The Isle

This film was painfully stretched out to 96 mins that should have been a short film. I get that this was a low budget production, but even for a C-grade film, everything about it was amateurish. The directing and editing was terrible, the score was way too evident throughout, the acting decent in some parts, terrible in others - but I'm guessing that was the director failing to direct his cast. The concept story itself was interesting, but the screenplay dragged this films pace to a snails speed and felt like 2+ hours. It's clearly obvious all reviews above a 7 are all fake/paid - as they are the only review, or 2 or 3 others on the same day. It's an honest and generous 3/10 from me.

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.

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.

There's the makings of a good supernatural mystery in here somewhere but sadly it doesn't really come together. The lonely Island shrouded in most: check The unfriendly local man with something to hide: check The benevolent ingénue: check The ethnic minority character who wants to explore the island alone: check The spectre hovering in the background: check BUT it's sadly much less than the sum.of it's parts. There's no compelling story and no real scares.

Like many of the reviews, i agree that the cinematography provided a nice dreary atmosphere. Beyond that, there was not much else to keep me interested. The pacing was so slow i fast forwarded a few times just to get through certain scenes! The acting was average at best. I don't recommend wasting time on watching this movie.