Monster movies have always been a favourite of mine. From my first time watching the original King Kong, broadening my horizons with the endless series of Japanese Godzilla movies to modern day, mega-budget blockbusters, giant monster movies have always grabbed my attention. It’s been almost 90 years since the release of the first silver screen adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World and although technological advances are staggering compared to 1925, this version can still be classed as historically significant and actually quite a fun movie, especially for fans of silent cinema

The story of The Lost World has been told many times over, so much so that people often overlook the 1925 silent version, some not even knowing that it exists and that’s a true shame because although not as visually stunning as the second Jurassic Park movie in the late 90’s, this must’ve been a sight to behold when it was released. The special effects are out of this world for a film of this age. Nothing else could come close to it at the time, probably being the first film to use such effects to bring the dinosaurs to life on the screen.

The story, which most people will know but I’ll tell it anyway, follows Prof. Challenger who tries to convince his colleagues that dinosaurs still exist in the far reaches of the South American continent. Edward Malone, a newspaper reporter takes an interest in Challenger’s theory and funds an expedition to find out for himself, and guess what they find when they get there…

The film does feature a romantic sub-plot to give it a bit more depth, rather than just focusing on special effects and dinosaurs but unfortunately, whether it be due to the unimaginative lack of creativity of director Harry Hoyt or due to something else, it pretty much falls flat on its face, failing to give the viewer any reason to care about the romantic interests of the characters. I think that’s why King Kong is held in much higher regard than The Lost World. King Kong was much more of a layered film, focusing not only of the monster itself but on other, minor plots and noteworthy items. The Lost World doesn’t do that.

If I were to make a final judgement, I could not recommend it to the casual viewer. The Lost World is an incredibly mediocre picture that carries a lot of historical significance with it. That’s it. Film historians and people interested in the use of special effects in cinema will love this, but then again, they’ve probably already seen it haven’t they? Very middle of the road indeed.

Rating: 5/10