This early adaptation of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fantasy classic was made so long ago that the author managed to see (and enjoy it). Watched today it's something of a curiosity piece, with all of the dated appeal of a typical silent movie: mannered overacting, fussy characters, everything done on a seemingly small scale. Where it shines is in the quality of the special effects by maestro Willis O'Brien, with the climactic scenes of the dinosaur rampaging through the streets of London going on to inspire a whole wave of cinema in the 1950s (GODZILLA included) and through to the present day. The stop motion is of excellent quality and the real highlight of an imaginative story. It's not KING KONG, but it is a lot of fun and quite charming.
Review of The Lost World
