I Watch Films: The Island Of Dr Moreau (1977)

 

The Island Of Dr Moreau (1977)

It’s 1911 and the survivors of the wreck of the Lady Vain wash ashore on a remote Pacific Island. One of them is killed by animals, the last, Braddock, the engineer, is found by the inhabitants. He’s nursed back to health by Dr Moreau. Also in the compound are the hard-bitten Montgomery, the young and beautiful Maria and the mute servant M’Ling.

Moreau treats him an honoured guest. Slowly Braddock discovers what’s going on here; Moreau has been injecting animals with human genetic material to make them animal-man hybrids. When they revert to animal behaviour he punishes them to try and reinforce the human side. They, it turns out, live in a cave outside the compound where Montgomery and Moreau enforce their laws on them.

The law-sayer, an ape-man, explains the three laws, no going on all fours, no eating human flesh, no taking of other life. A lion-man attacks Braddock; he’s punished and then given further treatment. Moreau tells Braddock that eating flesh would make them revert. However a bull-man decides to break the laws, and kills a tiger. Hunted by Moreau he begs Braddock to kill him rather than endure the laboratory treatments, and Braddock does. The other hybrids are angry as Braddock has broken the law of killing.

Braddock, disgusted by the experiments and oppression plans to leave the island with Maria, the two attracted to each other. Moreau snaps, and injects Braddock with animal genetic material in an attempt to find out what it’s like. Montgomery objects and Moreau shoots him. Braddock resists turning into an animal.

Inevitably things go wrong, what is the line between savagery and civilisation, is the real monster Moreau or the hybrids etc. This is all competent if a little slow, in part because I’ve read the H G Wells story this is based on so the reveals are not especially surprising or shocking. The tacked on romance with Maria is fairly tepid as well. The beast-men are pretty good though the longer they appear the less interesting they seem.

Watch This: Strong adaption of classic novel with still some things to say about man, beast and science
Don’t Watch This: Takes ages to have a scientists unethical creations turn on him
For An Alternative View: A review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's The Daughter Of Dr Moreau