1963's "Escape from Hell Island" is a no budget yawner directed by its star, Mark Stevens, who in the 1940s had worked opposite such actresses as Lucille Ball and Olivia De Havilland. As a director, he at least showed ingenuity in filming off Key West, as a captain hired to rescue some escaping Cubans from Castro's regime. Unfortunately, the ease with which he conducts the rescue leaves the film lurching through its final hour with nothing but a romance with a woman whose weakling hubby spends the last couple of reels keeping our hero from boarding his own boat, while a little stock footage (very little) of swimming sharks makes for a feeble attempt at suspense. This was one of the numerous Crown International titles that popped up on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater during the 1976-77 season, paired on Jan 1 1977 with second feature "The Lost World" (1960), which at least had the advantage of being in color (believe it or not, there was one repeat appearance from "Hell", Sept 1 1979). Mark Stevens subsequently kept busy in Europe, where he shot the German "Frozen Alive," a more suitable title for Chiller Theater that alas never appeared.
Review of Escape from Hell Island
