After losing contact with a bio research facility located on an abandoned island, a group of mercs and scientists are assembled to investigate what has happened. Once there they discover an unusual bio weapon which can invade and assimilate it’s enemies. It’s up to the scientists to work out a way to stop the monster before it can find a way to reach the mainland. Course, things are’nt going to run smoothly…
Well what can be said about Dark Island? Firstly, this movie looks and feels like a Sy-Fy movie; granted a decent one but still it reeks Sy-Fy. Horrid CGI-ness, quasi passable acting, logical inconsistencies, etc, etc. It certainly is not the stuff of movie legend but then it’s not that bad either.
The monster/bio weapon is reminiscent of the smoke monster from Lost, except a bit nastier and whilst gore is kept to a minimum, there are some mildly unnerving images that will crop up now and again. Sadly when you get down to it, Dark Island isn’t that scary a movie. Sure it has some eerie moments, like when the team first arrive on the island but it’s just not that scary in this reviewers book.
Pacing isn’t that awesome either. The movie starts out well but at a point roughly one third in, it starts to plod along. It delves into flashbacks, corporate agendas, team paranoia; all of which take us away from what we really want to see: shocks and gore.
The characters are’nt really that interesting either. In fact i lost a lot of my enthusiasm for this movie approx half way through and it never really recovered although the ending isn’t that bad truth be told. It sports a cast of relative unknowns who look like they’re struggling with an awkward script a lot of the time, not great. I should also point out there is no nudity whatsoever in this flick, it’s a very straight laced movie that perhaps takes itself too seriously for it own good.
So is Dark Island worth a recommendation? To be frank (if you had’nt guessed already), no it’s not. It does have it’s moments but there’s nothing particularly special about this movie. Perhaps recommended for sci-fi buffs (most certainly rent before you buy) but everybody else is best to avoid i think.
Movie Details
Directors: Sam Gorski, Niko Pueringer
Writers: Gregory Gieras, Simon Boyes
Actors: Jai Koutrae, Zero Kazama, Mary Christina Brown, Rodney Wiseman
Release Year: 2010