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Review: Blumhouse's Fantasy Island

by Daniel Andrade

Courtesy of Blumhouse Productions
Fantasy Island was a show that originally debuted in the late ‘70s and ran for 7 seasons (and was briefly revived for one season in 1998), and it was one of the pivotal examples of the saying “Be careful what you wish for.” In all iterations of the show, guests to the mystical island were granted one of their fantasies, but it often came at a price, and always had to be seen through to its conclusion. This basic premise remains intact for the latest version of this story, a feature-length film from the horror/thriller juggernauts at Blumhouse. I am a huge fan of horror films in general and have a great respect for Blumhouse, which has given us some of my favorite contemporary horror films such as Happy Death Day, Get Out, Insidious, Unfriended, and Paranormal Activity. So suffice to say, I walked into the theater with decent expectations. Overall, the film didn’t quite live up to them, but it also definitely wasn’t as horrible as some have made it out to be.

Let’s start with some of the positives. The island is absolutely gorgeous, and scenes of the forest, beaches, canyons, and even the hotel itself are breathtaking. Seeing that plane first fly over the island and dock on the pier was truly fantastical, and helped to sell the idea that is a place where truly anything can happen. Seeing some of the fantasies come to life, like a giant party in one of the guesthouses or an elegant dinner at a fancy restaurant, was magical and made you want to visit the island for yourself. Michael Peña (Ant-Man, Crash, End of Watch) brings his trademark charm to the role of Mr. Roarke, the current owner of the island. There is a compelling mystery that drives most of the film, but it’s also punctuated with genuinely funny moments from the comedic pairing of J.D. and Brax, played by Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars) and Jimmy O. Yang (Silicon Valley, Crazy Rich Asians). I also think Maggie Q (Nikita, Designated Survivor) does a great job in her role and often times carries the film, in my opinion. Her fantasy is certainly the most intriguing and complicated one of the bunch, and going through it allows her to show off her emotional range as an actress. I also think each of the fantasies is portrayed well, which essentially gives you multiple movies for the price of one (a torture flick like Saw, a war movie, a romantic family drama, and a spring break-like party film). There are some truly unexpected twists in the film that will certainly catch you off guard as well. However, it’s here where I think the movie starts to fall apart a bit.

As stated earlier, I was genuinely intrigued by some of the mysteries of the island. How does it work? Why are there creepy shadowy figures roaming the island? What is the connection to the indigenous people who once lived on the island? While I understand and appreciate that some of the best horror and mystery films won’t necessarily give you the answers you were looking for, those films often leave you completely in the dark, forcing you to theorize and think about those questions long after the film is over. This movie, however, frustratingly teases some answers to these questions, leading you into what you think will be an answer but then taking a sudden left turn. Speaking of which, the twists, while genuinely surprising, come all at once toward the end of the film and left me feeling confused. They also make you wonder why other characters did certain things throughout the rest of the movie; it wasn’t something that maybe you could see clues of, it was something that didn’t make sense with the character we’ve come to know throughout the film. Some characters or concepts are introduced which could offer some interesting insight into the island, only to be completely abandoned. Finally, for a Blumhouse horror film, I was expecting something scarier, but the movie gets most of its horror from cheap jump scares, though admittedly it’s challenging to make a truly scary horror film under a PG-13 rating.

CONCLUSION: Fantasy Island presents some interesting mysteries on a gorgeous island, and provides the viewer with four distinctly different types of movies wrapped up in a supernatural package, which is not easy to do and is impressive. Unfortunately, the film gets convoluted and confusing at the end, leaving you with more questions than answers and hurting the potential of what could’ve been a new fascinating horror/mystery franchise.

FINAL SCORE: 3/5

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