236. Blumhouse's Fantasy Island; movie review

BLUMHOUSE'S FANTASY ISLAND
Cert 15
109 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong threat, disturbing images

Hands up, who remembers Mr Roarke and Tattoo in the 1970s TV series, Fantasy Island.
The characters do ring a vague bell with me but I can't recall the contents of the show.
Anyway, every other half-famous TV series has undergone a movie remake over the years, so why not this one?
Well, because it makes for a very sub-standard fare if Jeff Wadlow's representation is the best which could have been achieved.
This is much more of a horror than would have been accepted on 1970s mainstream TV but is just as predictable.
It stars Michael Peña as Roarke, the mysterious owner of an island on which guests have the chance for just one fantasy.
The problem is that they may regret the direction which they tread.
For example, Lucy Hale plays a young woman who blames a childhood bully (Portia Doubleday) for her psychological problems and wants to take revenge.
Then there is Maggie Q  as a businesswoman who wants to go back in time to accept a marriage proposal which she initially rejected.
Meanwhile, Austin Stowell has regrets over the death of his father in military action and two brothers (Jimmy O. Yang and Ryan Hansen) just want the basic party fantasy of many young guys.
However, the island has deep dark secrets and one person's utopia may well be at the expense of another.
And so, the inevitable bloody mayhem is combined with a battle to get the hell off it.
Nevertheless, this Blumhouse Production is not frightening enough to make the audience jump nor is it clever enough to pose any interesting dilemmas.
Instead, it follows movie cliche after movie cliche and, by its end, I didn't care who lived or died or about the various twists.


Reasons to watch: Occasional exciting scenes
Reasons to avoid: Not overly original

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 4.5/10

Did you know? Aaron Spelling admitted the original pitch for the 1970s Fantasy Island series was a joke. After ABC executive Brandon Stoddard rejected a string of programme ideas, Spelling blurted out: "What do you want? An island that people can go to and all of their sexual fantasies will be realised?" Stoddard loved the idea.

The final word. Jeff Wadlow: "I hope fans take away from this film that they had a really good time. It was a chance for me to do this crazy genre mashup and reference all these great horror movies. Saw, Purge, Butterfly Effect. All these different genres within the horror landscape that I tried to reference.” Bloody Disgusting

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