Fantasy Island (2020)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Contest winners Gwen (Maggie Q), Melanie (Lucy Hale), Patrick (Austin Stowell), J.D. (Ryan Hansen), and his step brother, Brax (Jimmy O. Yang) journey to Fantasy Island, an island with mysterious powers capable of turning guest’s fantasies into reality. Mr. Roarke (Michael Pena), the host and the island’s ambassador, lays out two strict rules: only one fantasy per guest is allowed, and each guest must see their fantasy through to its natural conclusion, no matter what. 

The island is a seemingly fun getaway for the guests, but things take a bizarre turn, when Melanie encounters her kidnapped childhood bully, Sloane (Portia Doubleday). Melanie teams up with Sloane, and a private investigator named Damon (Michael Rooker) to escape the island. Damon reveals the secrets behind the island’s dark powers, leading to a startling revelation about Roarke’s motivations and his top assistant, Julia (Parisa Fitz-Henley). 

My Thoughts- The performances were really hit and miss for me. Ryan Hansen and Jimmy O. Yang’s routine as obnoxious dude-bros was okay for a few cheap laughs. Maggie Q and Austin Stowell carry a lot of the emotional weight with their performances. Gwen and Patrick are haunted by missed opportunities from their pasts and heartbreaking tragedies, so you can easily understand why it’s not so easy for them to move on. 

Lucy Hale plays a confident Melanie, who just wants to have a good time on the island. Melanie realizes she made a mistake seeking vengeance on Sloane, but it’s all a ruse (more on that later), and Hale did a good job of believably showing Melanie’s twisted side, when she reveals her true intentions.

Michael Rooker adds to the pulse of the cast, with his grizzled and rugged performance as the cagey private investigator. Mr. Roarke? It’s a strange case, because I just didn’t get anything out of Michael Pena’s performance. Roarke is supposed to be a mysterious, important, and powerful man. But Pena weirdly sounds like a guy just plainly reading lines off of a script throughout the movie. A noticeable lack of energy, so I couldn’t buy into the obvious enigmatic presence they were going for with Roarke.

Overkill is always a problem. It’s a bigger problem, when you’re constantly beating a dead horse for something that’s just not working. Dr. Torture is the evil physical manifestation of Melanie’s hated psychiatrist, complete with lips that are stapled shut. He’s supposed to be the unstoppable monster, who tortures and hunts Sloane. Dr. Torture should be scary, a frightening menace. Overall, he’s a character who’s just too goofy, with the muffled grunting behind the face mask, and the sleeveless scrubs to show off his muscles. 

The sight of Nick’s (Evan Evagora) burnt corpse could’ve been shocking, IF they limited his appearances. I get it. Everyone is haunted by Nick’s tragic death, especially Gwen. But seeing a lifeless and charred Nick over and over again killed any chances for a strong reaction. 

The zombies oozing black goo from their eyes is a sign the guest’s fantasies are making a disturbing transition from dreams to a living nightmare. The zombies are supposed to be an unstoppable threat, but the running mascara look is too silly.

As far as spooky stuff goes, Sloane has a creepy doppelgänger. It’s a simple idea. Sloane having to face herself, including all the bad mean girl parts of her past, shows Sloane actually had remorse, and she wanted to make a serious effort to change. 

Fantasy Island has all the right ingredients, but it’s also a film that tries way too hard to do too much. Gwen regrets rejecting Allen’s (Robbie Jones) marriage proposal, and she’s directly responsible for the fire that killed Nick. Patrick has a deep wound for growing up without his father, Lieutenant Sullivan (Mike Vogel), who sacrificed himself to save his troops by jumping onto an exploding grenade. 

The drama between Melanie and Sloane, and Sloane cheating on her husband is a storyline that could’ve been its own movie. There’s also the revelation involving Julia. She’s actually Roarke’s wife, weakened by an illness. A living but sickened Julia is Roarke’s fantasy, a fantasy that only remains intact, if Roarke faithfully serves the island. 

You can easily take your pick between Gwen, Roarke, or Patrick, because either one of their stories is strong enough to be the sole focus for the movie. Melanie’s troubles with Sloane and Melanie regretting missing a date with Nick is another worthy candidate. Fantasy Island actually did a decent enough job of connecting the guest’s backstories, including piecing everything together to show how everyone had some kind of involvement with Nick’s death. But it’s also a lot to digest, and it’s kind of hard to do that, when you jump from scene to scene with different characters and stories.

