Some Backstory: in the winter of
2002, I was on a classic horror kick. Thanks to the recommendations of my
brother and my friend Barry, I’d seen Ulmer’s THE BLACK CAT, Whale’s THE OLD
DARK HOUSE, and – most eye-popping of all – as many Val Lewton-produced films
as I could get my hands on. Searching for the latter among the hallowed stacks
of old VHS in Santa Monica’s Vidiots, I grabbed Erle C. Kenton’s THE ISLAND OF
LOST SOULS, mistaking it for my intended rental, the Lewton/Mark Robson/Karloff
effort, ISLE OF THE DEAD.*
It was a happy accident.
