Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Island Of Death

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Island Of Death



    Released by: Arrow Video
    Released on: 3/21/2011
    Director: Nico Mastorakis
    Cast: Robert Behling, Jane Lyle, Jessica Dublin, Nikos Tsachiridis
    Year: 1977

    The Movie:

    Written and directed by Nico Mastorakis, 1977's Island Of Death earned itself a bit of a reputation during England's 'Video Nasties' craze and has gone down in cult cinema history as a bit of a lightning rod for controversy.

    The film follows a tourist couple played by Christopher (Bob Behling) and Celia (Jane Ryall) who travel to the small island of Mykanos where they get into all manner of perverse mischief. When we meet them they're screwing like rabbits in a phone booth - we then learn that they're brother and sister. They wander the island and punish those they see fornicating, but hypocrisy rears its ugly head when Christopher has sex with a goat when Celia refused to put out for him. At any rate, they travel around doing wrong to anyone they see as a pervert - be they gay, lesbian, or just simply black or hippy - though eventually their family back in England wonder what they've gotten up to and hire a private detective to track the pair down. As they kill their way across the island, a lowly shepherd (Nikos Tsachiridis) comes into play and may prove to be their undoing.

    Made fast and cheap with an emphasis on sex and violence, Mastorakis' picture is a pretty sleazy one, though it also manages to work in some nice travelogue footage that shows off the beautiful locations where all of this horrific content plays out, creating a nice bit of contrast. Mastorakis cast the leads with established actors but used English speaking locals to fill in the blanks, so there's an air of awkwardness to the whole film that mixes with the perversion and bloodshed in an almost surreal way. The movie sounds far more sensational than it really is, however. While it's certainly true that, yes, there is a good bit of sex and violence here, much of it plays out quite humorously and while it may have seemed like a film capable of wreaking havoc with the moral fabric of society a few decades ago, it now seems rather amusing.

    Mastorakis (who also shot and edited the picture himself) does manage to create some interesting atmosphere throughout the picture and it's interesting how the movie asks us to question the morality of the different characters that populate it. As sleazy and depraved as it all is, the film is relentlessly entertaining.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    NOTE: This review is based off of a single test disc that may not represent finished product and which obviously does not reflect whatever packaging/inserts may be included with finished product.

    The 1.33.1 fullframe open matte presentation on this test disc, reported to have been taken from the negative, is a pretty decent one. Print damage is kept to a minimum and there are no problems with compression artifacts or major edge enhancement. Skin tones look reasonably accurate and while black levels aren't reference quality, more often than not they too look just fine.

    The English language Dolby Digital Mono sound mix on the disc is also fine. The bizarre score has a good volume to it and the dialogue is generally clean and clear if a bit on the flat side now and again.

    Extras kick off with an audio commentary from director Nico Mastorakis in which he talks about where he came up with some of the ideas for this film, why he chose the cast members he chose, and of course, the controversy that surrounded the film, some of which still carries a stigma around it to this day. The director admits the success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre influenced him to make this picture, and that he basically came up with a laundry list of perversions and atrocities to work his storyline around. Mastorakis also appears in a seventeen minute video Q&A session and a separate twenty-five minute interview where he gives further details on the circumstances surrounding this oddball film.

    Rounding out the extras are the film's original trailer, the seven minute 'Music Of Island Of Death' featurette that appeared on the old Image DVD release, some bizarre 2010 re-recordings of the song Destination Understanding used in the film (five different bands offer up five different interpretations of the song!), menus and chapter stops.

    The Final Word:

    As is always the case with an unfinished test disc, it's impossible to really give a true recommendation but all signs point to this release as a pretty solid one. The film holds up and if it's not quite as shocking as its reputation might have you believe, it still packs a sleazy punch and Arrow's presentation appears to be a pretty decent one.












    Posting comments is disabled.

Latest Articles

Collapse

  • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Severin Films
    Released on: April 30th, 2024.
    Director: Lee Frost
    Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
    Year: 1969
    Purchase From Amazon

    Hot Spur – Movie Review:

    Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
  • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Mondo Macabro
    Released on: April 9th, 2024.
    Director: Max Pecas
    Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
    Year: 1985
    Purchase From Amazon

    Death Squad – Movie Review:

    Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
  • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Quality X
    Released on: February 28th, 2024.
    Director: Chuck Vincent
    Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
    Year: 1982
    Purchase From Amazon

    Roommates – Movie Review:

    Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
  • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Blue Underground
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Jess Franco
    Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
    Year: 1970
    Purchase From Amazon

    Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

    Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
  • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Saul Bass
    Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
    Year: 1974
    Purchase From Amazon

    Phase IV – Movie Review:

    Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
  • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Radiance Films
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
    Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
    Year: 1969-1972
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

    Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
    ...
    03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
Working...
X