If I have one problem with Island of Doomed Men, it's the complete lack of logic on display. Here's the storyline from the movie's main page on IMDb: "Sadistic Stephen Danel owns a penal island, and when he is not humiliating and mistreating his wife, he is torturing his convict prisoners and using them for slave labor. Government agent Mark Sheldon is sent to infiltrate the island and bring Danel to justice." There are a couple of glaring inaccuracies in this quote that go to my argument about a lack of logic.
First, Stephen Danel is not torturing "convict prisoners". Instead, he is torturing parolees. Parolees would undoubtedly be missed. How Danel gets away with his operation without someone becoming wise to what he's doing defies all logic. Like I said, these are parolees. Some would presumably have families that would be outraged if their loved ones just disappeared after being paroled. Also, I'd think the U.S. prison system would do a better job of monitoring parolees. Sure, a few might fall through the cracks, but not the dozens Danel has gone through over the years.
Second, Sheldon's plan to bring down Danel is so convoluted and illogical that it will make your head hurt if you think about it long enough. The quote makes it sound as if the Justice Department (or some other government agency) sent him to the island on a mission. Not true. Instead, to get to the island, Sheldon allowed himself to be convicted of a murder he didn't commit, serve a whole year in jail, and have himself conveniently paroled into Danel's custody. What a ridiculous plan! Sheldon's predecessor appeared to have enough information on Danel to justify a search warrant. When Sheldon was arrested, why not come forward with that information instead of going through the ridiculous steps he took to get to Danel? Utterly illogical.
If it weren't for Peter Lorre's performance, some decent tension in the film's finale, and Rochelle Hudson, I'd easily rate this one much lower.
First, Stephen Danel is not torturing "convict prisoners". Instead, he is torturing parolees. Parolees would undoubtedly be missed. How Danel gets away with his operation without someone becoming wise to what he's doing defies all logic. Like I said, these are parolees. Some would presumably have families that would be outraged if their loved ones just disappeared after being paroled. Also, I'd think the U.S. prison system would do a better job of monitoring parolees. Sure, a few might fall through the cracks, but not the dozens Danel has gone through over the years.
Second, Sheldon's plan to bring down Danel is so convoluted and illogical that it will make your head hurt if you think about it long enough. The quote makes it sound as if the Justice Department (or some other government agency) sent him to the island on a mission. Not true. Instead, to get to the island, Sheldon allowed himself to be convicted of a murder he didn't commit, serve a whole year in jail, and have himself conveniently paroled into Danel's custody. What a ridiculous plan! Sheldon's predecessor appeared to have enough information on Danel to justify a search warrant. When Sheldon was arrested, why not come forward with that information instead of going through the ridiculous steps he took to get to Danel? Utterly illogical.
If it weren't for Peter Lorre's performance, some decent tension in the film's finale, and Rochelle Hudson, I'd easily rate this one much lower.