The Fantasy Island movie pushes the oddness of the series into Blumhouse territory! The original series ran from 1977 to 1984 created by Gene Levitt. The two host characters were Mr. Roarke played by Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villachaize played his assistant Tatoo. This film is directed and co-written by Jeff Wadlow. He also directed the horror movie Truth or Dare (2018). The writing team from Truth or Dare returns here with Jillian Jacobs and Christopher Roach. There is a danger to television series adapted to film. The tendency is to make the movie bombastic with movie production values, but lose the heart of what made the show. Here we have the Blumhouse twist that works on the creepiness that was sometimes in the original series.
It opens with a woman’s (Portia Doubleday) scream, she runs through a forest, we see lights from her pursuers, she reaches the house that looks like it is out of the Fantasy Island tv series. She tries to hide in an office, a phone rings, and she answers saying she was abducted. The voice (Michael Peña) knows that she is Mrs. Madison and says she is his guest. Mrs. Madison is pulled back by the men in black sweaters and pants and taken away as we see Mr. Roarke’s desk. We get the Fantasy Island title with a snake symbol. It is day on a beach, a woman (Parisa Fitz-Henley) in a white dress, sees the plane, the seaplane from the series. She rushes to the house to tell Mr. Roarke (Peña) about the plane and he picks up his ring which he was spinning on his desk. Here we have an intro with the darkness that is behind the fantasy that will put us on guard.
It opens with a woman’s (Portia Doubleday) scream, she runs through a forest, we see lights from her pursuers, she reaches the house that looks like it is out of the Fantasy Island tv series. She tries to hide in an office, a phone rings, and she answers saying she was abducted. The voice (Michael Peña) knows that she is Mrs. Madison and says she is his guest. Mrs. Madison is pulled back by the men in black sweaters and pants and taken away as we see Mr. Roarke’s desk. We get the Fantasy Island title with a snake symbol. It is day on a beach, a woman (Parisa Fitz-Henley) in a white dress, sees the plane, the seaplane from the series. She rushes to the house to tell Mr. Roarke (Peña) about the plane and he picks up his ring which he was spinning on his desk. Here we have an intro with the darkness that is behind the fantasy that will put us on guard.
Then, we have Mr. Roarke deliver the classic line, “Smiles, everyone, smiles!”, but his workers are emotionless. Out of the seaplane comes Melanie (Lucy Hale) in a red dress and black jacket. Hale was in Truth or Dare. Then, friends, J.D. (Ryan Hansen) in a blue shirt and Brax (Jimmy O. Yang) in a red shirt. Hansen is part of Wadlow's executive produced series Ryan Hanson Solves Crimes on Television. Yang was in the comedy Like a Boss (2020). Lastly, is a young man, Patrick (Austin Stowell) and woman, Gwen (Maggie Q) who introduce themselves. Stowell was in the Catch-22 (2019) mini-series. Maggie Q was in the Designated Survivor series. The woman, Julia, welcomes them to Fantasy Island and congratulates them on winning the contest. A bearded man (Michael Rooker) watches them from the bushes. Rooker was also in the film, Brightburn (2019). Melanie takes out a photo of herself and a young man.
Gwen asks Julia how the fantasies are accomplished, but she says she’s new and doesn’t know how he fulfills the fantasies. Julia walks out and then gets a stunned look on her face before her nose starts to bleed. She starts to walk over to Mr. Roarke’s house. Gwen now in her beach wear hears the dripping water and sees watery footprints. A skeletal figure startles her in the mirror. This is the figure that moves through the fantasies. The two party boys taunt Patrick about them being brothers, J.D.’s father married Brax’s mother. They all wonder again how the fantasies are made when Mr. Roarke appears. He gives the rules; one fantasy per guest and it has to be finished. Melanie is amazed that Mr. Roarke doesn’t know how the fantasies end, he says, “Only the island knows.” J.D. says they don’t have a room to which Mr. Roarke says their fantasy has already begun!
Mr. Roarke leads them through the jungle to their fantasy of “having it all”; a party with swimming pool, a party crew, and fireworks. It reminds me of the ship party in Crazy Rich Asians (2018). J.D. gets some drinks from some bikini-clad women while Brax is led to a tent with men in bathing suits. Mr. Roarke says that he will answer from any phone. I remember the Twilight Zone, “A Nice Place to Visit”, where the host in a white suit, could be dialed anytime.
A man in raggedy clothes walks leaving wet footprints, Brax looks up, and for a moment sees the burnt man. Gwen is wakened by the creepy attendant to be taken to see Mr. Roarke. He says her fantasy is a challenge, she wrote “a do over”, Gwen doesn’t want her business life. She thinks about a raising a little girl with a man she knew named Allen. She refused his proposal. Mr. Roarke says that her fantasy is past the doors at the end of the hall. Above them from the ceiling is some dripping, blood? She wonders at the sound, but Mr. Roarke has her walk through the doors. Gwen opens them to find a wine cellar. She stunned that it is Maestro’s, the exact restaurant where Allen (Robbie Jones) proposed, who greets her. Jones was Faddei in the Titans superhero series. It has been five years. She leaves to question Mr. Roarke who says this is for her not to have regret. Day, at the house, Patrick meets with Melanie and he says he always wanted to enlist. Melanie says she wants revenge on a childhood bully, Sloane, who poured a bucket of toilet water on her in the eighth grade. Then, she had a counselor she named Dr. Torture. Looks like we are going into Saw territory here.
Mr. Roarke gives Melanie instructions to go to the lobby elevator and push the button which has the snake symbol. It opens to a dark room, lights suddenly turn on, she is in some sort of control room and records her fantasy on her phone. Melanie goes to the control panel and turns on the switch that lights up Sloane restrained in a chair. This is the woman we saw at the beginning of the movie! She thinks Sloane is a hologram. Melanie tests one of the buttons, it electrocutes Sloane’s arm, Melanie loves it. Then, toilet water is poured on her. There is video of a bedroom and shows Sloane with a man whom Melanie says is not her husband. The option of posting the video comes up. Then, there is the video of the husband who says it has been two days. We get the video of the woman, Sloane, being pulled away. Melanie realizes that Sloane was kidnapped. Mr. Roarke has taken Patrick out to a jungle and gives him his fatigues. He changes into the fatigues, hears snapping twigs, and then Mason appears. The soldiers show up along with Sullivan (Mike Vogel) who is Patrick's father. The evil of the island looms over all of them and ties it into their pasts. Fantasy Island is fair as a horror movie, there is some character and story, but it does get plot heavy.
Three White Suits out of Five!
#BlumhousesFantasyIsland, #JeffWadlow, #MichaelPena, #LucyHale, #RyanHansen, #JimmyOYang, #AustinStowell, #MaggieQ
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