The Mystery of Thug Island

The Thugs were an actual sect of India which in the 1820s were very active in strangling innocent people for the glory of Kali, the goddess of death. The best account of their strange society of stranglers is probably John Masters' novel "The Deceivers" which was made a film in 1988 with a very young and agile Pierce Brosnan, while the story here is total romanticisation. The story was made into a more elaborate production for television in 1991 with Stacy Keach as the captain and father, a successful series of 5 hours, while this early version is quite quick and more basic, which nevertheless includes some fascinating sequences, for instance an actual fight between a mongoose and a cobra and a palpable struggle with a tiger. There are pythons as well and very active, since the action here is staged at an Island of Serpents, which is full of these murderous snakes, and the male protagonists here is a snake hunter. He accidentally comes across the temple of the thuggee, the high priestess of whom is the abducted child of the captain (Peter van Eyck, for once in a more decent role than just ordinary Nazi officers,) who in fifteen years has been raised by the thuggee to become their sacred virgin and high priestess of Kali (Ingeborg Schöner). Naturally Guy Madison (the snake hunter) and Miss Schöner meet, and the marvellous music of Carlo Rustichelli keeps accompanying them throughout the film, which is well made with great settings and wonderful jungle photography. This is a very romantic film of India at its most exotic and thrilling, and no wonder the story was remade into a great TV series 30 years later and doubtlessly also inspired Indiana Jones to explore the Temple of Doom as well.

Wooden acting....ridiculous turbans....stuffy tigers...Guy Madison. I was 7 years old when they made this "lame'o"... thank God I didn't saw in at the time...my youth would've been over in a sec. What a crazy world the grownups can make...!!! Seen letterboxed on Italian tv-channel RaiUno, running 82.00 mins, pal. Took me about 22 mins fast-forwarding on my vcr.

A tropical adventure film seemingly inspired by Hammer and the likes of THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY. British redcoats battle murderous thugs, with Guy Madison as a turban-wearing Sandokan-style hero on their side. Turns out the pretty girl at the heart of the devious ceremonies is a Brit so they need to get her out. A typical cheap and cheerful Italian adventure with some good sets and a familiar feel.

Here we deal with comic strip :and yet,there are comic strips which are gripping ,with a decent script .

The Thugs were an Indian network of secret fraternities engaged in murdering (sacrifying ) the unfortunate passers-by (here innocent snake hunters). The Thugs consisted both of Hindus and Muslims though their deity was the Hindu Goddess Kali.The Thugs were so ruthless and so cruel that their name became a common noun .

Here the story is guaranted to net nothing but horse laughs ;a captain's young daughter was captured by the Thugs who made her their Kali Sacred Virgin .(sic) But while growing up the kidnapped reluctant priestess feels she is not like the other ones and of course she falls for an enemy.

Most of the story consists of sacrifices ,tortures and "dread-Kali's wrath" warnings ; the best actor in the movie, Peter Van Eyck ,is barely supporting ,and in his rare scenes ,wondering why the hell he got involved in that business.As for the rest of the cast ,it's ,as von-13 aptly wrote ,wooden acting,and directing is appalling,particularly in the final "action-packed" scenes .

"Mystery of Thug Island" is basically a good, romantic adventure story and it boasts the presences of both Guy Madison and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart. Both actors are almost unrecognizable playing handsome Indian characters, the former as the villainous high priest of the blood drinking goddess Kali and the latter as a lowly native snake-hunter. This version is far superior to the awkwardly stultifying 1954 Lex Barker version "Mystery of the Black Jungle" or "Black Devils of Kali" with which it is often confused. The most unlikely and unrealistic part of the plot is Ada's 19th century British pater approving of her marriage to the low-caste native Tremal Naik after he's finally found her after her 15 years of captivity. Not bloody likely! The thughi cult is a fascinating subject better treated in film by "Gunga Din" (1939), "Stranglers of Bombay" (1960), and "The Deceivers (1988, all of which contain much better portrayals.