Fog Island starts on the remote, ominously named Fog Island itself where Leo Grainger (George Zucco) & his stepdaughter Gail (Sharon Douglas) live together with Allerton (George Lloyd) the butler. But they are not alone for long as Dr. Lake (Ian Keith) an old acquittance of Leo's turns up & Leo has also sent out invitations to Alec Ritchfield (Lionel Atwill), Emiline Bronson (Jacqueline de Wit), John Kavanaugh (Jerome Cowan), Sylvia Jordan (Veda Ann Borg) & a final invitation to someone who recently died so his son Jeff Kingsley (John Whitney) takes his Father's place. All of Leo's intended guests are the people he believes are responsible for him doing five years in prison for a bad business deal & more importantly Leo believes one of them murdered his wife over said dodgy deal. As Leo figured out his invitations are accepted as the prospect of finding Leo's supposed hidden fortune gets the better of the greedy bunch of thieves. The scene is set then, an isolated island, a selection of dubious character's, lies, intrigue, hidden money, revenge & ultimately murder...
Produced & directed by Terry O. Morse I thought Fog Island was a fairly enjoyable mystery/thriller, it's not really a horror but it does have horror themes & overtones. The script by Pierre Gendron is based upon a play called 'Angel Island' by Bernadine Angus which I unfortunately have not had the pleasure of watching so I obviously cannot compare the two. The film starts off pretty good with a quick set up & a lot of very forced sounding exposition out of the way in a short amount of time & all the potential victims/killers are assembled on the island they are given a mysterious clue but then it takes a step backwards & slows down & from that point onwards it felt like every other shot was of someone walking in the dark & acting suspiciously. Things pick up again for the nice twist climax which I have to say I did see coming as a scene earlier in the film gives it away but it was still a good way to round things off & left me satisfied overall. At only just past the 70 odd minute mark it's short & it doesn't outstay it's welcome although it did feel padded at times with all the walking around in the dark doing nothing in particular.
Director Morse does what he can, the island itself doesn't play that much of a part except that it makes for a nice isolated location & the title Fog Island just sounds cool, it mostly takes place in a house. The atmosphere is good in which the creaky old house itself plays a big part. Don't expect a high body count or any violence.
Technically Fog Island is fine considering it was made over sixty years ago, the black and white cinematography works in the films favour with all the pitch black corridors & corners. The acting is OK at best, rather wooden & stiff at worst.
Fog Island is a decent little thriller from the 40's that is simple but entertaining. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.
Produced & directed by Terry O. Morse I thought Fog Island was a fairly enjoyable mystery/thriller, it's not really a horror but it does have horror themes & overtones. The script by Pierre Gendron is based upon a play called 'Angel Island' by Bernadine Angus which I unfortunately have not had the pleasure of watching so I obviously cannot compare the two. The film starts off pretty good with a quick set up & a lot of very forced sounding exposition out of the way in a short amount of time & all the potential victims/killers are assembled on the island they are given a mysterious clue but then it takes a step backwards & slows down & from that point onwards it felt like every other shot was of someone walking in the dark & acting suspiciously. Things pick up again for the nice twist climax which I have to say I did see coming as a scene earlier in the film gives it away but it was still a good way to round things off & left me satisfied overall. At only just past the 70 odd minute mark it's short & it doesn't outstay it's welcome although it did feel padded at times with all the walking around in the dark doing nothing in particular.
Director Morse does what he can, the island itself doesn't play that much of a part except that it makes for a nice isolated location & the title Fog Island just sounds cool, it mostly takes place in a house. The atmosphere is good in which the creaky old house itself plays a big part. Don't expect a high body count or any violence.
Technically Fog Island is fine considering it was made over sixty years ago, the black and white cinematography works in the films favour with all the pitch black corridors & corners. The acting is OK at best, rather wooden & stiff at worst.
Fog Island is a decent little thriller from the 40's that is simple but entertaining. Definitely worth a watch in my opinion.