Attack of the Mushroom
People (1962)When a
japan yacht is damaged in a storm, its crew and passengers (all
fashionable and affluent early 60s types) make their way to a nearby island. The
island is apparently deserted, though the castaways soon discover a beached
research ship on the other side of the island. An examination of the ship, the
insides of which are encrusted with a thick
mold, soon reveals
that it had an international crew which appear to be involved in
radiation and
fallout research. Despite this it seems that the crew survived for some time
after the ship was beached, however there is no indication of their current
whereabouts. Although
mushrooms are unusually plentiful on the island, the ship's captain warns
the passengers not to eat them because of the danger of
poisoning, and to concentrate on birds and turtle eggs. However, it is soon
discovered that birds are afraid of the island and that turtle eggs are scarce.
A small supply of canned food is found on the research ship, but this only buys
the crew some time. Inevitably, members of the crew begin eating the mushrooms.
In the meantime, they also discover that the crew of the abandoned ship hadn't
vanished as completely as they'd originally thought.
