Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth sci-fi/creature masterpiece that was released theatrically by Universal Studios.
“Svengoolie” to present his big broadcast of “Island of Terror” (1966) with Peter Cushing
A snippet from Terence Fisher’s classic mammoth sci-fi/creature masterpiece production of “Island of Terror” (1966) with Peter Cushing, produced by Planet Film Distributors in Britain, released one year later throughout North America by Universal Studios; sourced from Universal’s High-Definition restoration of Fisher’s 1966 production for the Shout! Factory (Shout! Studios)/Scream Factory Blu-Ray edition.
“Unstoppable beasts crave human bone!” 1990s MCA/Universal (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) VHS cover art for Terence Fisher’s 1966 production of “Island of Terror.”
The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based sci-fi/creature feature film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “Island of Terror” (1966), this Sat.; April 13 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.
“Island of Terror” (1966) was directed by veteran director Terence Fisher. Fisher was best known for his numerous classic horror/monster/creature film masterpiece productions for Britain’s Hammer Films, including “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957), “Horror of Dracula” (1958), “The Revenge of Frankenstein” (1958), the Hammer-Universal adaptation of “The Mummy” (1959), “The Brides of Dracula” (1960), “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll” (1960), “The Curse of the Werewolf” (1961), the Hammer-Universal adaptation of “The Phantom of the Opera” (1962) and the Hammer-Columbia feature production of “The Gorgon” (1964).
The veteran director decided to direct fewer films in the latter part of his film career for his home studio, Hammer Films. Alongside his latter Hammer feature productions, Fisher decided to concentrate on independently-produced productions after his unsuccessful Hammer-Universal monster-horror screen adaptation of “Phantom of the Opera” (1962); according to the British Film Institute’s database on the life and career of Terence Fisher,
Fisher’s 1966 sci-fi/horror/creature production was produced by Tom Blakeley with executive producers Gerald A. Fernback and classic mammoth horror/sci-fi feature film masterpiece exhibitor-production veteran Richard Gordon. Years earlier, Gordon helped veteran horror feature film legend Bela Lugosi return to the United States after the abrupt ending of his 1951 British stage tour of Hamilton Deane‘s stage adaptation of Bram Stoker‘s “Dracula” by encouraging Lugosi to appear in John Gilling‘s production of “Vampire Over London” (released in Britain in 1952, released by Columbia Pictures in the United States under the title of “My Son, The Vampire” in 1963 to capitalize on Allan Sherman‘s title 1963 comedy recording that was released on the record label of rival/competing studio Warner Bros.); which was an entry in the “Old Mother Riley” comedy film series with Arthur Lucan for Britain’s Renown Pictures (Renown was known as the British production-distribution company that co-produced Brian Desmond Hurst‘s classic mammoth 1952 Holiday feature film masterpiece adaptation of Charles Dickens‘ “A Christmas Carol/Scrooge” with Alastair Sim), according to IMDB.
Gordon later served as executive producer of Lindsay Shonteff’s cult classic thriller feature masterpiece production of “Devil Doll” (1964) with Bryant Haliday (who was one of the original co-founders of independent art-house producer/distribution firm Janus Films, the company behind The Criterion Collection line of critically-acclaimed feature film masterpieces from Janus and productions leased from other studios/production firms for Blu-Ray, DVD and select streaming platforms ), Yvonne Romain, William Sylvester and the vocal stylings of Sadie Corre. The Shonteff/Gordon production of “Devil Doll’ (1964) was later famously riffed on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” in 1997.
The screenplay and original story treatment for “Island of Terror” (1966) was written by Edward Mann and Allan “Al” Ramsen. Fisher’s production of “Island of Terror” was produced and released in Great Britain by independent production/releasing firm Planet Film Productions/Planet Film Distributors. Universal Studios obtained the North American releasing/distribution rights to Fisher’s 1966 Planet production of “Island of Terror” in 1967; according to IMDB.
This will mark Svengoolie’s fifth big broadcast of “Island of Terror” (1966) on the airlanes Me-TV. He previously showcased Fisher’s classic 1966 horror-creature masterpiece entry back in May 2014, May 2015, Sept. 2016 and Sept. 2020.
Who was in “Island of Terror” (1966)?
The players who appeared in Terence Fisher’s production of “Island of Terror” (1966) were Peter Cushing (as Dr. Brian Stanley), Carole Gray (as Toni Merrill), Edward Judd (as Dr. David West), Eddie Byrne (as Dr. Reginald Landers), Peter Forbes-Robertson (as Dr. Lawrence Phillips), Sam Kydd (as Constable John Harris), James Caffrey (as Peter Argyle), Niall MacGinnis (as Mr. Roger Campbell), Keith Bell (as Halsey), Margaret Lacey (as an elderly woman), Liam Gaffney (as Ian Bellows), Joyce Hemson (as Mrs. Bellows), Roger Heathcott (as Dunley), Shay Gorman (as Morton) and Richard Bidlake (as Carson).
Silver Screen Reflections 