From the corpse-strewn Balkan War battlefield of the opening scenes to the Greek cemetery island where the plot plays out, a sepulchral whiff of mortal decay wafts through Isle of the Dead. In his first film for Lewton, Boris Karloff plays General Pherides, a grim patriot who rather inexplicably takes time out from his official duties to visit the titular isle. When a plague suddenly strikes the place, there is talk of the Vorvalakas, ancient spirits that drain humans of life. “We don't believe the old tales anymore,” insists the general, declaring his allegiance with the visible and the living. But, this being a Lewton film, atavism will have its way. Although on the whole Isle of the Dead lacks the poetic richness of Lewton's best work, its final half-hour offers some immortal images: a dripping crypt, a box labeled “antiquities,” something white wandering in the dark.
—Juliet Clark