3/5 Slow start. Wild finish.
  by Brad Baker (Atherton, Ca United States)
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.

4/5 Enjoy a most interesting night on Fog Island
  by Daniel Jolley (Shelby, North Carolina USA)
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.

4/5 Atmpspheric standout
  by Scott Vandenberg (Pella, IA United States)
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.

5/5 Yet another top Zucco film...! details follow
  by Patrick W. Crabtree (Lucasville, OH USA)
Here's what you get: George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, an isolated foggy island, a creepy mansion with all manner of secret rooms and a dungeon of sorts, a treasure hunt, secret murder devices, furniture with secret compartments, a strange and lurking co-conspirator, a mysterious lady fortune-teller, and a plan for murder! How could it get better than THAT?!?

Leo Granger (brilliantly played by Zucco) is a businessman who was wrongfully imprisoned for embezzlement -- this was the result of a conspiracy of his peers. But Granger was smart enough not to alert the conspirators that he was on to them so, when he's released from prison, he invites them all to his creepy old island mansion for a weekend treasure hunt where he lives with his lovely daughter... and the traitorous pals are all greedy enough to show up!

This 1945 black-and-white PRC film is really just another hallmark for Zucco's and Atwill's fine work. It's nicely packaged by Alpha Video and the print is a good one, full-frame, 72 minutes in length.

This film is reminiscent of a few other superb Zucco movies such as:

The Black Raven

The Flying Serpent

Mad Monster, The

Dr. Renault's Secret


Now, I have to confess that I'm George Zucco's Number One fan (see my Amazon Listmania list: "George Zucco... almost live!!!"), but this really is one of the better films of the spooky house mystery genre. And having the great Lionell Atwill in the film is simply icing on the cake. Other actors in the movie include Jerome Cowan ("The Song of Bernadette"); Veda Ann Borg ("Revenge of the Zombies"); and Sharon Douglas ("Our Hearts Were Growing Up").

My highest recomendation!

3/5 Shades of Agatha Christie
  by bernie (Arlington, Texas)
Empire builder Leo Grainger (George Zucco) and his accountant Dr. Lake (Ian Keith) were divested, framed, and sent up the river for five years. While out of the way someone dispatched Mrs. Granger leaving her daughter Gail (Sharon Douglas) to fend for her self.

Well Leo is back and ready for a little revenge and with luck the discovery of his late wife's dispatcher. He invites all the usual suspects to a treasure hunt, making no pretenses as to his real feelings. Little do they know the house is full of secret passages and deadly traps. We see each person as the make their decision to join the hunt. All but one who is already dead; so his son Jeff Kingsley (John Whitney) attends to find he knows the stepdaughter of Leo. The question is is he on her side or just another money grubber?

Now where have we heard a story of an unexcitable island with a houseful of suspicious guests, a charming girl and one guest substitute that she is attracted to? Oh and of course justice is done. This is acutely based on the play "Angle Island" by Bernadine Angus.

The Mad Monster