BORIS KARLOFF is a Greek general whose wife's body has mysteriously vanished from its tomb at the start of ISLE OF THE DEAD. He's naturally suspicious that something more evil than the plague has crept over the island he decides must be quarantined--forbidding anyone from leaving it. ELLEN DREW is a young woman he suspects may have something to do with evil spirits--or even vampirism--and MARC CRAMER is a young soldier who wants to protect her.

All the ingredients for a good chiller are here, but it's a story that gets its main strength, not from the plot, but from the sinister, shadowy B&W photography that sets up the moody atmosphere from the start, with an air of dread lingering over every scene.

Aiding considerably are strong performances from KATHERINE EMERY as a sick woman who fears being buried alive, and HELEN THIMIG as a superstitious old woman. In fact, all of the supporting players do well under Mark Robson's taut direction.

The tale itself is not one of my favorites but it's a credit to all concerned that they do a job of giving it a creepiness that should satisfy even the most jaded of Gothic horror fans.

And yet, ultimately, there's a bit of a letdown as far as the story itself is concerned. The ingredients are all there, but something vital is missing and I'm sorry to say I don't know exactly what it is.

Nevertheless, holds the interest throughout.

I'm still not quite sure what I saw in Isle of the Dead. I do know it succeeded in giving me the willies.

Several people gather on Greek Island during the Balkan Wars when a type of plague strikes and folks die one by one. One old peasant woman, Helene Thimig suspects young and pretty Ellen Drew of being a monster called a Vorvola which was part of the old Greek religion of Zeus and the rest of the folks from Olympus. The problem is that she gets old Greek general Boris Karloff, a brooding and suspicious man to start with, believing it as well.

Imagine Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None laced with the atmosphere of a horror film and you've got Isle of the Dead. At the end of the film you're not even sure what's happened, but the mood created in you by producer Val Lewton will linger on.

I'm not sure what a guy like Val Lewton would have done with a big budget in a studio like MGM or Paramount. Those recycled RKO sets with the proper sinister lighting were a signature with him.

So was there a Vorvola? Watch and judge for yourself.

Despite having Boris Karloff in the lead, this really isn't a horror film, though the plot itself is awfully horrific. Karloff plays a cold-hearted Greek general during their war in 1912. He and an American correspondent go to a nearby island to visit the grave of Karloff's wife. Once there, they meet up with some people in a house next to the cemetery. Soon, it becomes apparent that one of the guests has the plague and so they are all forced to stay on the island until the disease runs its course. Oddly, exactly what this plague is was unsaid. It couldn't have been Bubonic, as the people who got ill didn't have the really nasty and disgusting symptoms of this disease. Soon, local superstitions start to infect the mind of Karloff and a crazy Greek lady and they insist that the plague is not a natural thing, but caused by an evil spirit--and they just assume a lady among them is this evil spirit.

The film is great on atmosphere and is mildly interesting. However, the whole topic of plague is not exactly fun to watch and the film is dreary as a result and offers few surprises until near the end. It's a must for fans of Karloff, but otherwise it's pretty skipable.