Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Island Of Blood; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:
Story - 0.50
Direction - 1.25
Pace - 0.75
Acting - 1.00
Enjoyment - 1.00
TOTAL - 4.75 out of 10
The story is a mess. The writer and director, William T Naud, tried too hard to add the mystery and overcooked it. I believe he thought he was casting red herrings throughout the story to throw the audience off the killer's true identity. What he was doing was supplementing illogical dialogue and narrative, which made it confusing and silly. For example, the casting director keeps oversimplifying the cast's lines and then blatantly comes out with a quip to draw the audience's attention to him, "They'll know whose dying when they see it." The subtlety of this pretence is as subtle as getting hit in the head with two gold bricks. Then, there's the section where we learn how the performers obtained their roles. They didn't audition: They simply received the invite in the mail. We're intended to assume these people have something in common. It would have been a good ploy had Naud built upon it. But he doesn't. The ending is the worst thing about the picture. When the murderer is exposed, we realise that unless we had psychic abilities there was no way for us to deduce the killer's identity. I didn't feel too bad because I'd pretty much given up on the Whodunnit side of the story by then. And that is a botch-up in itself as the alternate title is Whodunnit. That title alone says, get your thinking caps on and notepads out; who'll be first to get the murder?
Naud is a smidgen better behind the camera. Generally, his technique is above average. There are a few enticing and eerily low lit scenes where he uses shadow and light admirably. His major pitfall is the pacing of the film. Island cried out for a varied tempo to add extra power to the scene's mood. The single pace is too slow for most of the film, which makes it less exciting and scary than it should be.
The cast isn't brilliant. Most miss with their portrayals of the characters. Franklin Phlem needs to be more of a presence on the screen. He needed more charisma and oomph. You see Ron Gardner trying to flesh him out, but he mainly comes across as dull. A couple of the characters need to be more menacing. One needed to be more of a diva. Though the story was overcooked, the performances were underdone.
I couldn't in all integrity recommend the Island Of Blood. It could have been such a good movie had the story and cast been more robust. Should you stumble across it someplace, then it will pass an hour or so, but don't expect too much of it.
Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers list to see where I ranked the Island Of Blood.
Take Care & Stay Well.
