I watched this movie and now I'm mad. I'm mad now, because I watched it.
19 Reviews
Mad that I watched it.
psychonaut-3291527 April 2020
Red Eyes-Land
tmccull525 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I rubbed my eyes raw trying to stay awake through this celluloid cure for insomnia. The pace is abysmally slow, the plot is painfully predictable, and the acting is below average, at best.
There is a similar movie, whose title escapes me at the moment, that basically encompasses the points of premise of this movie. A young man finds himself trapped on an island, pursued by a mythical creature at night. A young woman mysteriously appears and disappears, and surprise! The young woman and the dangerous mythical beast are one in the same. This other movie, whose title escapes me, is no gem, but it is better than "Red Island" in that it is a bit less predictable.
You want a movie with someone trapped on an island with a dangerous beastie? Try "Sweeheart"; that movie is leaps and bounds better than this one is.
The award for playing a self-pitying, whiny, insecure, pouting dweeb in a lead role goes to Georgie Dabblenuts, or whatever his name is. I kept praying for his character to grow a set and man up, but such was not to be. He carried out his performance with all of the aplomb of an angsty nerd trying to work up the nerve to ask his crush to the big dance. He whines. He pouts. He wheedle's. He complains. He laughs at his true Love's mis-steps and misfortunes, but behaves like a petulant two year old when she laughs at his. He is utterly and completely unlikeable, and you have to wonder what the woman sees in him at all.
Not that she's a treat. They're going to an island that they've never been to before, know nothing about, and she's upset that he brings a gun and an air horn as defensive measures. Why would anyone want to be able to defend themselves in a potentially hostile wilderness setting? Silly, silly man!
There is a similar movie, whose title escapes me at the moment, that basically encompasses the points of premise of this movie. A young man finds himself trapped on an island, pursued by a mythical creature at night. A young woman mysteriously appears and disappears, and surprise! The young woman and the dangerous mythical beast are one in the same. This other movie, whose title escapes me, is no gem, but it is better than "Red Island" in that it is a bit less predictable.
You want a movie with someone trapped on an island with a dangerous beastie? Try "Sweeheart"; that movie is leaps and bounds better than this one is.
The award for playing a self-pitying, whiny, insecure, pouting dweeb in a lead role goes to Georgie Dabblenuts, or whatever his name is. I kept praying for his character to grow a set and man up, but such was not to be. He carried out his performance with all of the aplomb of an angsty nerd trying to work up the nerve to ask his crush to the big dance. He whines. He pouts. He wheedle's. He complains. He laughs at his true Love's mis-steps and misfortunes, but behaves like a petulant two year old when she laughs at his. He is utterly and completely unlikeable, and you have to wonder what the woman sees in him at all.
Not that she's a treat. They're going to an island that they've never been to before, know nothing about, and she's upset that he brings a gun and an air horn as defensive measures. Why would anyone want to be able to defend themselves in a potentially hostile wilderness setting? Silly, silly man!
Cursed Shrine
nogodnomasters7 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The film opens with a bit of a plot spoiler. John (Georgie Daburas) is explaining to a detective what happened on the deserted Pacific NW island and it is clear his wife Amy (Alex Essoe) is still there. They went there on vacation to patch up their relationship. John has an ulterior motive which comes out during the film.
John also manages to remember stuff that Amy did when she was by herself. The writing wasn't that tight. The film dragged on as you knew where it was headed and every step along the way was boring. Was that black electrician's tape Amy wore as pasties?
Guide: F-word. brief sex. brief partial nudity?
John also manages to remember stuff that Amy did when she was by herself. The writing wasn't that tight. The film dragged on as you knew where it was headed and every step along the way was boring. Was that black electrician's tape Amy wore as pasties?
Guide: F-word. brief sex. brief partial nudity?
Bad Bad Bad!!
stevenbroken3 April 2019
Such a high rating for this movie clearly fake
kaefab3 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is an ultimate borefest nothing happens, they are out in the wild camping, each night she disappears he goes out looking for her finds her and it starts all over the next day.
