Horror Island (1941)

Written by CinemaSerf on June 25, 2022

Dick Foran is "Bill" who sees an opportunity to start selling treasure-hunting tours to a nearby island he has recently inherited, where there are rumours of a great hoard buried by the famed pirate Sir Henry Morgan. He and pal Fizzy Knight ("Stuff Oliver") recruit a few gullibles and off they set. When they arrive, they get a lot more than they bargained for as things really do start to go bump in the night; folks start turning up dead and a mysterious. malevolent voice haunts their old mansion house repeatedly telling them to leave. The script is fun and well paced, though the humour is a touch too slapstick for me at times, and the photography and lighting help create just a little bit of suspense in what is essentially an episode of "Scooby Do" with shadows. Until the end it's as much of a whydunit as a whodunit, and though the plot doesn't really matter - it sustains the hour well enough.