~Spoiler~
I just finished Savage Island and I'm stunned by all of the positive reviews here. I read about this flick in Fangoria and had been wanting to see it for a while. Maybe that's why, when I finally found a copy, it failed to live up to any expectations that I may have had. It's quintessentially a bad retread of ground already covered brilliantly in Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes. Here's the familiar plot: A family cross paths with some backwoods hillbilly "savages" and are forced to become savages themselves. It's one groan after another as our "hero" does something completely dumbfounding time and time again. There's one scene in particular involving a cell phone that takes place much later than the first hillbilly attack. So they had a working cell phone the whole time their family was in danger, and nobody thought to call the police?? There are other annoying plot elements (and characters), but I'll leave them for the viewer to discover. Finally, the whole shot on digital thing really bugs me unless it's doctored somehow to look more like film (Starship Troopers 2 is a fine example of this). I just hate the way it looks. I know it's the cheap way to go, but look at all those great 80's films made with a shoestring budget. On a positive note, the actors were better than what we're all used to in these projects. Much better for the most part. The ending of the movie will either have you laughing hysterically or throwing objects at your television.
I just finished Savage Island and I'm stunned by all of the positive reviews here. I read about this flick in Fangoria and had been wanting to see it for a while. Maybe that's why, when I finally found a copy, it failed to live up to any expectations that I may have had. It's quintessentially a bad retread of ground already covered brilliantly in Deliverance and The Hills Have Eyes. Here's the familiar plot: A family cross paths with some backwoods hillbilly "savages" and are forced to become savages themselves. It's one groan after another as our "hero" does something completely dumbfounding time and time again. There's one scene in particular involving a cell phone that takes place much later than the first hillbilly attack. So they had a working cell phone the whole time their family was in danger, and nobody thought to call the police?? There are other annoying plot elements (and characters), but I'll leave them for the viewer to discover. Finally, the whole shot on digital thing really bugs me unless it's doctored somehow to look more like film (Starship Troopers 2 is a fine example of this). I just hate the way it looks. I know it's the cheap way to go, but look at all those great 80's films made with a shoestring budget. On a positive note, the actors were better than what we're all used to in these projects. Much better for the most part. The ending of the movie will either have you laughing hysterically or throwing objects at your television.