by The other day I was thinking back on an old horror film I remembered seeing in my youth. I remembered there being pirates who overtake a luxury ship and kidnap a son and father who must work together to escape. With just that vague memory I hit the internet in hopes of finding it. I was lucky and quickly discovered that it was called the Island. Not only that, but it has been highly criticized since release and is still to this day panned by critics. I’ve never been one to take someone else’s opinion as gospel, and so I looked up the easiest avenue to give it a viewing to see if my young self was right. It’s cheesy and nonsensical, but I’ll be darned if it isn’t enjoyable even if it’s a bit lighter on the horror elements than I remembered.
The Island begins as an older group is vacationing aboard their yacht just off a chain of islands in the Caribbean. They spot a canoe washing toward the boat with a hand hanging out from under a blanket. They investigate but are immediately dispatched by an unseen person. This is just the latest in a string of missing boats in this area, and British born New York journalist Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) is determined to solve the mystery and write the story of a lifetime about it. His cynical son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) is invited along with the promise of a trip to Disneyworld. Justin realizes he was tricked when he and his father board a small carrier plane for one of the islands near where the tourists have gone missing. They effectively become trapped on the island when the plane crash lands, and seek shelter at a nearby motel. It is here that the meet the eccentric owner of the property and Blair rents a fishing boat in an attempt to make up for the earlier deception to his son.
It is on the open seas that they encounter a distressed swimmer which results in them being accosted by a barbaric looking man who Blair kills in self defense before being knocked out. Father and son awaken on a nearby island in the custody of a rag tag band of swashbuckling pirates. This colony has been forgotten in time thanks to the solitude of the seas, and they are behind the rash of disappearances. They decide to spare both Blair and Justin with hopes of the son introducing new blood to the group, and Blair is put into the custody of the newly widowed gal whose husband he just killed. He is to give her a baby and then be killed. Justin quickly becomes brainwashed and thrives in his new role as a young pirate while Blair begins plotting their escape.
One of the Island’s main problems stems from its lack of action. For the most part we’re subject to the day to day lives of the pirates while Blair is tied up or restrained, and to be honest it’s not really all that interesting. His many escape attempts are the highlight and watching him and his new wife be tortured with jellyfish is a surreal scene that will stay with me for a long time. To inject some much needed action into the story we get to see the pirates in their element when a schooner passes by the island. This is easily my favorite part of the movie as Blair helplessly watches the new victims being dispatched while the pirates celebrate their plunder. It’s unfortunate that, for some reason, one of the victims knows martial arts and manages to fight back for a long time because this sequence is incredibly cheesy to the point I found myself laughing. Was this really necessary? Despite being advertised as a horror film (just look at the cover and you’ll see what I mean) the horror elements are pretty light. You really have to argue that this can be considered a thriller at all.
Let me start off by saying that the pirates are very miscast. Most of them simply aren’t believable in the roles. Nau, the leader of the pirates, takes the cake in this regard. He is played by David Warner of all people and I just didn’t buy him being an outdoorsman let alone full blown high seas scallywag. As far as performances go Michael Caine steals the show by a wide margin, and his performance isn’t even that great. He’s at least believable as a distraught prisoner and desperate father, but disbelief must be suspended during some of the more intense sequences such as when he is attempting to escape. Let’s face it; Michael Caine is no John Rambo.
The Island barely qualifies as a horror film or thriller, but it has just enough of the qualities for me to review it here. It’s more of an action adventure film, and so it won’t really scratch the itch. I can certainly see why this one isn’t so well liked, but I rather enjoyed it because of Michael Caine’s performance as well as the scenery which I found to be beautiful. The finale really steals the show and almost makes up for the slow pace of the rest of this feature. I enjoyed the Island despite the whole thing being a little cheesy with a ridiculous premise and odd casting choices.
Pros
- Enjoyable characters
- Thrilling action scenes
Cons
- Odd casting choices
