Shrewd and jolly hoax buster Phillip Knight (a marvelously spry performance by the great Boris Karloff) is hired by wealthy industrialist Howard Carlton (solid Owen Cunningham) to prove that an island that Carlton plans to build a resort on isn't cursed with voodoo. Knight and his expedition team go to said island and naturally run afoul of hostile native and carnivorous plants. Director Reginald Le Berg, working from a talky and hokey script by Richard Landau, unfortunately allows the pace to plod along at a draggy clip and doesn't offer much in the way of creepy atmosphere. The competent cast do their best with the mediocre material: Beverly Tyler as Knight's charming assistant Sarah Adams, Murvyn Vye as the hearty Barney Finch, Elisha Cook, Jr. as worrywart hotelier Martin Schuyler, Rhodes Reason as rugged, bitter he-man Matthew Gunn, Jean Engstrom as the snooty Claire Winter, and Glenn Dixon as the zombified Mitchell. Karloff's classy and charismatic presence helps a lot; he brings a good deal of sorely needed energy to the otherwise pretty dreary proceedings. The scenes with the man-eating plants attacking people are a hoot, but overall there's way too much tedious filler and not nearly enough action. Both Les Baxter's shivery'n'spirited ooga-booga score and William Marguiles' sharp black and white cinematography are up to par. A pre-"Batman" Adam West pops up in a neat uncredited bit part as a radio operator. Decent schlocky fun.
Review of Voodoo Island
