Written by Mr. Mouseburger 24th Mar 2006
Kindly submitted by Kooshmeister
Ian Bellows is the typical first victim in a film like this; a jolly local farmer on the island, and introduced to the audience in the pre-credits sequence of the film as cheerfully irritable, complaining about things with a wry smile and holding no grudges against anyone. All of these things telegraph exactly how dead he is in the coming moments.
We see Ian walking home through the forest in the dark, whereupon he hears a strange, electronic echoing noise coming out of a nearby cave. This is the otherworldly sound made by the film's feature monsters, the Silicates - but Ian doesn't know that. The noise is weird enough to pique Ian’s curiosity and determined to find the cause of this sound he enters the cave. A moment later, we hear him screaming bloody murder with his screams interspersed with icky sucking sounds.
If this is so, then why is everything in Island of Terror "Unique"? The deaths weren't THAT good! I think "acid" would do just as well.
Well name another movie wherein the victims are killed by being deskeletonized? Having your bones sucked out is certainly a unique way to go, and even though every character in the film dies in this fashion, it's still only Island of Terror which kills off its characters in this fashion. Although I suppose only the onscreen deaths deserve the Unique tag; offscreen deaths, like Ian Bellows here, don't, though.
But as you watch Island of terror, they become less unique, if there was only one de-skeletoning in the film, then it would be unique. Otherwise, the unique category loses exactly what is special about it! Besides, this is what spiders do, only in reverse, (The skeleton melts not the organs.) but anyway, what about acid? As it says in the category, the substance doesn't have to actually be acid.
I know what you are saying Mr Briggs, but i tend to agree with Kooshmeister - this form of death, although it occurs a few times in the film seems pretty unique to me.
The beauty of the database system is that if another film comes along where a similar death happens, we can easily untick the unique category from the Island of Terror deaths.
So people get your thinking caps on and see if we can find another instance of bone dissolving.....
But my previous comment stands, what about "Acid"?
erm, not really sure, i think i would need to see the film to determine - do we actually see the bones dissolving?? i will add it, as i think this would be consistent with some other deaths where i have added animal and poison together, where the victim has been stung/bitten.
No, we don't see the bones dissolving. Regrettably the movie didn't have the budget for that, nor do I think they could even convincingly do something like that in 1966. As far as acid goes, in the film they refer to it as an "enzyme, or whatever it is, (that) seems to attack and break down the calcium phosphate." It does liquiefy their bones but it's not quite acid. However I'm at a loss to think of anything else, so go for it.