Fog Island (1945)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A Disappointing Continuation

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The movie is OK. It's fun to see those murky horror film stars George Zucco and Lionel Atwill, lurking around a mansion built by pirates. Zucco has been in prison for five years and invites the people who caused his incarceration to join him for a party. You might think they would be hesitant to do so, but they all show up. They believe that there is some filthy lucre to get their hands on and, being bad to the bone, they feel they can find it. Zucco, however, has some surprises for them. It's a variation on The Haunting of Hell House. There is a romantic subplot that goes on and a little surprise at the end. Much of the acting is pretty bad, but I am a sucker for these old dark house things. There's fun to be had with a little suspension of disbelief and plain old people watching.

Fog Island is a rather creepy little chiller from B-movie specialists PRC.A man who lives in a creepy mansion with his step-daughter on a small island shrouded in fog invites some of his friends to stay. This mansion has hidden extras including secret passages and hidden doorways. The man also gives each of his "friends" strange little gifts including a skull, a key and a times table book. This man has a reason for all this though and strange things start happening...This movie is quite creepy and atmospheric even though a little slow moving at times.The cast includes horror B-movie regulars George Zucco (The Flying Serpent, Scared To Death) and Lionel Atwill (The Vampire Bat, House of Dracula).Fog Island is worth a look at. Not too bad.Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

First time of watching: entertaining low budget spooky house mystery with Zucco and Atwill at their eye-popping peaks. Terrible print - the negative must look transparent, so I would definitely recommend switching the lights off (or a cinema) for optimum viewing.It's a PRC stagey mix of And Then There Were None (in this case, Two) and The Cat And The Canary, with a few extra twists, but with only nine characters. The butler was a short-lived oddball however, quickly dispatched with gusto from the plot to the cynical amusement of Zucco. To my cynical amusement it's at that moment that Zucco is reminded that he "blew his top" when he was in prison - not hard to imagine!The male romantic lead was even more wooden, impetuous and prescient than the rest of the cast (Jerome Cowan was wasted yet again), but overall I enjoyed the film, nice atmosphere when the print allowed and an almost believable nasty-revenge storyline.

Nothing like an old, low-budget mystery. Leo Granger(George Zucco)has been released from prison after being framed for embezzlement by his once trusted associates. He decides to invite them to his hideaway haven on Fog Island intimating it is a chance to even the score for his stay in prison as well as the murder of his wife. In the name of justice due, he hopes his guests will accept the invitation in hopes of sharing in the embezzled funds. But instead he has devised a death-trap for those that ill advised and urged some of his past bad behavior. The fog lends to an atmosphere of mystery. Plus the fact that the guests don't exactly trust each other let alone their host causes a degree of suspense. The abrupt climax serves justice. Veteran villain Lionel Atwill leads the supporting cast of Jerome Cowan, Sharon Douglas, Veda Ann Borg and John Whitney.