At the end you see a cool looking monster maybe not even 1 minute, so i guess she was possessed by it or something never understood what was going on anyways.
Stand clear of this turkey and don't get confused by the fake rating and surely the fake reviews that are coming.
At the end you see a cool looking monster maybe not even 1 minute, so i guess she was possessed by it or something never understood what was going on anyways.
Stand clear of this turkey and don't get confused by the fake rating and surely the fake reviews that are coming.
Drone & Gimbal Test: The Movie
Jigsaw73728 June 2020
That's about it. 20 minutes of material stretched out over 90 minutes. Lots of stuttery drone and gimbal shots with no narrative purpose and on top of that all shots are way underexposed and desaturated. It almost looks as if they skipped the color grading phase. The characters are boring and nothing happens.
Oh, I almost forgot: the movie, just like "Mary (2019)", is set within a framing narrative of a police interrogation that basically spoils the movie right at the beginning, deflating any hint of suspension.
Do not watch!
Oh, I almost forgot: the movie, just like "Mary (2019)", is set within a framing narrative of a police interrogation that basically spoils the movie right at the beginning, deflating any hint of suspension.
Do not watch!
Another worst horror film I've watch this year! Slow like snail! Bored to freaking death!
kwenchow7 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The film start with the main male actor chase by some unknown creature! After that, the film depict a couple planning to a journey to a deep forest in an island! As turnout, actually the male character deceive the woman go with him to a so called "Curse Shrine"! And the thing chasing him actually is an alien! Entire film slow like waiting dead! Keep showing audience scene of the conversation their making in camp, walking along the jungle! Really bored! The barely intense scene is the woman bite the man shoulder! Lol! Have a nudity scene, when the man hallucinate himself with the woman making love! And eventually have some chasing scene at the end, but still bored as hell! The alien don't even kill the male character and it simply walk away like that! The woman gone missing at the end and show us the long angle of the island! That's all! The credit rolling! If you don't want get frustrated! Just avoid this film!
Island of death
TheLittleSongbird3 September 2019
'Red Island's' main attractions into seeing it in the first place were the concept, which was sort of intriguing though hardly original, and that it appeared in my "more like this" section. If it had not appeared in that section, 'Red Island' would still be unknown to me. The cover was sort of creepy as well, do have a thing for good concepts, promising covers/posters/advertising and talented casts and hate it when any or all of them are wasted.
That is what happens with 'Red Island', well apart from the talented cast one due to being unfamiliar with the actors. Was really hoping that it would better than both the low rating and poor reviews, but in my annoyed mind both of them are more than well deserved. 'Red Island' really is that bad and listening to my curiosity is one of my biggest recent regrets. Am really not trying to be horrible and there is no malice intended, but this is my annoyance talking.
Its least bad aspect is the lead actress Alex Rossoe, the one thing where any kind of effort can be seen but her material and character are extremely weakly written.
Everybody else though are worse than mediocre, there is no real acting talent on display with them being completely disengaged and looking as if they wanted to be elsewhere. There is nothing interesting or likeable about any of the characters, all of them being sketchy at best and one does not root for them at all, more bored and annoyed by them. The script reeks of cheese, has such an awkward flow throughout and has no depth or intrigue whatsoever, seems the writers seemed to be going through the motions as well.
As for the story, this single-handedly wrecks the film. It is paper thin and often very uneventful and what little there is is very predictable (the ulterior motive aspect was easily foreseeable far too early) and no suspense or creepiness are in sight. The pacing is deadly dull throughout, this is looking at the clock every five minutes worthy. The music is often very over-bearing and tends to be inappropriate in placement and mood, it belonged in another film really and the obvious and poorly balanced sound quality doesn't help.
Visually it is not much better, instead it is very amateurish with a drab and chaotic look throughout.
