Isle of the Damned (2008):Reviewed by BRYAN SCHUESSLER
Isle of the Damned (2008), directed by Mark Colegrove, is a phenomenal direct-to-video production that hardcore fans of the horror genre will enjoy immensely and novices to the genre will find themselves viewing a hysterically off-beat and humorous cinematic experience. The film pays homage to Cannibal Holocaust by beginning with a written warning telling viewers that this film is “Antonello Giallo’s follow up to the notorious Pleasures of the Damned (1980)” and that the “Italian government was outraged by the cannibalism and the primitive tribal rituals portrayed in the film.”
Jack Steele and his adopted son, Billy are hired to find the lost treasure of Marco Polo by an unnamed treasure hunter off the coast of Argentina, where they run into the Yamma Yamma tribe. The Yamma Yamma tribe consists of fat, out-of-shape Caucasians running around with their flabby bellys and floppy pectorals bouncing around. Don’t worry, they have some loin-cloths covering their private parts. Although, in one scene, we do get to witness a penis getting severed off.
I have to say that I was rolling in laughter when the credits rolled and the ultra-Italian names came across the screen. I thought an Argento or Fulci film’s credits got mixed up with Isle of the Damned’s credits. Mark Leake was writer on the film and Larry Gamber was hilarious during his performance as Jack Steele. I thought the character Billy, portrayed by Peter Crates got on my nerves a bit, but his character was annoying so he fit the part. The funniest part of the movie were all the characters that had glorious mustaches, PORNO-STYLE!! One might be expecting that the legendary John Holmes was gonna pop out on the screen weilding his deadly 19″ sausage. That would have been truly frightening!
All in all, Isle of the Damned was a fun movie to watch that pulled no punches. It was filmed in a grainy, “grindhouse”, ’70s type of way and the dialogue was dubbed over the actor and actresses voices, giving it that authentic European language film that was always dubbed over with ridiculous English-language dialogue that was never insync with the anyone’s lines. This movie was gory and had lots of nice scenes that mixed the gore and violence nicely with the humorous script. I was laughing outloud at some classic cheezy lines of dialogue that are sure to be remembered in this instant cult classic!
The film has lots of cannibal gut-munching scenes that were created on a shoe-string budget that were better and more inventive than some films that had far more money to throw away, but the key to this films success was its use of humor. The film had some really funny scenes and tons of quotable and memorable dialogue. It had an enormous amount of panache. A homage to Cannibal Holocaust (1980), Cannibal Ferox (1981), Eaten Alive(1980), Jungle Holocaust (1977) and countless other films involving cannibals, jungles, and total carnage and gore.
If one has seen any of the afore-mentioned films, then I implore you to find this film and watch it. You will not be disappointed!
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