Horror movies almost never get good reviews. Horror as a genre is almost universally frowned upon by critics, so it's no surprise that Fantasy Island, the horror movie version of the classic 1970s/1980s television series, has opened with some of the worst reviews I've ever read for any film of the past decade. What is surprising is that general audiences, for the most part, seem to be agreeing with the critics. People just seem to not be responding to the movie much at all. Maybe it's because I don't have particularly high standards for horror movies these days, or maybe it's because I enjoy the fun stupidity of the Fantasy Island franchise in general, but I find this to be a whole lot better than most are giving it credit for.
No, Fantasy Island isn't going to win any awards or be remembered as a horror classic for years to come. It's not going to launch the film franchise that I'm sure the filmmakers are hoping that it will. But, despite the flaws the film may have, Fantasy Island is, at the very least, a ton of fun to watch. Despite an arguably too-long two hour running time, I was engaged in Fantasy Island from start to finish. Almost everything from its dopey jokes, silly island horror cliches (no phones!), and ridiculous plot twists may make most general audiences groan, though I had blast with all of it. The movie is, for both better and worse, exactly what I imagined a horror version of Fantasy Island to be from the moment it was announced. I don't know what critics were expecting from this. In me eyes, it delivered what I expected.
Admittedly, a lot of my enjoyment out of Fantasy Island comes from the fact I like everyone in the cast. This is the closest to an ensemble horror film that we've had in a while. The time devoted to each of the guests' four fantasies is given about equal screen time, so even when one fantasy isn't quite as interesting as some of the others, that particular storyline is only dealt with for a few minutes at a time. The Ryan Hansen/Jimmy O. Yang storyline was my personal favorite and although I would have loved to see that play out more, I commend the filmmakers for giving each of the storylines equal weight in terms of importance to the overall piece. All four storylines to eventually merge together in a way that, while convoluted, at least doesn't seem like a cheat. There are several different ways the ending to this film could have ruined everything, but that didn't happen here.
I can't argue with critics that argue that parts of Fantasy Island look cheap and that not everything in the plot holds up against close scrutiny, though I would argue those same complaints are true of almost every episode of the old televisions series. My only major complaint is the the film absolutely suffers from not having Tattoo as a character. Tattoo is a huge part of the formula of Fantasy Island and to not have the character front and center made the movie feel like it was missing something necessary to truly be Fantasy Island.
Overall, Fantasy Island is not the disaster people are making it out to be. While not a genre masterpiece, it's certainly more entertaining and more fun than 80% of the horror movies I've watched in the past year (maybe I'm just not watching the good stuff). For those who like the cast members and silly, dumb horror with a sense of humor, Fantasy Island is worth the trip. 7/10
No, Fantasy Island isn't going to win any awards or be remembered as a horror classic for years to come. It's not going to launch the film franchise that I'm sure the filmmakers are hoping that it will. But, despite the flaws the film may have, Fantasy Island is, at the very least, a ton of fun to watch. Despite an arguably too-long two hour running time, I was engaged in Fantasy Island from start to finish. Almost everything from its dopey jokes, silly island horror cliches (no phones!), and ridiculous plot twists may make most general audiences groan, though I had blast with all of it. The movie is, for both better and worse, exactly what I imagined a horror version of Fantasy Island to be from the moment it was announced. I don't know what critics were expecting from this. In me eyes, it delivered what I expected.
Admittedly, a lot of my enjoyment out of Fantasy Island comes from the fact I like everyone in the cast. This is the closest to an ensemble horror film that we've had in a while. The time devoted to each of the guests' four fantasies is given about equal screen time, so even when one fantasy isn't quite as interesting as some of the others, that particular storyline is only dealt with for a few minutes at a time. The Ryan Hansen/Jimmy O. Yang storyline was my personal favorite and although I would have loved to see that play out more, I commend the filmmakers for giving each of the storylines equal weight in terms of importance to the overall piece. All four storylines to eventually merge together in a way that, while convoluted, at least doesn't seem like a cheat. There are several different ways the ending to this film could have ruined everything, but that didn't happen here.
I can't argue with critics that argue that parts of Fantasy Island look cheap and that not everything in the plot holds up against close scrutiny, though I would argue those same complaints are true of almost every episode of the old televisions series. My only major complaint is the the film absolutely suffers from not having Tattoo as a character. Tattoo is a huge part of the formula of Fantasy Island and to not have the character front and center made the movie feel like it was missing something necessary to truly be Fantasy Island.
Overall, Fantasy Island is not the disaster people are making it out to be. While not a genre masterpiece, it's certainly more entertaining and more fun than 80% of the horror movies I've watched in the past year (maybe I'm just not watching the good stuff). For those who like the cast members and silly, dumb horror with a sense of humor, Fantasy Island is worth the trip. 7/10