Verdict
Summary
The movie is truly effective, if a little simplistic, and I was looking forward to it ending because I was beginning to feel exhausted even after only 90 minutes. It’s a solid enough survival horror film with a high dread and creep factor, so fans of these types of movies will do well to discover this one.
Plot:
A field trip for some young people turns into a nightmare when a trio of deranged brothers want to keep them … forever.
Review:
When their deranged elderly mother dies, three isolated adult brothers living on a remote rural island are left to fend for themselves. These men have been on the lookout for decades for a wife for the younger, developmentally challenged brother, but the only eligible women who “visit” the island are lone swimmers or kayakers who have no idea that the island is inhabited by these lunatics. The brothers are completely possessive and protective of their island and insist on “keeping” their latest prize, a poor young woman who is captured, tortured, and kept chained in a dungeon, but when they realize that she’s not a virgin and not fit for marriage as their mother would’ve preferred for them, she’s simply kept as a keepsake like a toy for them to play with and abuse. When a group of college students show up on the island with their teacher who planned a sleepover field trip for them, the three intimidating brothers play along rather harmlessly with the group of students, who have no idea the hell that’s in store for them over the weekend. The brothers (the oldest is strong and imposing, the middle brother is unabashedly horny and handsy, while the youngest is an unpredictable man child) choose one of the girls in the group to “marry,” and when the teacher realizes that these guys aren’t just goofing around, things get serious real fast when the brothers use their knowledge of the island and their sheer force to take what they want … even if it means killing everyone else to get it.
While America was churning out “camping / road trips from hell” movies in the early ’70s and ’80s with films such as Deliverance, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Hills Have Eyes, Hong Kong played a little catch up with The Island, which resembles those (especially Deliverance), but does it with its own sauce and seasoning. The results are pretty impressive considering they did it on a relatively modest budget and without using much makeup and gore effects and rely instead on over the top performances and freakish camera angles. The guys who play the three brothers give really broad, but creepy performances (the younger guy always has a huge roll of snot dangling out of his nose), and the poor girls in the movie have to cower and act traumatized after being raped or tortured by the creeps. The movie is truly effective, if a little simplistic, and I was looking forward to it ending because I was beginning to feel exhausted even after only 90 minutes. It’s a solid enough survival horror film with a high dread and creep factor, so fans of these types of movies will do well to discover this one. Produced by Sammo Hung and directed by Po-Chih Leong.
Eureka! has just released a premium special edition Blu-ray of The Island with a crisp 2K restoration, and special features include a slipcover, new artwork, two new audio commentaries, interviews, a new appreciation, an insert booklet, and more.
