Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Island of Terror Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 7, 2025

Terence Fisher's "Island of Terror" (1966) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by freelance writer and critic David Flynt and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

They are multiplying!

It is not difficult to connect the dots. The entire second half of Terrence Fisher’s film Island of Terror is full of clues that point to another, better film that works with very similar material. This better film is Steve Sekely’s The Day of the Triffids, released three years earlier. In it, after a meteor shower blinds everyone but a couple of strangers, legions of vicious, rapidly multiplying plants initiate The Last Battle. It seems like it is only a matter of time before they conquer the place where the remaining survivors are hiding, so the entire film is quite dark and, at times, genuinely spooky. (For what it’s worth, John Wyndham’s novel that inspired it is even darker and spookier).

In Island of Terror, the event unleashing the similarly tense drama is different. On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, several medical experts fumble a secret experiment, and instead of producing a versatile cure for a range of different cancers create a vicious living organism, which instantly kills them. Shortly after, the living organism begins multiplying, and its offsprings attack the local population. When the first victim is discovered, Dr. Reginald Landers (Eddie Byrne), unable to come up with a good reason why its bones have disappeared, contacts Dr. Brian Stanley (Peter Cushing), who reaches out to an even better expert in the field, Dr. David West (Edward Judd). Completely unaware of the fumbled experiment and its disastrous consequences, the three men then arrive in the area and begin studying the boneless corpses of the initial victims. It is not too long before they become targets for the rapidly multiplying living organisms, too.

Silicates. It is how the rapidly multiplying living organisms are identified, which, like triffids, is a catchy organic name. There are two other obvious similarities between the silicates and the triffids. They have long tentacles, allowing them to grab and kill their unsuspecting or careless victims. Also, their mobility is restricted. However, in Island of Terror and The Day of the Triffids this disadvantage quickly becomes irrelevant because of how fast their numbers grow.

Unlike the various other small and shlocky horror films Fisher directed, Island of Terror remains surprisingly coherent and intelligent, which is a sign that it genuinely wanted to impress a more mature audience. To be clear, Island of Terror is a small film with several bits of shlocky material, too. However, everything in it is organized well to produce a legitimate warning that, without proper safety guards, a lot of what gets done in the name of humanity can go terribly wrong -- sometimes unintentionally, and sometimes intentionally.

For this reason, Island of Terror is a very relevant film now. Indeed, the event that unleashes the tense drama in it is an archaic variation of the gain-of-function research that produced Covid. In its second half, the main characters repeatedly mention how important it is to contain the silicates on the island, and how the entire world becomes doomed if they are accidentally or intentionally transported to the mainland where their multiplication will be unstoppable. In other words, instead of facing a rapidly multiplying virus created in a lab, the main characters face a rapidly multiplying living organism created in a lab. They are the same things. One is simply a lot bigger and easier to see.

While the leads are good, each has done better work in bigger films. However, the missing desire to shine bright helps the integrity of Island of Terror. It allows a sense of fear and eventually paranoia to take over and become the true star, which is always an effective development in horror films that aim to leave a lasting impression.

Fisher collaborated with cinematographer Reginal Wyer, who lensed many more similar low-budget genre films. One of the best is John Krish's Unearthly Stranger, an even more paranoid thriller about a scientist and his new wife who become targets of a supernatural force.

Island of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Island of Terror arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.

In the United States, Island of Terror made its high-definition debut with this release, produced by Shout factory in 2017. I do not have it in my library and cannot comment on its technical presentation of the film.

This release is sourced from a recent and very beautiful organic master that makes it a treat to revisit the film. To be honest, I think that the technical presentation is almost perfect because only delineation could be slightly better. However, what I saw on my system already looks mighty impressive. Clarity and depth, for instance, are either very good or outstanding. In darker areas, and there are plenty, shadow nuances and other finer details look great. The dynamic range of the visuals is very, very impressive, too. In fact, in some areas, it is almost as good as what I would expect to see on native 4K visuals. Color reproduction and balance are very good and very convincing. The only way they can be improved is if there is a native 4K presentation with an expanded color gamut. Image stability is excellent. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections to report. All in all, this release offers a marvelous organic presentation of Island of Terror that I think will thrill its fans. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Island of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Even though it is quite easy to tell that the producers of Island of Terror did not invest a lot of resources in its sound design, the audio effects that emerge when the silicates attack are quite good. Malcolm Lockyer's score is difficult to describe as ambitious, but it also creates some small yet quite nice dynamic contrasts. The dialog is very clear, sharp, and easy to follow. Most importantly, the lossless track is free of age-related anomalies.

Island of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this new audio commentary, freelance writer and critic David Flynt, a big fan of Island of Terror, discusses in great detail the stylistic identity of the film, its visual style and atmosphere, the work done by the leads and the supporting actors (and how the latter and their contributions are always crucial in such genre films and for a long time were the "backbone of the British film industry"), the overall quality of the production, the film's critical reception (and why and how it was mocked by certain critics), etc.

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Island of Terror. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Booklet - 16-oage booklet featuring critic Barry Forshaw's essay "Beware of the Silicates on the Island of Terror".

• Cover - reversible cover with vintage poster art for Island of Terror.

Island of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

One of the popular alternative titles of Island of Terror is Night of the Silicates, which pretty much makes the obvious impossible to miss, and this is why the former emerged victorious. The obvious is that Island of Terror is an offspring of The Day of the Triffids, released three years earlier. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with this, but the connection between the two films is rarely, if ever, mentioned when Island of Terror is addressed. I find virtually all of Terence Fisher's films too silly and shlocky, but Island of Terror remains surprisingly coherent and intelligent, plus for a low-budget production it looks pretty darn good. 88 Films' release introduces a fabulous recent restoration of it. If you decide to pick it up for your library, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.