Island of the Dead

[odinn7]

I rented this movie a few days ago from Ballbuster and finally saw it last night...I got two words: holy sh*t! Easily makes my top 5 of boring, crap movies. Here is what the write-up on the box said:
"Millionaire developer Rupert King has his sights set on developing Hart Island in New York City's harbor. For over a century, New York City has buried their unknown dead there in mass graves. However, King disrespects the dead and is sure their final resting place will be perfect for his exclusive development. But when King is stranded on the deserted island for the night, he soon becomes hunted by the ravenous predators that lie buried beneath the earth."

Oh yes...he becomes hunted by the ravenous predators that lie buried beneath the earth...sure...who wrote that? I don't think they saw the movie first.
With that description, I was sure to be getting a zombie movie. What I got was a cure for insomnia, I had trouble staying awake. It took over 50 minutes for anything to even happen and then, guess what? No zombies! Swarms of flies that bite you and cause you to decompose in about 2 hours! You may want to know how this happens and why these flies do this. Ask someone else because I don't know for sure. I didn't see any kind of reason for this. Apparently since the millionaire was disturbing the dead on this island and had some kind of underhanded motive for doing the project, the dead were upset about it and perhaps they possesed the flies? I dunno. Not a single walking dead in this whole movie. To top it all off, Ballbuster had a sticker on the box saying that this was a restricted rental and anyone under 18 needed parental permission. I thought for sure this would be nice and gory. All we saw was some guy decomposing with really poor rubber effects and a few really terrible fake decomposed bodies with meal worms crawling around on them. The acting? Don't get me started on that.
I did learn a few things from this movie:
Prisoners on work release are allowed to roam free as long as it's on an island.
Doing pantomime will not keep deadly flies off of you.
The TV does not understand you when you yell at it.
I'm sorry I don't write reviews as well as Andrew and some others on this site otherwise I'm sure I could really rip the crap out of this movie. But this is my warning to you...don't bother with this one. If I can save just one person from having to see this, my torture will have been worthwhile.

[J Perk]

My sister got me tis for christmas last year (2003 so i guesss 2 years ago) DIDn't have the nerve to watch it until around march and then almost died of boredom.  Don't think I finished.  And that song kept repeating.  When they closed the door it cut off.  YEs I know i'm rambling

[Menard]

I was not as disappointed with ISLAND OF THE DEAD as either of you, but I believe the main disappointment comes from the fact that we all thought this was going to be a zombie movie (no doubt the way they presented the DVD lead us to believe that). The beginning of the movie is slow to get moving which does not help it, but once it gets moving it is fine. The flies, although visible in groups, become a semi-invisible enemy that sparks paranoia among the group, especially when one of their own becomes infected. It is not particularly original and it is basically a Night of the Living Dead inspired Killer Bees (but they are flies) type movie. I did find the ending to be a little disappointing, as it made it appear as though the flies had a conscience rather than the flies becoming a threat elsewhere. Overall, I found the movie to be fairly entertaining once it picked up. I do believe that in order to avoid disappointment, it should be pointed out to prospective viewers that this is 'Not a Zombie Movie'. Additionally I did not find a problem with prisoners being allowed to move about freely in an isolated environment with minimal supervision. The island in the film is exclusively worked by prisoners on work release and has a permanent barracks manned by guards; that is until this day in the movie. Malcolm McDowell is also interesting as the aggressive, yet sniveling, industrialist trying to save his butt while sacrificing another.

[odinn7]

Oh yeah...that song with the kids jumping rope...what the hell was that all about? I forgot about that completely though I'm not sure why since they showed it at least 4 times for no apparent reason. Perhaps my mind just blocked it out.

Menard? Are you sure we're discussing the same movie? You're a stronger person than I am if you can say that you didn't think it was that bad. More power to ya.

[Dunners]

jump rope + kids sing scary-ish song= Nightmare on elm Street

[dudeman]

I always avoided this movie even though I saw it for like $3 many times, it's always too good to be true to find a good gory zombie flick at Cockbusters.