Fantasy Island

> _**Review on Horror Focus_** Blumhouse is a strange one to predict when it comes to pumping out quality horror films. Jason Blum cleverly orchestrates a plethora of films on a tight-string budget, allowing some breathing space in the (un)likely case that one of his films is a flop. Normally, this is not the case as Blumhouse is prone to releasing the odd PG-13 horror movie every now and again, and strapping that age restriction on any horror already racks in the doe. This, however, has no accounting for taste, as fans like myself can often be left puzzled by the fodder that is pumped out of the Blumhouse canon a few times a year. With quite the eclectic resume of films under its belt, we were treated to the likes of Halloween, Get Out and debatably The Purge, and with the brilliant The Invisible Man coming out so recently, it's truly baffling how a film like Fantasy Island is also the product of the same company. No production company or director is perfect, as we are often exposed to some atrocious pieces of work from our most-trusted filmmakers (with the exception of Jordan Peele duh!). Blumhouse is not to be excluded as it isn't uncommon for them to pump out at least one absolute stinker a year, films that could easily go down as some of the worst the genre has to offer. Blumhouse itself is largely successful overall, and very rarely releases an all-out disaster; but if you see that dreaded brand stapled onto the start of a film title ie. Blumhouse's Truth or Dare, and Blumhouse's Fantasy Island, know that what you're about to endure will be 100 minutes of mind-numbing torture. Image result for fantasy island Let's make one thing crystal clear, Fantasy Island is camp as tits. The problem here however is that it doesn't realise, which is ridiculous given its boistrous bravado. What we have is a half-baked, often muddled experience that is so oblivious to its own unique charm and goofiness that such comments end up becoming a serious negative. If Fantasy Island capitalised on its own brand of silly then this would be an entirely more enjoyable experience from that alone, but instead it takes itself far too seriously and often gets lost in its own waffle. Some elements here are promising, with the overall plot being somewhat intriguing, but its the sheer execution and over-crammed production halts any above average element from being anything more than ill-conceived and inept. The biggest problem lies in the fact that it never knows what it is, nor understand what it's trying to be. It never fully lands on being a jumpy scare-centric horror, nor does it fully execute its trippy Midsommar-esque sci-fi rife that it tries so desperately to juggle. Fantasy Island is first and foremost a generically dull experience, one that feels like three extremely underwhelming scripts stitches together like the knock-off Leatherface mask. The final product is actually quite puzzling, one that has a troubled time trying to establish its own identity which inevitably leaks out onto its viewer, resulting in a nonsensical, head-scratchingly hollow experience that is as dense as it is naff. VERDICT Word to the wise; like Truth or Dare, if Blumhouse attach their name onto the front of a film title like they're Clive Barker, save yourself time and avoid it. This is one getaway you definitely want to cancel

'Fantasy Island' is a surprisingly fun, undemanding, slickly-filmed diversion that will keep its target audience entertained. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-fantasy-island-a-suprisingly-fun-horror-tinged-adventure

Decent watch at best, could watch again, but probably won't, and can't sincerely recommend. I had to watch this twice to make sure I followed what happened, I thought it was because I was really tired the first time, but nope, it made about as much sense the second time. A lot of this is just the writing. I don't know what is with writers and mysterious islands (I'm looking at you, "Lost"), but it makes them crazy: just because ANYTHING could happen, doesn't mean it needs to. The problem with "Lost" is that they were actively reacting to viewer reactions, trying extremely hard to produce episodes that didn't match predictions (allegedly keeping the audience guessing), but that just makes disjointed story lines that wildly diverge for no reason. This movie is basically that happening all in one go. The reason that the audience can draw lines is because a pattern is established by the written story, diverging breaks that pattern; it does not enhance it. This movie keeps some movie mystery clues in there, but there is a LOT of wild diverges and acting within acting here that I can't elaborate on without spoiling it (it's the one "great" thing about this movie, so I won't). There is a high quality way of writing that involves red herrings and proper misdirection, but this is not it. The end result looks the same, until you review what happened and realize that the first was based off the information given and the second is based off of arbitrary writing decisions. The mystery of the island itself interferes with the traditional mystery aspect as well. Even in ghost mysteries there are rules to follow. When there aren't any rules left, you can't predict and the story actually gets boring if not frustrating. I am not saying this movie is without worth, but I am going to say that I feel bad for Lucy Hale as she's definitely the best of this movie.