What got me interested in the movie was the fact that it was being made by Blumhouse. So far, I have enjoyed the majority of the horror offerings from the good folks at Blumhouse and Fantasy Island here I have to say is not one of their best.
How to Stream or Download Fantasy Island
To stream or to download the film, click on the Download button at the end of the review and choose your digital store. If you like Blumhouse horror movies, check out also our reviews of Insidious: The Last Key or The Purge.
The Movie Review
The movie has a pretty solid cast with notable people such as Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Michael Pena, and Michael Rooker being part of the movie. I really like Lucy Hale and think she is an underrated actress actually. Jeff Wadlow handled the directing duties as well as having a hand in the writing of the script.
If you have even just seen one trailer for Fantasy Island then you pretty much know exactly what is going on with this movie. I have to say that many movies, not just this one, are guilty of giving away too much away in trailers these days. Anyway, a group of seemingly unconnected people arrives at an island paradise resort that is run by the mysterious, Mr. Roarke, played by Michael Pena.
This is not your normal island the “gimmick” here is that your wildest fantasy will come true. So, Melanie (Lucy Hale) wants to get back at the girl who bullied her back in school, and Gwen (Maggie Q) experiences life if she had said yes to a marriage proposal. Each character gets to live out their fantasy and at first as you would expect it is awesome.
I think that there is a great variety to the fantasies that people have. Some of them are more selfish than others, but that is part of the fun. The twist of Fantasy Island is that it does not take long for things to start going wrong and their fantasies will soon become a nightmare due to the spring water that is found on the island.
The group of people who came to the island gets an idea of what is going on and they are aided by Damon (Michael Rooker) who is a P.I and was a guest on the island himself. I think that there are a couple of good twists in Fantasy Island and the way that you think Michael Pena is the one pulling the strings is done very well.
I love the whole aesthetic of the movie and as the various fantasies are so different, it is a movie that changes things up quite frequently. It has a pretty short runtime of a little over 90 minutes, but I actually think that plays to the advantage of the movie, heck they could have probably shaved a bit more off it and it may have been better for it.
If you have read anything about this movie you will know that it was critically panned! I would not say it is worthy of the under 10 percent it has on Rotten Tomatoes, but it is certainly not one of the best efforts from Blumhouse. It has some stuff that I like and I thought the premise was ok. While I did not hate it, I am pretty sure I would not be all that interested in watching it again.
