Starring Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helene Thimig
Directed by Mark Robson
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
When a wartime plague infests a Greek island, a general quarantines the island and tries to protect its residents, but then begins to believe that a young woman is a creature of evil causing the deaths.
I wouldn't categorize this as one of the best of producer Val Lewton's horror films, nor one of the lesser ones, but I don't think it quite hits the mark like Cat People or I Walked With A Zombie does. It is a handsome film to look at, and Ardel Wray's screenplay has a definite poetic beauty to it within the rhythm of the dialogue, enhanced by Jack MacKenzie's shadowy photography. I just think the filmmakers don't do enough to convince the audience the vorvolaka (the evil creature of Greek legend that Drew's character is accused of being), could really exist. Karloff's presence in the film is appreciated, but he's not showcased in a way to make his character seem really dangerous, or create genuine suspense. I do think the actresses in the film come off well and have some very worthy moments, but the borrowing of some Edgar Allan Poe material to create the film's climax seems ill-advised, and disconnected from the rest of the story.
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