Destination - Il leggero fruscio della follia

Though the concept is dated, 'Ta Paidia Tou Diavolou' (a.k.a. 'Island of Death' or 'Devils in Mykonos') could have been a better film if the story had layers and the execution did not have a B-grade feel. The movie itself seems to primarily rely on violence and shock value rather than story (which is perhaps secondary). Christopher and Celia are initially depicted as a likable romantic couple who are visiting a Greek Island. Director Nico Mastorakis does not waste time in showing that this couple is insane. However, what I felt missing was the answer to the question why? Christopher is a psychopath who engages in acts of bestiality, rape, murder, torture and he likes to photograph them but what's the story behind this sick fascination? Celia is his partner in crime and the secret behind their relationship is revealed in the end but here too the big why question remains unanswered. As a result, most of the violence appears gratuitous. However, Mykonos is portrayed quite beautifully. It makes me want to visit the place on a holiday. The acting ranges from average to bad but Jane Lyle is good in some sequences, especially when her facial expression changes from fear to a cold smile. Slightly campy, this exploitation film has obtained cult status but it could have easily been a better film had more attention been given to the story and execution.

Island of Death is a true ungodly video nasty coming to you straight from the best euro-exploitation period. This year 2003, the movie received a complete digital remastering and it finally got released on special edition DVD. The box showed nothing but a red background with the explicit words : "The one movie that the censors didn't want you to see" and "sorry but we can't display images of the film on the cover since they're too gruesome". A bit exaggerated of course, this movie is far from being the goriest or most shocking film I've ever seen. Nevertheless it's mean-spirited, raw, brutal and pretty disturbing from time to time. "Island of Death" doesn't take the rules of humanity too strict and it isn't exactly what they call "politically correct". The movie seems to start like a lovely romantic comedy when a young couple arrives on a Greek Island. They look average but in fact they put other famous cinema couples like Bonnie & Clyde and Mickey & Mallory to shame. They brutally slaughter every person they come into contact with (mostly right after sexual intercourse which give the killings a nasty effect) and they have a few bizarre fetishes.

Island of Death doesn't contain much humor unless you see the irony in many things. For example: the guy kills homosexuals because he thinks it's pervert and against the will of God, while he himself has sex with a young goat! I thought that was pretty ironic, and there are lots of similar "jokes" to discover in "Island of Death". Even though there are a lot of horrible scenes, the movie itself is pretty light and not at all difficult too watch. Excellent stuff for exploitation fans. The leading actress (Jane Ryall) is a beauty but she never played in movies again.

This movie is really twisted, I loved it! If you're easily offended by extreme sexual and violent content, don't see it! Death scenes are numerous and sometimes very original. The lead female is never dressed for more than 3 minutes (she's a beauty) and when she takes it off prepare to see something pretty BAD happening. She and her "husband" hate deviant people, they want them all dead. The only problem they have is that they ended up on an island where almost no one is "normal", it's like a perverts heaven so the job is never finished... Acting isn't so bad and the landscapes are so beautiful they made me want to see the island of Mykonos with my own eyes. The ending is a must see, I can't even find the words to explain it but its some kind of a sweet revenge for the goat that we see in the beginning of the movie...

Island of Death is the Video Nasty equivalent of the story of Bonnie and Clyde. This film has an elevated status on the Video Nasty list as it's often seen to be one of the more nasty entries. This is certainly true, as the film features all manner of gory and sadistic sequences, and it really isn't hard to see why it got banned. As far as I'm concerned, Island of Death is an absolute treat, as the film is a constant stream of highlights and it's a great deal of fun seeing our central couple skipping from one murder to the next. It's obvious that the film is not meant to be taken completely seriously, as director Nico Mastorakis implements a pitch black sense of humour into most sequences; the fact that the central duo are complete and utter hypocrites is perhaps one of the most amusing things about the film. The plot simply follows a young British couple who travel to a small Greek island. After a phone call to the man's mother, it soon becomes apparent that these aren't normal people; and when they start murdering their way through the island's perverted inhabitants in the name of God, this notion is confirmed!

The film is notorious for a few scenes, the one involving a goat being of the most well-known. However, aside from this; the film features a plethora of gory highlights to delight the exploitation fan, favourites of mine involving a man hanging out of a plane and a rather one-sided swordfight. As you would expect from a Video Nasty, the acting is rather poor; with the central duo putting in particularly horrid performances. It really doesn't matter, however, as director Nico Mastorakis makes up for his actor's lack of talent by selecting a beautiful lead actress; and the stunningly clean Greek locations, which brilliantly offset the gritty scenes of slaughter. Films like this are quite common, as aside from Bonnie and Clyde, we've also had Badlands, Natural Born Killers, True Romance and more; but this is the one that is relentless and really gives the audience the impression that anything can happen. The film boils to down to an excellent climax, which delivers a brutal final twist to the tale as well as serving up comeuppance...well, almost. Typically for this film, the comeuppance isn't dished out in the most immediately obvious way, and overall; for its imagination, brutality and daring - I don't hesitate to recommend this film!

Director Nico Mastorakis has made a cynical cash-grabber (by his own admission) that is too cynical to impress anybody but a sophomore genre fan.

The most extreme, confronting genre pics, to paraphrase a character in VIDEODROME, "have a philosophy"; that is what makes them dangerous.

ISLAND OF DEATH's philosophy is to throw many "shocking" elements into a cinematic mix and stir slowly. The result is a dish with no taste but an ugly appearance.

Not to be confused with Serrador's brilliant WHO COULD KILL A CHILD? (sometimes called ISLAND OF DEATH), Mastorakis's effort is set on a Greek island which is a stage for various forms of slaughter, a little bestiality and some wholesale perversion.

Everything moves at a snailish pace and the violent set pieces are poorly directed.

Touted as "The movie that the censors didn't want you to see", I'd hazard a guess that the censors never saw it, they simply read the presskit until their knees jerked upwards.