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6.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Isle of Lost Ships remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should probably only watch this if you have a thing for really old movies or if you just like seeing how people in the 20s imagined a maritime nightmare.
It is definitely not for anyone who needs fast pacing or, you know, high-quality audio that doesn't sound like it was recorded inside a tin can. 🐚
The whole thing takes place in the Sargasso Sea, which is basically a giant clump of seaweed where every ship that ever got lost ends up stuck together.
It’s a cool idea for a set, even if you can tell it is mostly just a bunch of wood and paint in a big studio tank. 🚢
Noah Beery plays the captain, Peter Forbes, and he is unbelievably mean for no real reason other than that's what the script told him to do.
He has this way of glaring at people that makes you think he’s about to bite the camera lens. It’s a lot.
There is this one scene where a character just stares at the ocean for what feels like five minutes, and you can almost hear the director off-screen telling them to look more 'sad' or something.
The movie feels like it’s caught between being a silent film and a talkie, so sometimes people talk and other times they just make big, dramatic faces. 🎭
Virginia Valli is in it too, and she spends a lot of time looking worried while wearing very nice clothes for someone trapped on a graveyard of ships.
I kept thinking about A Woman of the Sea while watching this, mostly because both movies feel like they’re trying to find a mood they can't quite catch.
There is a guy named Jason Robards Sr. who plays the hero, but he feels a bit stiff compared to the captain's wild energy.
The best part is honestly just looking at the background of the 'island'—it's a mess of masts and ropes that looks like a playground for ghosts.
Some of the dialogue is so clunky it becomes funny, especially when they try to act all heroic while standing on a tilting floor.
It reminds me a bit of the vibe in A Night of Mystery, where everything feels just a little bit too dramatic to be real.
The ending happens really fast, like they ran out of film or just wanted to go to lunch. 🥪
One minute there is a big fight, and the next, things are just... over.
It isn't a masterpiece, and honestly, the plot is kind of thin if you look at it too hard.
But there is something sweet about how hard they tried to make this 'island' look scary back in 1929.
If you enjoy seeing how movies used to handle 'adventure' before they had computers to do the work, give it a look.
Just don't expect it to make total sense all the time. ⚓
IMDb —
1917
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