Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Michael_Elliott Unknown Island (1948) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Carole Lane (Virginia Grey) agrees to finance her fiancés (Philip Reed) trip to a tropical island where there are rumors of prehistoric monsters. They hired Captain Tarnowski (Carton MacLane) to take them there but he forces an alcoholic (Richard Denning) into going with them because at one point he claimed to have been on the island and saw the monsters.I stumbling into this movie because I was looking for Unknown WORLD but this one came up. I'm really shocked that I hadn't seen it before since I had seen a lot of these KING KONG inspired movies but I'm glad I got around to this one because it was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. Obviously they were working on a very small budget but the screenplay offered up some entertaining character and the rubber monsters are certainly fun as well.The main reason people are going to be watching this movie are for the monsters and for my money they certainly delivered. The monsters were played by actors in rubber suits and this is quite obvious as the movements are very slow and it's obvious that the people inside are having trouble walking in them. There's also a large ape, which is obvious a rip of KING KONG but I actually liked the costume and its rat face. Again, the rubber suits are rather laughable but there's plenty of action with the ape and the dinosaurs, which help keep the entertainment high.When the monsters aren't on the screen we're also entertained by the very good cast. Bruce is certainly as lovely as ever and MacLane is perfect as the snake Captain who I'm sure people hissed at when this was first released. The supporting players are strong as well. With all the silly action and good characters, UNKNOWN ISLAND is a real winner for such a low-budget movie.

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.

jim riecken (youroldpaljim) This minor little prehistoric monster flick used to be shown on local TV quite often back in sixties when I was a kid. It was the first monster flick I saw in colour on TV. I enjoyed it back then when I was a kid and I've have seen it on video a couple of time recently. (Several badly transfered copies with faded colour have been around for years, but my favorite video store recently got in a newly restored version with excellent quality colour.) I have to admit I still enjoy watching this lively, island full of prehistoric monsters flick.The monsters, with exception of a pair of what looks stop motion brontasaurus shown briefly, are men in suits, ala Godzilla. I didn't think that they looked all that bad when I was a kid, but seeing them today they look awfully stiff. The creature often called an ape monster, is supposed to be according to the press kit from this film, a giant sloth. Whatever it was supposed to be, I thought it was pretty creepy when I saw this film as a kid. One major complaint I have about the use of men in suits as they are used here, is that unlike stop motion dinosaurs or photographically enlarged lizards, it could be very easy using this method, even in a film of this budget level, to have dinosaurs interact with the actors. The cast never seems directly menaced by the dinosaurs. In fact, with exception of the giant sloth, most of the time they never get near them! In fact I have always felt that the only advantage to using this method (along with full scale models ala THEM!)is that allows easy interaction with the actors with out any expensive split screens, traveling matte etc. that would jack a films budget up.UNKNOWN ISLAND has a decent cast, including Barton MacLane, who is quite entertaining as the lecherous sea captain. Director Jack Bernhard keeps things moving. The film also avoids one of the most often over used plot contrivances that often turn up in these "lost world" type films; the island doesn't suddenly blow up and then sink beneath the waves. Overall, I still find UNKNOWN ISLAND an entertaining, enjoyable monster romp. Perhaps because the film has "quaintness" about it that I still find appealing today, despite the derision voiced in this forum by cheap cynics. Despite its faults, I'll take this over most of todays over produced CGI special effects films any day.See Ya! Youroldpaljim

banse ...a tale of a fateful trip. Only this tale is from a 1948 outrageous B flick about scientists who hire a corrupt skipper for a voyage to a strange Island. Once the passengers and crew arrive they encounter prehistoric beasts of which some are laughable due to poor special effects. Although when I saw this film as a kid I was impressed with it. Surprisingly the tagline says it took a year to produce while the film "King Kong" was made 15 years prior with superior special effects. The inhabitants include lovely Virginia Grey, Philip Reed, Richard Denning and Barton MacLane. Filmed in Cinecolor it is fun to watch and has been shown on AMC. It's also available on VHS and DVD so it can't be all that bad.