Starring Cameron Mitchell, Elisa Montes, George Martin, Kai Fischer, Rolf von Nauckhoff
Directed by Mel Welles
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
Sightseers visit a Greek island where the Baron von Weser has grown an incredible collection of plants that he has also experimented on, but after they arrive a murderer begins to strike.
Also known under the title Island Of The Doomed, IMDB credits the picture as a Spain & West German co-production, directed by familiar Roger Corman regular Welles, who also contributed to the screenplay. Mitchell is cool and mysterious as the Baron, and the special effects behind some of his plants are well-done for the time and budget. As a mystery, I don't think anyone would be surprised by who the murderer turns out to be, but as a horror film, it registers with plenty of shock and gore, although fairly sedate by modern standards. Fischer is a hoot as an earthy woman hitting on all the island's men, not even caring to hide her advances from her older husband. Matilde Sampedro and Hermann Nehlsen also play colorful and very talkative characters that enliven the film until the killer is revealed. I agree with my friend Troy Howarth that while the washed-out print I viewed didn't take too much away from the film, it would be a pleasure to re-watch in more vibrant colors.
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