Summing up, awful. 1/10
That is what happens with 'Red Island', well apart from the talented cast one due to being unfamiliar with the actors. Was really hoping that it would better than both the low rating and poor reviews, but in my annoyed mind both of them are more than well deserved. 'Red Island' really is that bad and listening to my curiosity is one of my biggest recent regrets. Am really not trying to be horrible and there is no malice intended, but this is my annoyance talking.
Its least bad aspect is the lead actress Alex Rossoe, the one thing where any kind of effort can be seen but her material and character are extremely weakly written.
Everybody else though are worse than mediocre, there is no real acting talent on display with them being completely disengaged and looking as if they wanted to be elsewhere. There is nothing interesting or likeable about any of the characters, all of them being sketchy at best and one does not root for them at all, more bored and annoyed by them. The script reeks of cheese, has such an awkward flow throughout and has no depth or intrigue whatsoever, seems the writers seemed to be going through the motions as well.
As for the story, this single-handedly wrecks the film. It is paper thin and often very uneventful and what little there is is very predictable (the ulterior motive aspect was easily foreseeable far too early) and no suspense or creepiness are in sight. The pacing is deadly dull throughout, this is looking at the clock every five minutes worthy. The music is often very over-bearing and tends to be inappropriate in placement and mood, it belonged in another film really and the obvious and poorly balanced sound quality doesn't help.
Visually it is not much better, instead it is very amateurish with a drab and chaotic look throughout.
Summing up, awful. 1/10
Genuinely Frightening
Freedom06028622 July 2019
This is a low-budget film with a mediocre cast except for the main actress, Alex Essoe. The dialogue is not well-written and the direction isn't very good.
It's categorized as sci-fi, but it doesn't fit well into that genre and because of this, I'm sure sci-fi fans who watch it will be especially disappointed.
However, it has one positive attribute: it is genuinely frightening. For sheer horror, this one isn't bad at all.
It's categorized as sci-fi, but it doesn't fit well into that genre and because of this, I'm sure sci-fi fans who watch it will be especially disappointed.
However, it has one positive attribute: it is genuinely frightening. For sheer horror, this one isn't bad at all.
fantastiqve
kork-0661924 May 2019
Deserves better
thtsme21 November 2021
This is definitely not a 1 star movie, not even 2. A 6 may be fair, even a 5 and in worst cases a 4, never a 1. I'm sure that rating comes from hate due to unmet expectations but there are a million other movies way worse than this.
Alex does a good job, and the only other main character is not that bad either. I do agree the SciFi tag does not fit much. If anything, this has some fantasy features, but I do not see where the SciFi part is. The mystery and horror tags are a better fit to the movie. Overall very watchable and a fairly OK movie.
Alex does a good job, and the only other main character is not that bad either. I do agree the SciFi tag does not fit much. If anything, this has some fantasy features, but I do not see where the SciFi part is. The mystery and horror tags are a better fit to the movie. Overall very watchable and a fairly OK movie.
I feel bad for Alex Essoe
Philippe_K_Bortrand4 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I really don't like giving an independent film a poor review. But how could you not with this one?
Its biggest sin is completely wasting an actress as good as Alex Essoe. If you've seen "Starry Eyes," you know what I mean. She's freaking spectacular.
But she's not utilized at all here. She has perhaps 100 words (I'm estimating) of dialogue in the entire film.
She's listed first in the credits here (and I don't blame the filmmakers for doing so), but the male lead has probably twice as much screen time as Alex does.
And I'm sorry, but the guy has the charisma of drying paint. He's not in the same league as Alex. He's not even playing the same sport.
And they were given an absolute dreck script to work with.
I'll readily admit that the makings for a good film are there. But the script needed a complete overhaul/fine-tuning. Little (if any) of it made any sense at all.
Why the hell did Amy turn into some sort of creature? I guess because she was scratched by it? Who the hell knows?
I don't regret watching this, as I'm obviously a big fan of Miss Essoe. And there were some really aesthetically beautiful nature shots.
But other than that, there's nothing there. This film deserves the "3" rating it's got.
Its biggest sin is completely wasting an actress as good as Alex Essoe. If you've seen "Starry Eyes," you know what I mean. She's freaking spectacular.
