In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I recently watched this film for the first time in about 35 years. It brought back some good memories, but mostly I was impressed with how much better the film was than I remembered.This was produced at the height of the UK/Euro Gothic thriller cycle that ran from 1957-71. To find a sci-fi film made during that period is quite something, especially when the premise is original and execution quite good.Filmed in color, the movie boasts excellent continuity, no small feat when you're filming out of doors at dusk with limited time constraints that a limited budget imposes. Unlike Hollywood films, which are produced in sun-scorched California under relentless full sun so that every shot seems to take place at high noon in a desert, this film makes the most of its overcast skies, chill air and mossy trees.Great cinematography, great cast, great script and great score. As long as you are not one of those perverse, alien life forms known as Millennials, you will probably enjoy this film. I did.

This is a hugely enjoyable sci-fi horror film from the not terribly well remembered Planet Film Productions. Wonderfully directed by the great Terence Fisher, it reminds me of the "Quatermass" serials and some of the best American sci-fi films of the 1950s. It concerns a scientist who accidentally created a new lifeform, called a silicate, from a silicon atom in his attempt to cure cancer. As well as being a cool sci-fi plot, it's a nice commentary on well-intentioned scientists creating something with a peaceful application only for it to be subverted. The film takes place on the fictional Petrie's Island off the east coast of my native Ireland. According to Wikipedia, the film had a budget of only £70,000. If that is true, it's a testament to Fisher's great skill as a director since the film looks fantastic.The always superb Peter Cushing and the underrated Edward Judd lead a strong cast of predominantly Irish actors including Cushing's "The Mummy" and "Star Wars" co-star Eddie Byrne, Niall MacGinnis, Sam Kydd, James Caffrey and Liam Gaffney. The film's only major female cast member is Carole Gray, who is excellent as Toni Merrill, the love interest of Judd's character David West. She had a short acting career, which encompassed a mere eight films and three TV appearances, which is a shame as she would have made a great Bond girl or Hammer leading lady. The film is very well written with a strong plot which respects the audience's intelligence. The characters all seem like real people. I always get a little nervous when Irish people are depicted in British or American films but I need not have worried as no one said "Top o' the mornin' to ya" and the characters did not look like 19th Century farmers or IRA members. It's actually quite an accurate portrayal of rural Ireland in the 1960s, though the British number plates, lack of signs in Irish and one or two other things belie the fact that it was shot in Britain. When it came to the sci-fi and horror elements, the major threat posed by the silicates is emphasised by their excellent design, which is better than the design of most creatures in contemporaneous American sci-fi shows, and the distinctive noise that they make. There are many frightening visuals, particularly the remains of the various victims of the silicates whose bones have been liquefied. The film bears some superficial similarities to the lacklustre 1967 film "Night of the Big Heat", which likewise was made by Planet Film, was directed by Fisher, featured Cushing and concerned a crisis which took place on a remote island. It would seem to me that they were trying to recreate the success of this film but they failed, I'm afraid, as that one was nowhere near as good. Incidentally, Cushing's character Brian Stanley shares his name with one of my local TDs, which is what we call our MPs in Ireland. Sadly though, he's no Peter Cushing.

Reclusive oncologist Dr. Lawrence Phillips is on the verge of curing cancer. He and his assistants have set up shop on the remote Petrie's Island, somewhere off the coast of Ireland, an island with no working phones, a weekly visit by a supply ship, and only one cop. Dr. Phillips' experiment is reaching a head, when, suddenly, something goes wrong. There is a flash of red light, and some breaking glass...That night, local farmer Ian Bellows is walking home through the woods when he hears a strange, electronic warbling noise coming from inside a cave. He decides to investigate...When Ian doesn't return home, his wife contacts Constable John Harris, who finds the waylaid farmer in the cave after searching the forest. But his corpse is in such a state that Harris rushes to get Dr. Reginald Landers, the island's doctor. An examination of Ian's corpse confirms Landers' worst fears; the dead man is completely boneless! At his wit's end, Landers heads to the mainland to see his old friend Dr. Brian Stanley in London. Unfortunately, although Stanley is Britain's foremost pathologist he has never heard of a disease that dissolves human bone.Undaunted, Stanley takes Landers in turn to see hotshot young osteopath Dr. David West, currently attempting to talk his way into the pants of Toni Merrill, a former patient. West is confounded by the tale of a boneless corpse, but agrees to return to Petrie's Island with the other two doctors. Toni, who has a rich father, offers the use of daddy's private helicopter with which to fly to the island, provided the three men let her tag along. Upon arrival however, Toni's father requires the chopper for some last-minute business. The pilot is forced to drop the four people off at the island and then fly away, leaving them effectively stranded until he can return.The doctors set immediately to work. They discover Ian was injected with a new enzyme that dissolves calcium phosphate, but can't figure out what produces it. The local clinic doesn't provide sophisticated enough equipment, so Landers suggests they go and see Dr. Phillips, as Phillips' laboratory, located in an old mansion in the woods, is better equipped. Upon arriving however, they discover that Phillips and his assistants are all just as dead as Ian Bellows... and just as boneless. Reasoning that whatever Phillips was mucking around with started all of this, West, Stanley and Landers gathers up the dead scientist's notes to study them.As soon as they've left, another farmer comes to complain to Constable Harris that one of his horses has been found dead and, shall we say, relieved of its skeleton. Harris hurries to the mansion, but misses the doctors. Doing a little exploring of his own, he is drawn to one room they didn't go into by a strange electronic warbling... only to be seized by the throat by a green tentacle!A minor cult classic of British horror that has sadly fallen through the cracks of time, 1966's Island of Terror is a movie that certainly deserves more fame than it's gotten over time (especially a proper American DVD release!) due to some stellar performances by a mostly unknown cast, headed by stalwart Peter Cushing, and also due to its frankly creepy central premise.

For starters, the title of this movie rocks. I couldn't think of a better name for a horror movie.The story tells about an island with a small village and a research lab. In the lab they try to find a cure for cancer, but something goes wrong (or else we wouldn't have a movie). Strange creatures are the result of the experiments and they break out of the lab and start killing people and animals. They suck the bones straight out of you, man what a NASTY way to go.I liked this movie a lot. From start to finish I was enjoying myself. The acting is good, with Peter Cushing as the charming Dr. Stanley. The effects are good enough, sometimes a little nasty. The creatures look really goofy though, but don't take the movie too seriously. Just watch and enjoy! Island of Terror is a nice horror movie. Certainly watchable for the fans.7 out of 10 stars.