Island of Lost Souls / Kongo

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, 1932, Universal, 70 min. Dir. Erle C. Kenton. Seaman Richard Arlen gets marooned on vivisectionist Charles Laughton’s private isle, where he has developed a race of subhumans from various wild animals in his “House of Pain.” An old school chiller that remains scary to this day. Bela Lugosi is the ringleader of the beast-men.

KONGO, 1932, Warner Bros., 86 min. Dir. William J. Cowen. Walter Huston is a crippled renegade in darkest Africa who drags himself around on his powerful arms. He lords it over local tribesmen, intimidating them with “voodoo” and parlor tricks. He also enjoys torturing and driving mad any whites who fall into his clutches, especially Virginia Bruce, whom he believes to be his arch-enemy’s daughter. Tragic legend Lupe Velez stars as Tula, a woman under cruel Huston’s thumb.