Verdict
Summary
Not nearly as bad as its dreadful reputation, The Island – which was based on a book by Peter Benchley, who’d written Jaws – is actually kind of a frightening, if far-fetched horror film with a creepy, if entirely outlandish subtext. Who’d have thought that making pirates into inbred killers would make a scary movie, but this film’s director Michael Ritchie somehow manages to turn the pirates into ignorant cult worshipping creeps, and the whole dynamic between Caine’s character and his son is pretty well played.
Plot:
A reporter travels to Bermuda to find out why so many boats and boaters go missing, and goes missing himself, only to find out the answer.
Review:
Reporter Blair Maynard (Michael Caine, who disowned this movie) is assigned a story that has baffled authorities for years: Yachts and ships are still vanshing all around the Caribbean near the “Bermuda Triangle,” and he’s intrigued enough to take his teenaged son along with him with the promise that they’ll go to Disney World after he’s wrapped up his investigation during the summer. They hire a private plane piloted by a real yahoo of a captain, which results in a spectacular crash on an island somewhere, but they miraculously survive. The Caribbean island they’re on has a small hotel and they hire a fishing boat for a day excursion while they wait for the next plane out, and while fishing, they encounter what can only be described as murderous, savage pirates who take them to their hideout on one of the nearby islands. The island is full of these bloodthirsty, ignorant and inbred scallywags: For hundreds of years they’ve lived here in secrecy and they survive by killing yachters and boaters, taking their provisions and inbreeding amongst themselves, only occasionally bringing in fresh blood – male or female, depending on the need – to help rejuvenate their bloodline. Maynard, who killed one of the pirates, is assigned as a slave to the dead man’s wife until she sees fit to do away with him, and because Maynard might very be descended from Blackbeard himself, he is allowed to become one of the pirates on a probationary basis, but it is his young son that captures the eye of the pirate lord (played by David Warner) because he sees great potential in the boy as a future buccaneer. Quickly (too quickly), the boy is brainwashed and converted to the pirate ways, and over the course of a few months (it’s not really clear how much time passes), Maynard has to figure out a way to get the better of his captors and turn the tables, all while trying to protect his son.
Not nearly as bad as its dreadful reputation, The Island – which was based on a book by Peter Benchley, who’d written Jaws – is actually kind of a frightening, if far-fetched horror film with a creepy, if entirely outlandish subtext. Who’d have thought that making pirates into inbred killers would make a scary movie, but this film’s director Michael Ritchie somehow manages to turn the pirates into ignorant cult worshipping creeps, and the whole dynamic between Caine’s character and his son is pretty well played. The climax is incredible; Caine grabs a hold of a mounted Coast Guard machine gun and obliterates the entire pirate horde in one go in a Rambo-esque display of perfectly timed and executed heroism, and it’s a surprising and wild turn of events because until then he’s shown as being very passive aggressive. Ennio Morricone did the score.
Kino Lorber reissues The Island on home video, this time in a sharp 4K Ultra HD upgrade in a new 4K scan, which looks better than the previous Shout Factory Blu-ray. They’ve also included a Blu-ray disc in the set, and there are two audio commentaries, plus the trailer.
