The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977 film)
A scientist converts animals into humans on a remote island.
The Island of Dr. Moreau is a 1977 American science fiction horror film directed by Don Taylor. It marks the second English-language movie adaptation of H. G. Wells' 1896 novel, following *Island of Lost Souls* from 1932. The cast includes Burt Lancaster, Michael York, Nigel Davenport, Barbara Carrera, and Richard Basehart. The story centers on a scientist trying to turn animals into humans. John Chambers created the makeup for the "Humanimals" characters.
In 1911, after the ship *Lady Vain* sinks, three men drift in a lifeboat across the Pacific. One dies at sea. After seventeen days, the two survivors reach an island, where one is killed by animals. The last survivor, a ship's officer named Braddock, is cared for in the compound of Dr. Moreau. Also living there are Moreau’s associate Montgomery, a mute servant named M'Ling, and a young woman named Maria. Moreau warns Braddock to stay inside the compound at night.
Moreau treats Braddock as a guest and lets him use his library. Braddock soon sees Moreau and Montgomery handling a chained, non-human creature. The island holds many such hybrids—products of Moreau’s experiments using blood transfusions and surgical alteration to perfect life. These hybrids sometimes revert to animal instincts, which enrages Moreau; Braddock watches him whip a Bear-Man for this. That night, Maria finds Braddock in her room, and they sleep together, unaware that Moreau is watching.
The next day, Braddock takes a rifle and leaves the compound to observe the hybrids. In a cave, he meets several of them. An Ape-Man called the Sayer of the Law recites three rules: no walking on all fours, no eating human flesh, and no killing. A Tiger-Man attacks Braddock but is captured by Montgomery. Moreau drags the Tiger-Man to his lab—called "the House of Pain" by the beasts—as punishment.
Braddock objects to Moreau’s cruelty. Moreau argues that compassion is weakness, that humans are superior to animals, and that eating flesh would make the beasts revert and attack people. He operates on the Tiger-Man to make it more human. A Bull-Man rebels, believing it is better to be an animal, and kills a tiger. Moreau leads a hunt. Braddock finds the Bull-Man injured in the jungle; it begs to be killed rather than returned to the lab. Braddock shoots it, angering the hybrids because he broke the law against killing.
Braddock plans to leave the island
- Release Year
- 1977
- Director
- Don Taylor
- Starring
- Burt Lancaster, Michael York, Nigel Davenport, Barbara Carrera, Richard Basehart
- Genre
- Science fiction horror
- Budget
- $7.265 million
- Filming Location
- Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands
- Makeup Artist
- John Chambers
Lore & Background
The fifteen actors featured as human-animal hybrids required a team of 12 makeup artists who needed four hours to apply cosmetics and one hour to remove them. The 26 animals featured were given affection training by Toni and Ralph Helfer at the Africa U.S.A. facility in Buena Park, California, then shipped from Miami to Saint Croix. Barbara Carrera's character Maria was created for the film as the combination of the characters Lota and Ruth Thomas from the first film adaptation. Carrera claims there were three or four different endings imagined, including one in which her character gave birth to a kitten, which actor Michael York flatly refused to do; director Taylor said he did not take it seriously and the footage was never shot.
Reader's Guide
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) holds a 52% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews, with the consensus that it takes a reasonably entertaining pass at adapting its classic source material, though key scenes are let down by struggles with special effects. The film is notable for being the second English-language adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel, and for its makeup effects by John Chambers. A comic-book adaptation was released by Marvel Comics the same year, written by Doug Moench and illustrated by Larry Hama, with a slightly less happy ending than the film. The film's legacy includes being part of a cycle of H. G. Wells adaptations by American International Pictures, and its production history contrasts with the notorious 1996 adaptation starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer, which was the least commercially and critically successful of the three adaptations.
Did You Know?
- The film was shot on Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands after the island's Chamber of Commerce and Governor Cyril E. King lobbied producer Sandy Howard.
- Burt Lancaster has been described as perfectly matching H. G. Wells' description of Moreau's physical appearance, unlike Charles Laughton or Marlon Brando.
- Barbara Carrera's character Maria was created for the film as a combination of two characters from the 1932 adaptation Island of Lost Souls.
- A planned ending in which Carrera's character gave birth to a kitten was never filmed because Michael York refused and director Don Taylor did not take it seriously.
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