Thursday 12 May 2011

Damn You, Science


'Island Of Terror'. What a great title. & another no nonsense sci fi horror from Terence Fisher. Pretty inventive, it features man made monsters in the form of 'Silicates', tentacled mineral creatures that absorb their victims bones using a calcium dissolving enzyme. Blimey, how scientic was that last sentence? Ironically, the killer Silicates are an unfortunate byproduct of an experimental process to cure cancer.

Tightly scripted and filmed, 'IOT' has memorable monsters (seemingly filled with spaghetti), a taut jawed performance from Peter Cushing and a nice / nasty little twist at the end.

1 comment:

  1. Island of Terror is a ridiculous title; not just for a film, but for anything at all.

    But seriously, this film is just pure class. Scared me silly as a boy the first time I saw the hideous corpses left behind by the Silicates
    ( http://www.picamatic.com/show/2009/02/11/09/14/2112216_720x405.jpg ),and I usually re-watch this one every year. The tension in the village hall as the bewildered islanders huddle for safety oozes from the screen like irradiated pasta in calcium sauce.

    I'm told that Cushing cut his arm off for real, after he became totally absorbed in the story.

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