Blumhouse’s Fantasy
Island G
I suppose Blumhouse, the studio specializing in horror films
and named after Jason Blum, put their name first in the title to slightly differentiate
it from the television series of the same name (originally airing from 1977 to
1984 and revived in 1998); this film allegedly being a prequel to it. I’ve never seen a single episode of that
series and this film only received 8% out of 100 critics on Rotten Tomatoes, so,
in addition to it sounding formulaic as f***, I didn’t have high hopes for this
movie. In it, a group of people are
flown to a beautiful island with promises of living out their fantasies based
on a questionnaire they all filled out. Now,
as with most “be careful what you wish for” and “this all sounds too good to be
true” tales, there is a catch to all of it and not all is as it seems. While this is no masterpiece (nor did I
expect it to be) and does go on a bit too long, as well as concluding a bit too
positively for me, everything is cleverly tied up (meaning no loose ends) and I
actually had more fun with it than I anticipated. For that, I’m going to recommend it
(yikes). No, I don’t plan on checking
out the series now either (supposedly being a fantasy/drama instead of horror),
nor do I think I’ll have repeat viewings, although I would be curious to check
out the unrated version considering this PG-13 version did contain several parts
that could’ve been more violent. 5/15/2020
Bonus review:
Vivarium OK/G
The Twilight Zone
much? This sci-fi film certainly felt
like a feature-length episode (not that there’s anything wrong with that; I
love The Twilight Zone). In it, a couple (played by Jesse Eisenberg
and Imogen Poots) follow an agent to check out a home in a development called
Yonder (hmm…) where all the homes look identical and not a single person seems
to be living in. While checking out one
of the homes, the agent disappears. They
try driving out of the development only to keep ending up back at the same home;
same when they try escaping by foot.
They realize they’re stuck at this house; burning it down doesn’t even
get rid of it. They’re repeatedly given
a box of food with instructions outside the home, and one box contains a baby
they’re told to raise if they want to be released. The child ages exponentially, screams when
it’s hungry, and acts very robotic. Are
they in Hell? Purgatory? There is a pervading sense of dread that had
me quite intrigued for most of its length, but I can’t give it a strictly G
rating (which really bums me out) since I didn’t get a direct (or at least
satisfying) conclusion from it. I read
several different explanations online afterwards, even from the director
himself, and none of them would’ve made me think anything of the sort had I not
read them. The director (Lorcan
Finnegan) also said the film, like many a sci-fi tale, was open to the viewer’s
interpretation, but that doesn’t help me.
I mean, I think I sort of took something from it before I read spoilers,
and if it is open to my interpretation, I guess my ending could be right,
no? Ugh!
Whatever! Check it out and maybe
it won’t be as maddeningly baffling for you.
5/15/2020
---Sean O.
5/16/2020
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