Revealing Melanie as the mastermind, who planned for everyone to arrive at the island is a decent surprise and a swerve. Melanie is holding a grudge against the guests for Nick’s death, and she still wants revenge for Sloane’s bullying. Lucy Hale is definitely convincing as the unhinged and bitter psychopath. While you can understand why Melanie is hurting, it’s obvious she went overboard with her quest for revenge and Nick’s justice. Melanie got what she deserved in the end. 

The big finale is a whirlwind of cluttered events. Roarke actually listening to Julia’s pleas to do the right thing is a big moment. Patrick fighting the evil version of his father, Sloane fighting her doppelgänger, Gwen facing her demons, Brax struggling to accept J.D.’s death, and Melanie’s vengeance? That’s SIX stories all playing out back to back. 

Some breathing room between the different stories would’ve helped, a chance to truly feel the impact of the tough decisions the main characters were forced to make. Instead, they rushed through the finale to tie up all the loose ends in an obvious attempt to avoid any plot holes before the clock ran out. 

Fantasy Island had a lot of potential. There’s some noticeable messages about dealing with regret, moving on after tragedies, and learning to forgive yourself. Patrick’s sacrifice ironically mirrors his father’s sacrifice. Patrick found the courage to save lives, something he didn’t do, when he was a cop, while Nick was trapped in the fire. 

But Fantasy Island lacks excitement and thrills, moving from one scene to the next without any real tension or suspense. It’s a dull film, where the negatives greatly outweigh the positives. They sort of tease a sequel that’ll never happen, when Brax chooses to stay on the island as Roarke’s assistant in exchange for J.D.’s resurrection. Brax chooses the name Tattoo for a connection and a nod to the show, and it’s a nice way of paying tribute to Herve Villechaize. It’s also a tie-in and a joke for Brad’s tattoo, which is literally a tattoo of the word tattoo.

I do wonder if working in the confines of a PG-13 rating hurt Fantasy Island, because for a PG-13 film it’s still too tamed. You don’t need extreme amounts of blood and gore to make a good horror film, but if you’re truly going with a horror approach for a prequel and a Fantasy Island reimagining, maybe a touch of gruesomeness could’ve helped during certain scenes. 

Rating- 3/10

Truth Or Dare (2018)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- During a spring break trip to Mexico, Carter (Landon Liborion) lures Olivia (Lucy Hale) and her friends into playing a seemingly harmless game of truth or dare. Olivia, her best friend, Markie (Violett Beane), her boyfriend, Lucas (Tyler Posey), Tyson (Nolan Gerard Funk), his girlfriend, Penelope (Sophia Taylor Ali), Ronnie (Sam Lerner), and Brad (Hayden Szeto) all join in on the game. But things take a dark turn, when Carter reveals the sinister consequences for the game: all players must fully participate, and death is the penalty for lying, or anyone who refuses to follow through on their dares.

The group lures another player named Giselle (Aurora Perrineau) out of hiding in an attempt to find more answers. Giselle mistakenly reveals Carter’s real name, but Olivia and the others are forced to deal with a bigger problem, when Giselle reveals an unknown rule for the game.

My Thoughts- Lucy Hale and Violett Beane carry the weight for the more serious and emotional side of Truth Or Dare with a pair of solid performances. Sam Lerner, Nolan Gerard Funk, and Hayden Szteo balance things out with comedy. Tyson and Ronnie are both narcissists. The big difference is, Ronnie is more of a goofball and a fool. Tyson has the bigger and more fragile ego, as he continues to forge prescription slips, while he also masquerades as a legitimate doctor. 

Aurora Perrineau deserves a lot of credit for her performance. The poor hygiene and the dirty clothes were a nice touch, but Perrineau perfectly encapsulates how the game can destroy someone mentally and emotionally. Giselle is broken and desperate. There’s a lot of similarities to Carter’s motivations, because Giselle wants her freedom from the game, by any means necessary. 

Follow the rules, or you die. Humiliation and betrayal? Yes, it can hurt, but if you refuse to play, certain death is the ultimate penalty. That’s truly terrifying for something that’s supposed to be nothing more than a silly kid’s game. 

