well Fantasy Island was an interesting one. There’s been a wave to old 70’s nostalgia being re-imagined as horror movies and this I guess is part of that phenomonen. I guess the trademarks or copyrights must have expired on these things and then if up for grabs it’s kind of open slather for anyone to use the intellectual property. I have vague memories of seeing fantasy island on TV as a child but really I can’t remember any of it. This means I have no idea if this movie followed on in anyway from the original movie.
I didn’t go into this one with high hopes, the idea of cashing in on old expired franchises didn’t really excite me. The premise of the film revolves around a bunch of lucky contest winners who’ve been invited onto the island for a holiday. No expense on the island has been spared. They are allowed one fantasy that the island can make happen (when I say “island” I literally mean the island). It can be anything and the island will grant them that fantasy. There are two brothers who’s fantasies are more of a sexual nature, a woman who wants revenge on a girl who bullied her in high school, another man who wanted to be in the armed forces and a woman who regretting turning down a marriage proposal from a guy she really loved. The guests are told they can each have one fantasy but they have to accept the consequences of whatever happens with that fantasy coming true. There is no backing out of the fantasy once started.
What transpires next is a journey that defies belief. As you can imagine with a premise such as this all hell will break loose. There are some parts of the film that are a little hard to follow but the depth of the story and the lengths the island goes to, to make this happen are phenomenal. Some great supernatural special effects, some great action scenes and some excellent plot twists keep you engrossed in this movie from start to finish. It actually even made me want to go back and watch a couple of episodes of the original series. Overall I had a great time watching this one and I’m glad I gave it a chance.
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