Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Scott_Mercer I found it hard to do anything but like this movie.Yes, it's from 1948, it's low budget, and the "special effects" are quite limited to what they had at that moment, under that limited budget.Still, I liked all the actors. Barton McLane takes over the movie as the gruff, dubious Captain, someone you shouldn't trust with your lunch, never mind your life. Virginia Grey as Carole hits the nail on the head as the classy rich lady who's no pushover.I liked the fact that here you have a format (action/adventure/sci-fi) which usually demands two-fisted heroism and black-and-white morality, which is peopled with nothing but hateful, dysfunctional, dishonorable characters with their own selfish agendas and motives, a trend starting to peak at that time with the entire (then unnamed) film noir genre which was just at that moment at its height. I liked the direction, which is quite unusual for 1948. The monster attack sequences are cut quite tightly, with alternating close-ups of horrific monster faces, nasty gushing red blood (taking advantage of the Cinecolor format employed). Check out the climactic "monster vs. monster" battle at the film's end for the most exciting, tightly edited sequence, bordering on the surreal or something out of German Expressionist cinema, but in blaring color.I even liked the stop-motion miniature dinosaurs (used sparingly) and the man-sized dinosaur costumes (a la Godzilla) that were used more liberally. The T-Rex attack sequence about 46 minutes in where they pelt them with grenades and blow them up is just HILARIOUS! Yes, from our perspective these costumes are very cheesy, but for the time and the budget involved, I thought they were quite cool, and hating on the people that created them is shooting fish (or T-Rexes) in a barrel. You have to grade on a curve here, people, we're talking about 1948. Overall, much better than other low budget jungle adventure flicks from around that time, such as The Lost Continent, and a lovable way to spend 72 minutes. This is an enjoyable romp for when you just want to turn on a movie and get lost in a story, and not think about matters like whether the plot makes any sense. Don't analyze, just have fun.

Matthew_Capitano 1948 color film about thrill-seekers who row their way to a spooky island inhabited by T-Rex dinosaurs.After debating in a local bar their chances of surviving a visit to the mysterious atoll, Richard Denning, Barton MacLane, and pretty Virginia Grey sober up and pile into a dinghy (which looks like it was designed by Gilligan) to take them to the island where they roam around just long enough to realize that they want to get the hell out of there as quickly as they can. Adventuresome early sci-fi/horror offering from director Jack Bernhard.P.S. The dinosaurs are cute.

retrorocketx Unknown Island (1948) has a similar character structure to King Kong (1933). It also features a few elements of noir movies.In King Kong, a movie maker hires a girl and a ship and heads off to Skull Island, hoping to become rich and famous. In Unknown Island, a scientist/movie maker and his girl hire a ship and head off to an unknown island, hoping to become rich and famous. From here, the respective plots go off in different directions. The big question in any 'Lost World' movie is how will the explorers react when thrown into a primeval world? What I like about Unknown Island is that it tells a story about a seriously dysfunctional and aggressive group of explorers, at each others throats from the start of the movie to the finish. It's quite a contrast to the adventurous, charming, loyal, and naive group that sets sail in King Kong. Fifteen years and a world war have changed the nature of the game considerably! The attitudes of the characters are so violent, cynical and opportunistic I think they can be fairly called a noir characters. Another noir feature is shady morals, and boy does this movie have those! Wow! Some examples include, shooting a guy surrounded by T-rexes instead of charging in to save him, abandoning a beaten, sick man to be killed by an orange ape-sloth thing, and constant verbal and physical abuse of each other. One of the subplots is a love triangle involving Carole (Virginia Grey) and two rivals Ted (Phillip Reed) and John (Richard Denning). This triangle smacks of noir, as love is portrayed in a corrupt and cynical light. It's hard to like any of the characters. Compare the movie producer character in King Kong to Unknown Island. Carl Denim is eccentric and obsessed maybe, but he is lovable and beloved by the other explorers. Here, Ted Osborne, the supposed organizer of this expedition, is harassed at every moment and ridiculed constantly for expressing more interest in filming than his fiancée - and this on the very first day on the island! It does not get any better for the poor guy, he is duped throughout the movie. His fiancée Carole Lane, is some sort of rich society woman but underneath that polished exterior she is aggressive, opportunistic, and not shy or timid at all about going after what she wants. Compare her character with Anne Darrow of King Kong, the difference is like night and day. The hunky John Fairbanks is a recovering alcoholic, bitter, cynical, slimy, and just plain nasty. Compare him to the hero in King Kong, they both do whatever it takes to get the girl, but in very different senses. By far my favorite character is the captain of the ship. Watching him in action is what makes this movie worthwhile. He and his first mate are two-fisted, violent bullies who surely have gotten drunk in, and fought their way out of, every bar in every port along the South China Seas. The captain's personality so dominates this movie that only a recurring bout of malaria and a major drinking binge can level the playing field for the other characters.Unknown Island would be much improved if the underlying noir-feel were ramped up to a greater extent. A claustrophobic, dark, fatalistic atmosphere would kick this movie into uber-coolness, but the opportunity is missed. The dinosaurs are played for horror, at least that is how the characters typically react to them and talk about them. This would be a great angle for the movie, but at no time does the movie deliver a lurking sense of danger, or a brutal attack by any of the dinosaurs. Only one guy is killed because of dinosaurs and that only at the end of the movie. Big let down! The dinosaurs themselves are not anywhere near the bar set by Lost World (1925) or King Kong (1933), but that's okay. What is annoying is that they are not used to any great effect.Unknown Island is interesting to watch because of the 1940s post-war, noir-style take on a 'Lost World' type movie. It could have been a brilliant film. But even with its missed opportunities, I like this movie.

Teenie-1 The year was 1948 and by this time Willis O'Brien had already had much success with the prehistoric special effects in "King Kong." Wasn't he around during this filming? The dinosaurs in this film look like mechanical toys with licorice for arms. Actually they were men in rubber suits with licorice for arms. Man, what a waste of time and money! And the "sloth man!"(?) When he appeared for the first time I said, "What the hell...?!"Was this Richard Denning's encore film or something? He must've been actually drunk to play this part (he plays a drunken, trauma-stricken sailor who is hired by horny drunk Barton MacLane to sail to this Unknown Island with a reject from the Three Stooges shorts, an air-headed photographer and an equally air-headed female accomplice (couldn't they have chosen a cockatoo instead?).The only sensible characters in the film were the "native" crew, and they all sounded like they had Brooklyn accents. They sail to the island, find these brand-X dinosaurs and this excuse of a cross between the abominable snowman and the Cyclops in "Sinbad," called a "sloth-man." Whatever it was supposed to be, the makeup sucked. I wasn't born at the time, but when I was old enough to see monster flicks at the movies, I certainly wouldn't have wasted my time with this junk. I caught it on American Movie Classics (I thought they showed classics, not crap) because I got tired of the early morning news (all bad); when I saw Richard Denning I thought it would be a pretty good horror flick on the lines of "The Creature from the Black Lagoon." It was worth a few giggles, though. I guess all wasn't wasted. But next time I'll opt for Johnny Bravo on the Cartoon Network.