The Isle

Absolute shocker of a film. The rating of 6.5 was enough to convince me to watch it, and although ratings can be wrong (I have seen some very good 4/10's in the past) There is no possible way on earth that this is a 6.5. I feel i'm being extremely generous with a 3 star. I'm still considering making it a 2 as i write this review.

Bad casting, bad acting (I mean, really bad acting) even the costumes weren't believable. The only saving grace was the occasional nice view and half decent camera work.

It's a stinker, folks. Watch it if you want......but don't say i didn't warn ya.

Why is this movie listed in the horror section? It is NOT HORROR! It should be listed under drama/suspense, but not horror. If you go into it (as I did) being misled, thinking it is a horror film, you might be sorely disappointed. I wasn't because I love atmospherics. I love movies & TV shows where the setting is as important as the story and characters. In fact, good atmospherics create another character out of the setting, (sometimes it is the most important character, as was the case here). This desolate, godforsaken isle, is as much of a character, as the rest of the disconsolate souls that are stranded here. Why are they stuck here? Why are they trying to convince the newly arrived shipwrecked sailors, to make this isolated place their new home? Everyone here seems to be in on the same secret, can the sailors figure it out in time? And will they all make it out alive?

If you like a spooky setting, with more suspense than gore, then give this movie a try. If you're looking for blood & guts, look elsewhere.

The production was very low-budget clearly even from the start, the acting is wooden and it feels like watching a play at a theater. The story at first interested me a bit, but after 20 minutes, I realized this was not going to be a good movie. I gave it my all to stay awake and watch the whole thing, but it never really got better. It was boring and hard to watch because of the low-budget. I know this is not horror and I did not go in thinking it was horror, but I still found it very slow even for a period drama. It's just not compelling. And I usually like indie films, but this is just bad. I'm sure the people who made the movie wanted to do something good, but sorry, it really needed more work to even be remotely enjoyable to watch.

I caught a moment of this flick on cable and was intrigued. After checking out the positive reviews here I recorded it on my DVR to watch in its entirety later.

The movie does draw you in at the beginning, with the standard "sailors beached on a desolate isle." They soon realize that strange things are afoot here, and we are given to understand that supernatural events are transpiring.

However, the movie then loses its forward motion. You can only have so many ghostly appearances, frightening nighttime walks in the woods, and otherworldy voices singing before your attention starts to flag. The movie lacks the arc of suspenseful tension that you find in Hitchcock's movies. By the long-hoped-for end one is yawning.

Skip it and watch reruns of Gilligan's Island.

Having read the very controversial reviews on The Isle I pretty much had to give it a go for myself, and I have to say that the feeling you get while scrolling past of those 1-star and 10-star ratings is itself the best review for this film.

The Isle has a good story and it would have such big potential, but it falls short for clearly too small budget. Either it's that, or lazyness that makes about the half of the film looking like a student film.

So I did have several issues with this film:

• Acting is all over the place, and some of the actors don't have a clue how they should carry their character. Many awkward moments.

• Directing is sometimes okay, sometimes it isn't quite sure of itself and how to continue from certain points of the story.

• The film stretches the running time needlessly. There are quite a few moments where the story simply does not need to take a moment to reflect or react, but nevertheless it's there and this accumulates to at least 15-20 minutes of pure nothing. It would be different if this time would be used cleverly and building the tension, but The Isle just can't manage it.

But, as I said earlier and as it reads in the title, the story has potential. If this story would be picked up by a more talented director and gathered a bit more seasoned actors and actresses, it might come out a brilliant movie. Sadly, that's not how it is now.

5/10, "meh, would not want to watch it again".