Most would consider a trip to a quiet, remote island relaxing, but horror movies are here to remind us once again that there is no truly safe place. From zombies to viruses, isolation from civilization rarely delivers. Here are 13 horror movies that take place almost entirely on remote islands.
1932 – Island of Lost Souls
This Erle C. Kenton-directed film is based on H. G. Wells‘ 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau, using a script by Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie. Revolving around a mad doctor who conducts horrific genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas. When a shipwrecked sailor becomes trapped there, he must learn to hide his disgust if he hopes to survive. Filmmakers have adapted Wells’s story countless times, making it a favorite in this sub-genre.
1932 – The Most Dangerous Game
Co-directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack, from a script by James Ashmore Creelman. This is based on the 1924 short story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, another well-loved tale. An insane hunter arranges for a ship to wreck on an island, where he hunts and kills each stranded passenger.
1941 – Horror Island
Directed by George Waggner, from a screenplay by Maurice Tombragel and Victor McLeod. This film is an adaptation of the short story Terror of the South Seas by Alex Gottlieb. A businessman who is down-on-his-luck, organizes a trip to Sir Henry Morgan’s Island. However, his planned treasure hunt soon goes awry when they encounter a mysterious phantom and murderer.
1941 – King of the Zombies
Jean Yarbrough directed King of the Zombies from a script by Edmond Kelso. It revolves around three stranded travelers who encounter an evil doctor collaborating with foreign spies. Things go from bad to worse when they learn he also controls some zombies.
1943 – I Walked with a Zombie
Directed by Jacques Tourneur, from a script by Curt Siodmak, Ardel Wray, and Inez Wallace. Like most of the entries so far, this is an adaptation but not a direct one. It partly reinterprets Charlotte BrontëIt’s 1847 novel, Jane Eyre. In I Walked with a Zombie, a sugar plantation owner on a Caribbean island hires a nurse to care for his wife. Of course, since this is a horror movie, all is not what it seems.
1945 – Fog Island
This Terry O. Morse, diected film is an adaptation of Bernadine Angus’ play Angel Island, from a script by Pierre Gendron. Following his release from jail, a scorned investor invites several former business associates to a holiday at his island home. Of course, he hasn’t let bygones be bygones, and intends to have his revenge.
1945 – Isle of the Dead
Directed by Mark Robson, from a script by Ardel Wray. Isle of the Dead takes place on a small island in Greece. A general decides to go to the island to see his wife’s grave while on leave from the 1912 Balkan War. A plague soon breaks out, forcing him to stay once a quarantine is declared.
1959 – The Killer Shrews
Directed by Ray Kellogg, from a script by Jay Simms. During a hurricane, giant voracious shrews terrorize a small group of people on a small island. The “shrews” are a mix of hand puppets and dogs in costumes, and yes, it looks as convincing as it sounds.
1960 – Body in the Web aka Horrors of Spider Island
Directed by Fritz Böttger, from a script he co-wrote with Eldon Howard and Albert G. Miller. This film follows the survivors of a plane crash stranded on a remote desert island where venomous spiders bite humans and transform them into arachnids.
1961 – Bloodlust!
Another adaptation of Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game, this time written and directed by Ralph Brooke. The film follows a crazed hunter who kidnaps people and turns them loose on his private estate. He then hunts them for sport.
1963 – Attack of the Mushroom People
Directed by Ishirō Honda, from a script by Takeshi Kimura, Shin’ichi Hoshi, and Masami Fukushima. This is an adaptation of the 1907 short story The Voice in the Night, by William Hope Hodgson. When a ship crashes on a desert island, the survivors must eat the strange mushrooms they find to survive. The only problem is the mushrooms transform them into zombie-like fungus creatures.
1963 – The Birds
This feature-length adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s 1952 short story The Birds is directed by Alfred Hitchcock, from a script by Evan Hunter. It centers around a wealthy San Francisco socialite who follows a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town. A town that is slowly being taken over by birds hell-bent on attacking people.
1964 – The Flesh Eaters
This last entry is directed by Jack Curtis from a script by Arnold Drake. It tells the story of a group of young adults trapped on a desert island. All chance of escape vanishes when they find out the water is inhabited by a violent form of flesh-eating organisms.
These were 13 horror films that show isolated islands aren’t the picturesque vacation many think they are. Not only are there possible horrors like zombies, and illness, but bloodthirsty wild animals may await. But even if you can escape them, you’d still have to contend with the open ocean, which may or may not contain its own terrible threats, beyond just being notoriously big and salty.
The upcoming film adaptation of Nick Cutter’s 2014 novel The Troop will be the latest addition to this subgenre. Cutter’s novel tells the story of a small troop of Boy Scouts camping out on a remote island. Everything is going well until a seriously ill man brings his boat ashore. It isn’t long before his sickness spreads to each human on the island. Those who manage to avoid the infection, well, they not only have to find a way off the island, but also have to dodge a homicidal troop mate.
Join us for part 2 of this list, where we’ll share even more post 1964 horror films about remote islands.
