Island of Terror

"How could they stop the devouring death...that lived by sucking on living human bones!"

1966 1h 29m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 117

HorrorScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When a small island community becomes overrun with creeping, blobbish, tentacled monsters that liquefy and digest the bones from living creatures, the community struggles to fight back.

“How could they stop the devouring death...that lived by sucking on living human bones!”

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Cast

Peter Cushing
Dr. Brian Stanley
Edward Judd
Dr. David West
Carole Gray
Toni Merrill
Eddie Byrne
Dr. Reginald Landers
Sam Kydd
Constable John Harris
Niall MacGinnis
Mr. Roger Campbell
James Caffrey
Peter Argyle
Liam Gaffney
Ian Bellows

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Terence Fisher
Writers: Al Ramsen, Edward Mann
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

60 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Terence Fisher, shot by Reginald H. Wyer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Malcolm Lockyer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Thelma Connell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Peter Cushing and Edward Judd and Carole Gray carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Terence Fisher directs. Reginald H. Wyer behind the camera. Malcolm Lockyer scores. Thelma Connell cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
260 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Terence Fisher, shot by Reginald H. Wyer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Malcolm Lockyer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Thelma Connell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Peter Cushing and Edward Judd and Carole Gray carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "How could they stop the devouring death...that lived by sucking on living human bones!".
10IMDB entry: tt0060548 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Reginald H. Wyer
Original score: Malcolm Lockyer
Editing: Thelma Connell
Costume design: Rosemary Burrows
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Island of Terror (1966)

Also by

Terence Fisher

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2016-04-25
★ 6/10
Day of the Silicates! The island of the title is under threat from silicate creatures who were born out of experiments to cure cancer. The creatures feed off of bones, animal or human, so this tiny island community is in grave danger. It's as bonkers as it sounds, a sci-fi horror of such ridiculous notions, it can't fail to entertain genre loving fans. Terence Fisher directs and Peter Cushing stars, in what was a break from Hammer Films for the both of them. The creatures are rubbery blobs with one deadly tentacle weaving their deadly damage, they also bleed noodle soup. They move at a snails pace, which makes you wonder why the humans holed up in one Rio Bravo type situation, actually don't just out-run the damn beasties. But wait! These things can somehow climb up buildings and trees, the scientific possibility is really too nutty to comprehend! But it's so much fun, and there's Cushing (was he ever bad in anything?) holding court whilst others around him act at a level befitting the material. It's no hidden gem or anything, but if you like the likes of Day of the Triffids and The Monster That Challenged the World, then this should punch your joy joy genre buttons. 6.5/10
Wuchak2020-04-06
★ 5/10
Peter Cushing is stuck on an Island of Dull Cancer experiments on a remote island off the coast of Ireland have unleashed something that is turning people into lifeless, boneless masses of flesh. “Island of Terror” (1966) was made by the same short-lived company that released the similar “Island of the Burning Damned” a year later (also known as “Night of the Big Heat”), both featuring Peter Cushing and directed by Terence Fisher. It walks the balance beam between sci-fi and horror and should be appreciated by fans of Cushing, Hammer, Amicus, Tigon and American International. Unfortunately, unlike that sister film, it lacks much human interest and the creatures are shown too early and too much in the light of day. I suppose it doesn’t help that Carole Gray isn’t on the level of Jane Merrow in the feminine department, but she’s a’right. Still, if you must see every Cushing flick, this one starts with a compelling first act and is solid mid-60’s Brit sci-fi/horror. It just gets dull by the second half. The film runs about 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Pinewood Studios, England, and other points nearby in Buckinghamshire. GRADE: C/C-
CinemaSerf2023-03-26
★ 6/10
It has something of "Day of the Triffids" (1963) to it this, as Peter Cushing ("Dr. Stanley") is drafted onto a remote island to investigate some mysterious deaths. Bodies have been de-ossified and this presents quite a puzzle to himself and to his fellow scientists "David" (Edward Judd) and "Landers" (Eddie Byrne) until they stumble upon some rather dangerous woodlice-looking creatures with long spiny necks wandering in the woods. Might they be the cause, and if so what to do now? It's a pretty run of the mill sci-fi horror film this. It tries to beef up the plot by using a decent cast of familiar British actors to compensate for the very limited standard of the visual effects and the predictability of the denouement. It is annoyingly over-scored, which is a shame, and the dialogue is all pretty banal but Cushing delivers all that is required of him and I still quite enjoyed it.