When you think about it, the 1970’s TV show ‘Fantasy Island’ was the perfect molding clay for a horror film; the promise of having one’s wildest dreams come true…….at a price.
SO, decades later, here we are; a big screen reboot of the series, sinister tone being the ignition. And to be very blunt, Blumhouse studios’ ‘Fantasy Island’ isn’t great. But it does deliver the kick of nostalgia that the 50-something’s coming for the title alone will appreciate, and it IS the kind of B-movie schlock that should be expected when you serve up Mr. Roarke, white suit and all, who is amping up the nightmarish aspect of his paradise hideaway.
Michael Pena (‘Ant-Man’, ‘The Mule’) inherits the role of Roarke, never spreading on the cheese n’ charm as thick as the late Ricardo Montalban did on the small screen. But, like his ‘World Trade Center’ co-star Jay Hernandez, who had the helpless task of re-creating a classic TV icon (let’s face it, Jay is a decent Magnum, but he ain’t no Tom Selleck), Pena is a good enough actor to lead the charge for a film with expectations that shouldn’t be any more lofty than to make some noise and have some creepy fun.
The plot is a predictable one, especially for those familiar with how each Saturday night episode rolled out; five strangers (including Maggie Q. of ‘Designated Survivor’ and Lucy Hale from ‘Pretty Little Liars’) are flown to a lush tropical island under the guise of having won a contest with the prize being a luxurious stay AND having their fantasies come true. And their dreams DO come true, but in the most warped way possible, and…..yeah, well, you pretty much get the drill.
Director Jeff Wadlow, who also co-scripts the movie, gets a little too ambitious on the home stretch and offers up everything from an origin story for Roarke, some background to the supernatural aspect of the island, etc., etc……in short, it gets a little messy. But when it sticks to the basics, ‘Fantasy Island’ is manageable, simplistic – again, nothing they’ll be disassembling in film school years from now, but when it comes to horror schlock, you could certainly do worse than this.
