This is going under Q because of Maggie Q.
Writer: Jillian Jacobs, Christopher Roach, Jeff Wadlow (Screenplay)
Starring: Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Portia Doubleday, Michael Pena, Michael Rooker, Kim Coates, Charlotte McKinney
Plot: A horror adaptation of the popular ’70s TV show about a magical island resort.
Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Soap Opera Horror
Story: Fantasy Island starts as five strangers, Gwen (Q), Melanie (Hale), Patrick (Stowell), Brax (Yang) and JD (Hansen) travel to Fantasy island to be part of the latest resort hosted by Mr Roarke (Pena). Gwen wants a chance to have another chance with man she could have lived her whole life with, Melanie wants revenge on a high school bully, Patrick wants to have some military action, while Brax and JD just want it all.
The one rule on Fantasy Island is that you complete the fantasy until the end, only when the fantasies become too realistic, the people want to know the truth about the island in hopes of trying to escape alive.
Thoughts on Fantasy Island
Characters – Mr Roarke is the man that runs the fantasies, he does it for his own reasons and will always be calm when explaining the rules to the guests, he is always in control with his staff willing to do anything for him. Gwen is one of the guests, her fantasy is to change a moment in her life, with that moment helping her add together the pieces to what is really going on the island, she is the most down to Earth of the guests. Melanie was bullied through high school, now she has become a shallow person over compensating for her broken person, she gets a chance to get revenge on the school bully, only she needs to learn the real world isn’t about high school anymore. Patrick wants to follow in his father’s footsteps in the military wanting to become a solider and see some action.
Performances – Michael Pena and Maggie Q are the highlights of this movie, they keep their characters in the path needed, while partly down to writing maybe down to acting Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell make the cast very mixed direction for their characters.
Story – The story here follows five people that win a competition to get the fantasy they desire only they don’t want to go through with it and must fight to survive what the island truly has planned for them. This story does seem like it should be easy enough, only it ends up become like a soap opera with a twist coming in nearly every single line in the film, even if the grander scale of everything is meant to make sense by the end. It can be enjoyed a lot more drunk because it is right out there with how everything unfolds.
Comedy/Horror – The comedy in this film feels more accidently rather than planned in the film, with the horror not coming through strong enough, with nothing be scary in anyway through the film.
Settings – The island itself looks beautiful, having everything you would want to have a good time, relax, only for it to become way to big for what the visual side of the film.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are basic enough, it does work for the cheesy side, only it isn’t as strong as it could be.
Scene of the Movie – Full soap opera ending.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many twists.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror film that ends up becoming more of a soap opera rather than horror film but feels like a true drunk movie night.
Overall: Drunk Late Night Horror.