Dead Man's Island

Based on the 1993 novel of the same name by Carolyn Hart, which is in itself inspired by the Agatha Christie's masterful mystery/thriller novel called 'And Then There Were None' (1939), 'Dead Man's Island' features an entertaining 'whodunnit' story starring the charismatic and lovely Barbara Eden as Henry 'O', William Shatner, and Southern belles Morgan Fairchild and Traci Lords. Traci Lord's acting was mediocre at best, but she was definitely stunning.

I did not really appreciate the ending, however. Without spoiling anything, I think that the story could have gone in a different direction, I think that it was slightly exaggerated.

William Shatner is a millionaire convinced someone is trying to kill him and Barbara Eden is a journalist and an old girlfriend of his trying to solve the mystery on a creepy island mansion. Whodunit plows along and some secrets from his past add to confusion. Ending surprises but somewhat disappoints, too. The underemployed stars playing the parts help keep it watchable. An Indian giving boat rides also mentions a little history behind the real Dead Man's Island in Vancouver.

I knew nothing about "Dead Man's Island" when I started watching it, other than the casting of Barbara Eden and William Shatner (whose famous shows aired during the same years on NBC in the '60s), and the setting on an island. As it progressed I noticed a little similarity between the movie and Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". In the end the movie turned out to be OK, not great. What caught my eye throughout the movie was that Eden's reporter stood out from the rest of the characters: most of them wear neutral colors most of the time, but she almost always wears bright colors, as though she's an anomaly in this group.

What I mainly say about the movie is that the casting of Barbara Eden, William Shatner, Roddy McDowall, Olivia Hussey and Don Most means that a beautiful genie meets a captain traveling through space meets an intelligent ape meets drama's most famous lover meets a 1950s goof-ball.

A fine movie with a rather unusual plot. William Shatner who plays Chase Prescott , a man with a business empire is very well cast. Barbara Eden as his designated detective is excellent and very convincing. It seems that everyone on the island except Barbara Eden (Henri O) is suspected of trying to murder him. Many mysterious occurrences makes the viewer wonder what is going to happen next. Henri O (Barbara Eden) as the detective is also in great jeopardy. William Shatner and especially Barbara Eden are very convincing. As in all her movies Barbara is always in control and courageous.

I hated this movie. The title and plot description may make it sound interesting, but believe me - it isn't.

The first scene sees our hero, Barbara Eden getting into a boat to go to the island, when an Indian man - who happens to be sat at the dock - tells her, "That was Dead Man's Island. And it will be again.", or words to that effect.

From then on, I could tell what sort of entertainment I was in for. The plot was completely unrealistic - in a bad way. Every cliche in the book was present here - I could predict every twist, including the ending, before it had happened.

To be frank - for a TV thriller - this film didn't thrill me at all. I don't know why Barbara Eden - a fine actress - ever agreed to do this. She probably did it in an attempt to rescue it, but unfortunately, she is beaten by the poor script and talentless cast members, (including William Shatner, who I used to think was talented).