Truth Or Dare takes things a step further by using the main character’s traumas, issues, and secrets for the truths and dares in the game. An already drunk Penelope having to drink a bottle of vodka, while walking the edges of the roof, because she has a drinking problem. Brad being forced to tell his strict father, Officer  Han Chang (Tom Choi), the truth about his homosexuality. And Olivia carrying the burden of  telling Markie about how her father tried to force himself on her, before he committed suicide. To add to that, an angry Olivia told Markie’s father that his daughter would be better off, if he was dead.

Sure, some of the truths and dares are just harmless fun at first. Ronnie backing out of a dare to show his “business” at a bar is a good example. But things quickly escalate to truths and dares that have more serious consequences. Truth Or Dare does a good job of matching the severity of the truths and dares with the actual gameplay. If the participants do manage to successfully complete either one, everyone is scarred one way or another, after everything is done.

The friendship between Markie and Olivia is, well it’s complicated. Olivia has feelings for Lucas, but she lied to Markie (Lucas is like a big brother to me!) about it. Olivia finally exposed Markie’s infidelity after a dare, embarrassing Lucas in the library. And to make things more awkward, Olivia lied about being forced into choosing to have sex with Lucas for one of her dares. There’s also the problem with Olivia carrying around the guilt of hiding the truth about the events that led up to Markie’s father killing himself. 

The tension, the anger on both sides, and the feeling of being betrayed by Olivia on Markie’s side plays a big part in the story. But maybe it’s all just too much? The drama between Olivia and Markie is overwhelming. Their story could’ve had its own movie. Hale and Beane did a fantastic job of making everything believable, but the ups and downs in Markie and Olivia’s friendship disrupts the story’s momentum. 

Truth or dare. The High stakes. You play, or you die. This is serious business, but the weird faces coming from the people, who ask the participants to choose truth or dare? Oh, boy. I get it. The people asking the questions are obviously possessed, so their faces look like “messed up Snapchat filters,” but I’d say it’s worse than that. The wide, red eyes, and the stretched cheek to cheek smiles? It just looks too silly. You’re about to ask someone to participate in a game that’ll determine, whether they live or die, but it’s hard not to laugh, when you see the supposed evil faces.

The story from Inez (Vera Taylor) about the game’s origins and the demon Calux possessing the game adds that essential sinister and dark layer to Truth Or Dare. It’s a tragic story. Inez wanted to punish the disgusting priest, who terrorized her and her friends, but Calux killed everyone, leaving Inez as the sole survivor. How did Inez survive? She performed a ritual, which included cutting out her own tongue.

The ending? Calux tells Olivia there’s no way to escape the game after Sam/Carter’s death. But Olivia can temporarily delay her next turn and Markie’s turn in the game, if she can find more players. So Olivia uploads a video to You Tube, inviting millions of potential players to play Truth Or Dare. It’s a clever and logical ending, that could leave things open for a future film. Was Olivia’s decision selfish? Yes, there’s no denying that at all. But if you put yourself in Olivia’s place, it’s understandable how someone could make that decision, when you’re young and facing certain death.

Truth Or Dare features a good amount of grisly images. Ronnie breaking his neck on the pool table dare, a possessed Tyson ramming his own pen into his head, and Inez’s severed tongue are some good notable picks. And Giselle lighting the innocent woman on fire at the gas station really worked to set the tone for the rest of the movie. After that scene, you’ll know this version of truth or dare is not a fun and carefree game. 

There’s also a decent message about friendship involving Olivia and Markie. After everything they went through, Markie and Olivia’s bond was stronger in the end. After all the lies and keeping secrets from her, Olivia chose to make the hard decision to protect Markie. It’s a story about what happens, when friends are pushed to their limits for trust and betrayal, and how different people react, when you reach the point of no return for forgiveness. 

Truth Or Dare has the right ingredients, but it’s a horror film with some noticeable problems. Why would you follow a complete stranger (Carter/Sam) to an abandoned church in a different country? Trusting Carter is an irreversible mistake that has deadly ramifications throughout the movie. And Truth Or Dare’s biggest problem is, it’s just not scary at all. There’s the one decent scene with the homeless man (Andrew Howard) ambushing Olivia to pick truth or dare, but that’s about it. 

There’s also too many unintentionally funny moments, when things are supposed to be serious. Truth Or Dare has a solid cast, and a premise with a lot of potential. But it’s a movie that has one too many misfires, and it joins the already crowded pack of so-so mainstream PG-13 horror films.

Rating- 4/10