Was gifted this recently by someone who told me;"You will like it. Its got Dracula in it.". I think they meant to say Bela Lugosi is in it rather than a cross over appearence by the dastardly Romanian Vampire Count. And yes, he is and yes I did. Enjoy it, I mean to say.I find Charles Laughton an interesting human being who led a complex and difficult life combined with a mastery of his craft. I read a Elsa Lanchater book some time ago and she loved the boots of him. He embodied the characters he played, lending them screen presence and an intensity that seems decades beyond the years the work appeared on screen. He is playing Moreau in this screen adaption of the HG Wells book. The title of the movie is a bit more on the nose than the one Wells favoured but it works when you see the village of transformed creatures that inhabit the island. No longer animals but not quite men they are indeed lost. Laughton's Doctor Moreau goes full god like creator mode, enforcing animal morality with a bull whip. Like all gods he does not empathise with his creations, he just wants them to do what he believes is good for them. You will note I do not say "whats best for them." If you enjoyed the fantastic Lugosi movie White Zombie this is well worth a look. Sexual undertones permeate as Doctor Moreau cruelly exploits the Panther Woman on the poster, to satisfy Moreaus desire to control and tame the beast within all. The story is told through the eyes of a stranded sailor who offers us this "in" to the bizarre world of Doctor Moreau. He learns in the end that the beast will not be tamed.
That even a world full of sheep needs its wolves.
