Island of Lost Souls (1933 Film) - Influence

Influence

The film is the source of the saying "The natives are restless tonight." The actual dialogue is as follows:

Ruth Thomas: What's that?

Dr. Moreau: The natives, they have a curious ceremony. Mr. Parker has witnessed it.

Ruth Thomas: Tell us about it, Edward.

Edward Parker: Oh, it's... it's nothing.

Dr. Moreau: They are restless tonight.

Two films have since been made based on the same H. G. Wells novel. The first was released in 1977 and stars Burt Lancaster as the doctor. The second came out in 1996, with Marlon Brando as Moreau. In the very similar Twilight People (1973), actress Pam Grier played the panther woman.

Playwright Charles Ludlam used this movie, as well as Wells' novel and the fairy tale by Charles Perrault, when writing his play Bluebeard (1970).

Members of the new wave band Devo were fans of the film. The "What is the law?" sequence formed part of the lyrics to Devo's song "Jocko Homo," with Lugosi's query "Are we not men?" providing the title to their 1978 debut album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

Oingo Boingo is another new wave band who paid tribute to the film with their song "No Spill Blood," which featured the refrain "What is the Law? No spill blood!" and appeared on their 1983 Good for Your Soul album.

The Meteors, a psychobilly band from the UK told the story of the film in their song "Island of Lost Souls" on their 1986 album Teenagers From Outer Space, the chorus being a prolonged chant of "We don't eat meat; Are We Not Men? We stand on two feet; Are We Not Men?" etc.

Heavy metal band Van Halen paid homage to the film in the original version of their song "House of Pain", the early lyrics for which directly referenced the storyline of the movie. During onstage introductions of the song circa 1976-77, Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth routinely gave a brief synopsis of the film. The song was shelved for the better part of a decade, but eventually resurfaced with different non-movie-related lyrics and released on the band's 1984 album.

The US horror-rock / punk / metal band MANIMALS based much of their stage persona on the film. Their 1985 Blood is the Harvest vinyl E.P. closes with the song "Island of Lost Souls" – a direct homage to the film / book. The track includes a "What is the Law?" section that fans would chant during live shows. Band members were billed as "half-man, half-animal" hybrids, and emerged from cages during shows in the 1980s, wearing full-makeup, furry outfits and refusing to break character or be photographed sans transformation. The highly collectable, vinyl 12" was released on their own "House Of Pain" label, further evidence of the heavy influence of the film. As opposed to bands which have taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to horror themes, MANIMALS are widely respected in horror circles and among monster-movie aficionados for their serious, respectful approach to these films. Bela Lugosi scholar / film historian, Gary Don Rhodes has called them "the best-ever in the horror-rock genre" and referenced them in his 1997 book Lugosi (McFarland Press).