Mysterious Island

...isn't that brilliant.

This is a Japanese movie, and usually I a big fan of Japanese horror. Typically it has great atmosphere and really ups the creep factor. But this movie seems to be more is the style of "amateur filmmaker" than serious production. [Then again, I did also see Horny House of Horror and that was terrible too.]

In MI, a group of people head to an island as part of a Survivor-style TV show, but something goes wrong when they are attacked by tatami, and then are spooked by really bad filmed shots of a stuff boar model filmed from low angles. Things don't get much better when the actual horror/killing starts as it just seems random when attacks happen or not, and I did find it hard to keep track of who was killed, who wasn't, who was supposed to be paired with whom, who was tied up, etc., etc. And then...

The movie had a little trouble deciding if it was supernatural or the killer was simply skilled. Some 'natural' explanations are presented, but there are plenty of supernatural moments that make that hard to believe. That, combined with the low budget filming (a cat is represented by quick pans of a camera and a yowling noise), makes this a mess of a movie.

Which is a shame, as if it could have been straightened out a little more in terms of matching the result to the set up, it could have been very effective. As it is, not quite.

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