Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39448 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-11-19
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

Customer Reviews

Slow start. Wild finish.
Leering butlers. Eyes in the window. Secret passageways. And yes...fog all around...A group of people are invited to a remote Florida island by the owner, Leo Grainger. He wants to punish the person responsible for murdering his wife. At the spooky mansion, with it's booby traps and hidden skeletons, the visitors are killed off one-by-one....A direct remake of 1941's "Horror Island", "Fog Island" is PRCs low-budget version of "10 Little Indians". Fans of horror-film stars George Zucco and Lionel Atwill will relish the over-the-top performances. Zucco and Atwill appeared together in only three films. Lionel Atwill was a Broadway star in the 1920's. Entering movies, he co-starred in Warners' 1935 "Captain Blood". But a messy personal scandal in 1942 left him employable by only Universal Pictures and lowly PRC. Lionel Atwill's climactic scenes in "Fog Island"'s watery finale are almost grisly. Just one year later, Atwill died of cancer and pneumonia while shooting the serial "Lost City of the Jungle". 1945's "Fog Island" also features Hollywood veteran Jerome Cowan. IMDB lists "Fog Island" at 1.37:1 aspect ratio 35mm. But this brand new DVD is closer to a 1.33:1 16mm source. Digital filtering has produced a generally crisp, clean transfer. But the source print contains blotches, clips, and a sub-par soundtrack. ("What did he say?") The DVD has 6 skimpy chapters and a catalog. Movie fans of Zucco and Atwill will take the boat-ride to murky "Fog Island". But for the rest, an enticing title brings very few shocks and frankly, litte interest.

Enjoy a most interesting night on Fog Island
Based on the play "Angel Island" by Bernadine Angus, Fog Island is an interesting but somewhat problematic suspense thriller from 1945. Leo Grainer (George Zucco) has retreated to the isolated confines of the aptly named Fog Island after being released from prison. As the movie begins, he is accompanied by his step-daughter Gail (played by the lovely Sharon Douglas), whose mother was murdered during Grainer's time in jail. Grainer blames five of his former partners and employees for framing him for embezzlement and then killing his wife in an attempt to find the loot they are sure Grainer has hidden somewhere. He now invites these individuals to the island, convinced they will come in hopes of finding the loot they still seek, but Grainer is not planning on showing his guests a delightful time. These guests include three men, his former secretary, and a female psychic; in place of one invitee is the deceased man's son who comes mainly to renew his acquaintance with Gail. Grainer provides each guest with a clue to what they suppose to be the loot, and a night of sneaking around, mutual spying, arguing, distrust, and malice ensues. I had trouble following the story at a few points; a great deal of the action takes place in the dark, and the print of the movie is so bad that I often had trouble seeing what was going on. I am happy to say that I was not let down by the ending, although things did not go quite the way I had expected. There is really nothing frightening here, but the movie does generate a decent level of suspense; your mind will be engaged throughout just trying to figure out what the heck is really going on. Lionel Atwill and George Zucco are familiar names to fans of classic horror of the 30s and 40s, and their contribution, combined with Sharon Douglas' obvious appeal, do much to make Fog Island an enjoyable viewing experience still today.

Atmpspheric standout
Ultra-low budget production company PRC managed to create real atmosphere thanks to decent sets and a uniformly excellent cast, toplined by Zucco and Atwill. Even the romantic leads are not wooden, as is so often the case. The storyline, although a bit over the top, none the less zips right along, holding one's interest until the darkly happy ending.