arthur x jack x quincey #arthur x lucy

[incorrectclandestinelaboratories]

Moreau: "Anything is legal if I'm the only one here to make the laws!"

#incorrect mad scientist quotes #mad scientist #incorect quote #incorrect quotes #incorrectclandestinelaboratories #dr moreau #the island of dr moreau #the island of doctor moreau #moreau

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Frantisek Markov

Domain: Markovia Domain Formation:  698 BC Power Level: 💀💀⚫⚫⚫ Sources: Neither Man nor Beast (2e); Ravenloft Third Edition; Domains of Dread (2e); Realms of Terror (2e); Gazetteer II (3e), Fair Barovia Dungeon Magazine #207

Franktisek Markov is the Darklord of Markovia, a heavily forested island with the scatterings of a few small, abandoned villages reclaimed by nature; “Fran’s” manor; and the aptly named Monastery of Lost Souls. 

Franktisek grew up on a small pig farm outside of the village of Vallaki in Barovia. This was after von Zarovich became a vampire and started all this nonsense with these Misty prisons. He married Ludmilla, a young woman from Vallaki and opened a butcher shop there. Franktisek enjoyed the act of slaughtering his pigs, though the act itself was not enough for him and in time he began to experiment on the animals. He performed amputations, skin grafts, glandular injections and became fascinated with the results. I’m not sure where he learned the art of surgery…it is not as if Barovia is known for its education system nor pig farmers for their collection of books. I digress, when his wife discovered his grim experiments, she threatened to leave him and inform the villagers of what he was doing.

Overreacting to this threat, Markov made Ludmilla his next experiment and performed numerous surgeries on her over the course of three days. She died on the third day, her body now resembled an animal more than a person. However, once the villagers realized the truth, they chased Markov into the Mists and Markovia formed.

The Markov Manor was eventually claimed by Thaani refugees from Bluetspur and the echoes of Markov’s past deeds upon Ludmilla had some…well, let’s just say interesting effects on the Thaani. 

Before the Grand Conjunction, Markovia lay where the Shadow Rift now lies. Now Markovia has been transformed into an island west of the township of Ludendorf in Lamorida on the Sea of Sorrows. This transformation of Markovia is quite suitable for our transformed Darklord. Once a man, Franktisek is now a beast with the face of a man, forever searching for his lost humanity.

Franktisek continues his experiments on Markovia. Capturing various species of animals and transforming them into beasts with human-like features. Every attempt he sees as a failure as they have not sufficiently shed their animal side. These “Broken Ones” roam the island and worship Franktisek as a god, referring to him as “the god who walks among us”. Though I believe the Vistani have a better name for him: “Master of Pain”.

Any humanoid that finds themselves on Markovia will likely end up in Markov’s lab, where he transforms them into humanoids with beast-like features. He does not use any anesthesia, so these ‘surgeries’ of his are quite...memorable.

Markov can take on the form of any beast, though always retains his human head and face, which is as ridiculous and terrifying as it sounds. He tends to take the form of an ape, believing it makes him look more human. Perhaps there are no mirrors on the island so he can see how much that is not the case?

#ravenloft #azalin rex #darklordreviews #dnd #Frantisek Markov #Markovia #let's make the island of doctor moreau but worse

[rbluepie]

Several attempts for creating reference sheets

#I also generated some color palletes #That was the moment I realized how deep I am stuck with black #yeah... #anyways #frankenstein or the modern prometheus #the island of doctor moreau #the invisible man #strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde #oh yeah I missed Hyde here since he's not much different from Jekyll #frankenstein #victor frankenstein #dr moreau #dr griffin #how I wish they had full names #henry jekyll #jekyll and hyde #character reference sheet #character design #gothic literature #classic literature