- Director: George Waggner
- Writers: Maurice Tombragel, Victor McLeod
- Stars: Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Peggy Moran
- Runtime: 1 Hour
- Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/39ptlwW
Horror Island (1941) Review
Synopsis
We see a man with a peg leg, the captain, limping along the dock, shadowed by a mysterious figure. The captain is stopped by a policeman, and the captain asks where Bill Martin might be. The policeman tells him where to find Martin, and the captain moves on as the shadow continues to follow him in the darkness.
Martin and his friend, whose name is “Stuff”, are trying to come up with a get-rich-quick scheme. There’s a fight outside, and the two of them end up rescuing the captain. The captain says the phantom attacked him and stole half the treasure map. He was on his way to see Bill Martin, to offer him half the twenty million dollar treasure. Of course, Martin can’t refuse. The captain explains how he came into the map, and that the maps points to Morgan Island.
Martin’s cousin George shows up to let him know that he wants to buy Morgan’s Island and the castle that’s on it. Martin inherited it a few years ago, and George offers twenty thousand for it. Martin declines, starting to believe in the map. They take it to an expert, who says the map is a fake.
Still hoping to cash in on the fake map, Martin starts up a “Treasure Hunt Cruise” to charge tourists to go to the island and look for treasure. The two of them get into a traffic accident outside his office, and the woman driver, Wendy, is his first customer. Before long, he has a small group willing to pay to go to the island.
After narrowly avoiding an exploding package sent to stop him, they cast off and head to to Morgan’s Island. There’s some goofiness as they all explore the castle on the island. A suit of armor shoots an arrow at the captain. Rod and Arleen Grady have some kind of scheme going between them. As things progress, we see that the phantom is there as well, using the secret doors to cause mischief.
Wendy finds the Phantom in her room and screams. Martin keeps thinking Stuff has been doing all the “Phantom” appearances, but Stuff keeps denying it. Someone shoots Rod Grady, and they find a peg-leg footprint near the crime scene. The captain shows up and says he’s found the treasure chamber, and he needs their help. They find a single coin, but the shadow is watching the whole thing.
The suit of armor fires again and kills the Phantom. The captain says he’s Panama Pete, a competitor. They soon find Cousin George’s dead body as well. Not long afterwards, Martin puts everything together and figures out who’s behind all the killings. Will they all live happily ever after… or not?
Commentary
It’s got a lot of comedic bits, but it’s not exactly a full-on comedy. There’s action and mystery and a lot of horror movie tropes. It’s not terribly good, but it’s not especially bad either. It’s just a short, easygoing adventure story.