I have not seen this film but this is a review I read that makes me want to see it. In fact it is a film I had never heard of until I was browsing information on actor Bruce Bennett ( formerly Herman Brix ) who had played Tarzan in one or more films in the Thirties – and apparently played him well. Anyway back to this one, and it does seem that Bruce Bennett just knew that his performance would have to be outrageous to make the film both entertaining and watchable.

Bruce Bennett wrote the screenplay for this film as well as playing the starring role. Here is that Review :

Wow! What a bad and yet at the same time awesome film experience. The acting is so-over-the-top, the storyline so twisted, and the mood, tone, and pace so depraved, that I honestly can say that I have never seen anything quite like this. For many, that will be good news if they can say the same!

Don’t get me wrong, Fiend of Dope Island is an atrocious film. It has awful acting, no special effects, and has a story with little merit or any redeeming qualities. It is; however; a fun bad film to watch and has perhaps one of the most outrageous performances I have seen in Dope island dictator Bruce Bennett who runs his island whipping natives and friends alike any time they don’t move fast enough for him or displease him in some way – which it seems is all the time as he is always drunk.

Charlie Davis (Bruce Bennett) is a psychotic man who owns an island in the Carabean where he whips and treats everyone there like slaves. One day a boat comes by and a beautiful dancer is on board and Charles sets his attention to her, which causes a mutiny.

THE FIEND OF DOPE ISLAND is a pretty bad film if you want to be a snob and look at it as something it’s not. If you’re wanting a good looking, Oscar-winning film then this here certainly isn’t going to be for you. The film is actually very fast-paced and it is good entertainment

The highlight is without question the insane and way over-the-top performance of Bruce Bennett. I’m going to say he probably watched several Bela Lugosi movies when he was younger and perhaps he realised that everything about the film was bad that he hammed it up for some entertainment. It’s his nutty performance that makes the film worth watching and it was really fun seeing and hearing his insane laughing and non-stop rants. Tania Velia does a nice job in her role of the dancer.

The film has many campy moments but there’s no question that it’s one of the more outrageous and over-the-top adventure films ever made. The “dope” connection isn’t played up as much as you might imagine it would be but this is still a fun film if as you don’t take it too seriously – and I don’t see how you possibly could.