Island Zero (2018)
Last Watch Date - May 7, 2023
Total Times Watched - Once
Comments
Finding movies to watch on Tubi is a bit of a gamble. Some are obviously well-known, but when it comes to horror movies, they have a LOT of b-through-z grade movies (with most falling on the z end of the spectrum). I knew this was going to be a pretty low-budget effort going in, but I also knew it didn't have cheesy graphics or a corny premise to try to hook people in. It plays itself straight, which is usually a good thing.
From what I read of the cast, a couple are real actors while many are "regulars" who have never been in a movie otherwise. People who aren't actors. If you're thinking "that sounds weird" you're right. You don't want your favorite sports team to bring in some random dude who is like "yeah I could do that job." The acting ranges from not terrible to wow that's terrible. There's a distinct lack of emotion in some places that need to have it and what's most interesting is that some of those actors were "real" actors. Woof. The script doesn't do them any favors in spots, but you have to be able to do SOME sort of acting.
The premise of this movie is that people are stranded on an island off of Maine when the ferry doesn't show up. Then, mysteriously, the internet and phones also stop working. Then people start dying. It's not the most unique premise, but it still had an interesting aspect to it to keep it somewhat fresh. The problems really pop up when it falls into tropes that have been beaten to death and aren't EVER good. I am not going to spoil what that is, but once it starts to unfold, your eyes will roll so hard you'll think they've gone a full rotation in your head.
The parts of the movie that are good are quite good (given the acting). You start to feel yourself being pulled into the mystery. Unfortunately, they went with the "let's give everything via poorly added exposition" route and ruined it. This is a horror movie, you don't have to explain anything. In fact, some of the best horror has NO explanation. It just is. It leaves the viewer with a helpless feeling and lets them think "this could happen to me!" Then they get to come up with all sorts of ideas of how to get themselves OUT of that situation. But they decided to go the route of "here's how it all works and how it resolves." Blegh. Let the story breathe a little bit.
Speaking of letting things breathe, the pacing in this is too slow. The movie goes 1:40 and that's far too long for how little meat is on the bone. Trim this down about 15-20 minutes and now you're talking. As is, it exposes how poor some (or should I say most?) of the actors are and the payoff doesn't feel like it was worth it. Particularly because of how abrupt the final scene ends.
Recommended?
No. It has potential, but falls flat and doesn't do enough to garner any real recommendation. It's not goofy enough to be a good B/Z-grade horror, and it's not serious or mysterious enough to be a good A-grade horror.
