Fantasy Island (2020)

Ratings: ⭐⭐

The new Fantasy Island movie is yet another attempt to capitalise on a successful TV franchise from the 1980's. However apart from the title, there is little that one can draw similarities to the original TV series. Produced by Blumhouse, this version is not surprisingly geared more towards the horror genre hence the element of the macabre and violence. What this means is it is also devoid of any "fun" as the original TV series was so famously and popular for. Despite attempts at adding the customary dark humour in the mix, this reboot is really just another horror thriller that tries to ride on the success of another.

The original TV series will forever be remembered for the iconic characters, the enigmatic and gentleman Mr Roarke played by Richardo Montalban and his cute side kick Tattoo played by midget actor Herve Villachaize. The pint sized Tattoo's weekly shout of "the plane .. the plane" to announce the arrival of the new guests is probably what most viewers would fondly remember. Here, we have the very ordinary Michael Pena taking on the role of Mr Roarke and no Tattoo side kick! That is already a big no no. Add to that is a plane load of typical Hollywood fiction characters with unrealistic expectations and incredible stupidity, as the island's guests. The movie plays out the fantasies of three of these guests and eventually merges their plot into a final act that has one crazy plot twist after another.

I suppose coming from Blumhouse one should not be expecting much and I dare say you may actually enjoy this if you watch this with a realistically low expectation. Blumhouse which have been churning out the anthology series Into the Dark with limited success once agin maintain its mediocre standards. This one plays like an average episode of Into the Dark at best.