The Ghost of Monk's Island

To be clear, this isn't a horror film but I thought I'd give it its own thread rather than bung it into Movie Night because of the title, and it might be useful for other members who are contemplating watching it to know what they're getting into.

This was a Children's Film Foundation serial (the opening titles still tell you this) that was compiled to feature length - and it is looong (about 105 minutes, I think); it has been getting some outings on Talking Pictures.

Four kids get stranded on a very nice island a short hop from the mainland. The search for them consists of one plane and a small fishing boat. We're told that people won't go to the very nice Monk's Island because everyone is scared of a ghostly monk. You'd think that the film would try to make something of this, but it doesn't. Not even the kids contemplate for one second that the cowled figure they see is anything other than a ne'er-do-well, hence not horror. Much of the film consists of the kids making themselves at home on the very nice island, doing things like using a branch as a broom, finding potatoes (above ground, seemingly) and boiling water ... The basic survival stuff - making fires, building a kite to signal with, boiling water - seems to have been designed to encourage kids to try things out for themselves, which is admirable, I suppose, although how this kept children entertained though 7 x 15 minute chapters I cannot imagine, even if they are really into making water boil.

I quite enjoyed semi-watching the film from a social history perspective. It's in colour, there are one or two familiar faces in it, and part of me wishes I'd had a childhood of adventures. I'm off now to boil some water.