But she's not utilized at all here. She has perhaps 100 words (I'm estimating) of dialogue in the entire film.
She's listed first in the credits here (and I don't blame the filmmakers for doing so), but the male lead has probably twice as much screen time as Alex does.
And I'm sorry, but the guy has the charisma of drying paint. He's not in the same league as Alex. He's not even playing the same sport.
And they were given an absolute dreck script to work with.
I'll readily admit that the makings for a good film are there. But the script needed a complete overhaul/fine-tuning. Little (if any) of it made any sense at all.
Why the hell did Amy turn into some sort of creature? I guess because she was scratched by it? Who the hell knows?
I don't regret watching this, as I'm obviously a big fan of Miss Essoe. And there were some really aesthetically beautiful nature shots.
But other than that, there's nothing there. This film deserves the "3" rating it's got.
Slow burn Sci-fi
kkpreston2 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I think it is more sci-fi, than horror. I'm not sure why some are baffled as to why it's science fiction. The red-eyes monster definitely looks like it's not from this world & obviously has some kind of influence over the man's girlfriend.
If it's blood, gore & a fast-pace you're looking for then it's not for you. It's definitely a slow burn movie. I thought the acting was decent & the director did a good job of creating an ominous ambience of the beautiful forest (filmed in Vancouver, BC, & Washington state).
If it's blood, gore & a fast-pace you're looking for then it's not for you. It's definitely a slow burn movie. I thought the acting was decent & the director did a good job of creating an ominous ambience of the beautiful forest (filmed in Vancouver, BC, & Washington state).
My oscillating fan is more interesting than this
mythos-2024 August 2021
It's summer and I have an oscillating fan. Believe me when I say, watching the fan doing its thing was more interesting than watching this movie.
I hate to be one who gives such a bad review, because I'm an indie creator myself (different medium), but as creators we need to put some effort into our creations!
For those of you who wish to watch it regardless, be advised that it uses a lot of handheld cameras, acting is not that great, there will be times when you will struggle to make things out, and the story is not that great.
I hate to be one who gives such a bad review, because I'm an indie creator myself (different medium), but as creators we need to put some effort into our creations!
For those of you who wish to watch it regardless, be advised that it uses a lot of handheld cameras, acting is not that great, there will be times when you will struggle to make things out, and the story is not that great.
Boring!
amgee-8955120 November 2019
Alex Essoe was done no favours here.
stevenvenn28 November 2022
Glad to see Alex Essoe getting her due in Mike Flanagan productions and after Starry Eyes in spite of this effort. This film is embarrassing to her talent and hopefully it was one of her first (or a favour to a friend). She's the only thing about this that makes this even worth watching at all. Her talents are wasted here in a dark film (darkly shot but not dark in mystery or story, just bad cinematography). It looks horrible and acted poorly. Back Country this is not. Skip it unless you are an Alex Essoe completist. Zero talent outside of her. The guy playing her husband was a real zero. 3/10.
Red Island
finnegan19599 September 2022
I liked this movie. I found it suspenseful, intriguing and mysterious.
It's not a perfect movie but I gave it an 8 out of 10. The 2 main actor's were quite good in my opinion. The actors were heretofore unknown to me and were a pleasant surprise.
It is, in my opinion, well written and well thought out.
When reading this review you'll have to take into account that other reviews here give completely opposite opinions. I don't know what they were watching. It's like we saw 2 different films. Perhaps we come from different generations and therefore see things differently.
If you like suspense, intrigue and a slow build up then I believe you'll like this movie.
It's not a perfect movie but I gave it an 8 out of 10. The 2 main actor's were quite good in my opinion. The actors were heretofore unknown to me and were a pleasant surprise.
It is, in my opinion, well written and well thought out.
When reading this review you'll have to take into account that other reviews here give completely opposite opinions. I don't know what they were watching. It's like we saw 2 different films. Perhaps we come from different generations and therefore see things differently.
If you like suspense, intrigue and a slow build up then I believe you'll like this movie.
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