Island of Terror



1966 British sci-fi/horror flick starring Peter Cushing, set on a small island which is besieged by "Silicates," bizarre critters with tentacles that kill their victims by sucking their skeletons out. Cushing plays pathologist Brian Stanley, who along with hunky colleague David West and West's girlfriend Toni Merrill, travels to remote Petrie's Island to investigate said monsters, which were accidentally created by reclusive cancer researcher Dr. Phillips. The things reproduce via mitosis and will soon overrun the island, forcing Stanley and West, with help from local doctor Reginald Landers, to race against time to find a means of destroying them.

Not related to Terror Island.

Tropes used in this film:

 * Anyone Can Die:
 * Apocalyptic Log: Dr. Phillips' notes.
 * Body Horror: All those boneless corpses.
 * Closed Circle: Not only are they on an island, but a boat only comes once a week and the helicopter that flew them there has to leave early on.
 * Combat Tentacles
 * Curiosity Killed the Cast: Several characters just have to go and see what that weird noise is.
 * Dangerous Windows
 * Darkness Equals Death: Subverted. Upon entering the dark and creepy mansion, the first thing our heroes do is turn on all the lights they can find.
 * Dirty Coward: Halsey.
 * For Science
 * Gone Horribly Wrong
 * Immune to Bullets: And dynamite. And Molotov cocktails. And axes. And...pretty much anything really.
 * Horror Hunger
 * Life or Limb Decision: See Anyone Can Die above.
 * The Load: Toni.
 * Mad Scientist: Subverted. Dr. Phillips is a perfectly well-intentioned, albeit careless, scientist working for the betterment of humanity.
 * My Car Hates Me: Your typical "engine stalls during a monster attack" scenario.
 * Our Monsters Are Weird: The Silicates.
 * Picky People Eater
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Island "boss" Roger Campbell.
 * Science Marches On: West's speech at the end of the film basically boils down to this.
 * Silicon Based Life: The Silicates.
 * The X of Y