The Flesh Eaters (1964)

Starring Martin Kosleck, Byron Sanders, Barbara Wilkin, Rita Morley, Ray Tudor
Directed by Jack Curtis
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An alcoholic actress, her assistant, and their pilot find themselves stranded on an island where a scientist is performing secret experiments on flesh eating bugs that soon threaten them all.

Curtis delivers an impressively mounted independent horror film, notable for some gory special effects, some of which hold up better than others.  However, the anchor of the film is Kosleck, the familiar 1940s Universal contract player, who makes a marvelous villain, even when pretending to be benevolent, delivering his lines in his sinister European accent.  The rest of the cast aren't in Kosleck's class, but Sanders, Wilkin, and Morley fill their roles relatively well.  The film's creature design is also unique, and Julian Stein's music is memorable, adding to the creepy atmosphere.  I wouldn't say the story is the strongest, incorporating a lot of character stereotypes pulled from other films, but Curtis' direction is more than capable, balancing the shocks with some human drama.  It's a film to be appreciated even with some drawbacks.