There have been a few adaptations over the years of H.G. Wells’ “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” Gerado de Leon’s TERROR IS A MAN may very well be my favorite. Slow at times, but overall quite entertaining and a pleasant surprise.

William Fitzgerald (Richard Derr) washes up shore after his ship crashes. As far as he knows, he’s the only survivor. Fitzgerald is found by Dr. Charles Girard (Francis Lederer) who takes Fitzgerald back to his home and takes care of him. When Fitzgerald awakens, Girard explains to him what happened and where he is, but doesn’t give much detail as to what’s going on at the island.

Once Fitzgerald is feeling well enough he gets out of bed and begins to explore the island. He meets both Tiago, a young boy that works for the Doctor and Frances (Greta Thyssen), the Doctor’s wife. After speaking with both Tiago and Frances, Fitzgerald as a feeling that something with the island is not quite right. After further search of the island, Fitzgerald comes across Girard and his assistant Walter out hunting.

Girard explains that he is hunting for a panther that escaped from him. He goes on to talk about the panther being part of his research and the reason for being on the island. Still Girard only hints at things and doesn’t go into full detail as to what research he is doing and why a panther is needed for it.

Eventually Girard recaptures the panther and brings him back home. With the creature back in his grasp, Girard is free to continue his experiments and research. He takes the animal down to his laboratory to get stared. A curious Fitzgerald sneaks now after to catch a glimpse and is shocked by what he finds.

If you’re familiar with the source material from Wells, you know this story. Girard is attempting to change animals into humans. In this case it’s a panther who is now humanlike. We can’t quite call this creation human, but he certainly has human qualities.

Girard is a classic mad scientist. In his mind he absolutely has the best intentions. He believes all creatures must evolve to stay alive and he’s just trying to speed up the process. Like is often the case, no matter how good natured, the result of playing god doesn’t end well.

The thing Girard has created knows not how to react. All it knows it suffering and pain. It doesn’t understand what it is and why should it? No one knows what it is. It just wants to break free, to fight back.


Read the rest at FearTheCrypt.com