Director – Marleen Gorris (Broken Mirrors, A Question of Silence)
Starring – Paul Freeman (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark), Shelagh McLeod (Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, Neon Rider), and Patricia Hayes (Willow, The NeverEnding Story)
Release Date – 1990
Rating – 4/5
Blu Release – 4/5
I just spent the last week or so watching some extremely violent and brutal fetish horror that left a bad taste in my mouth. These four or five films were full of real body mutilation and other disturbing acts that were not that entertaining to me. Once I finished with them, I needed something a little more down to Earth and not as violent.
I took a look at my review list, and one quickly caught my eye. The film was Cult Epics release of the 1990 drama The Last Island. I had never seen this one before but my love for Lord of the Flies made me toss it in. Like always, I want to thank MVD and Cult Epics for sending this one over for review.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a group of survivors who find themselves stranded on an island when their plane crashes. The group consists of an elderly woman, an extremely religious military figure, a young punk, a scientist, two gay men, and a young woman. They expect to be rescued within a short time but when that fails to happen, they start to suspect that they may be the only people alive. This theory is further pushed when a makeshift boat arrives on the island with a corpse aboard. They start to think of ways to survive long term on the island and the topic of breeding is brought up causing a rift in the group. As tensions come to a boil, religion, science, and sexual orientation causes the small group to splinter. **Spoiler Alert**
The film is from acclaimed Dutch filmmaker Marleen Gorris who is known for her feminist centered films. So far, I’ve been lucky enough to review her films A Question of Silence and Broken Mirrors, but I look forward to seeing more of her work. While those two films were not ones that I particularly enjoyed I was able to see the historic significance of them in regard to movie history and the feminist movement. They both are must see films for movie fans especially when you consider the impact, they had on cinema going forward. When Cult Epics sent over to The Last Island for review, I was really looking forward to it. I know I didn’t necessarily like the other two Gorris films, I was still curious to see how this film would feature that feminist element while retaining the lost on an island drama.
The acting in this one is absolutely amazing. We have some fantastic actors like Paul Freeman from Hot Fuzz and the Fantastic Fear of Everything, Shelagh McLeod from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Ian Tracey from Bates Motel and Supernatural, Kenneth Colley from Star Wars Episode V and VI, and so many more. There is no weak spot in this cast, but McLeod and Colley made the film for me. They go all in with their characters and carry the film in my opinion. I couldn’t imagine this film if anyone else had taken on those roles.
The story for this one has Gorris’ unique spin on an almost cliched story. The film follows a group of survivors from various backgrounds as they try to survive on an uninhabited island. We have the main story of religion, personal beliefs, and sexual orientation preventing them all from working together as one unit. Instead, poor personalities and a deep-seated religion forces the group to clash. We then add Gorris’ spin to it. The group becomes convinced that the world outside of the island has ended because they were never rescued. There is only two women in their group and one of the is elderly, so the men take it up on themselves to conclude that someone needs to breed with the young woman in order to keep humanity alive. They completely disregard what she has to say about her own body. It’s a powerful story and Gorris’ trademark feminism theme is very clear here.
Finally, the film has a little splash of red here and there but doesn’t rely on a body count like the horror titles I typically review. Instead, it’s heavily focused on the characters and their development over the course of the film. Overall, The Last Island may not be the film you expect to find Horror Society to review but I’m glad Cult Epics sent it over. It was a fantastic film that truly deserved the blu treatment. This is a must own for movie collectors.
Special Features:
New 2K HD Transfer (from original 35mm print) & Restoration
Audio Commentary by Film Scholar Peter Verstraten
Behind-the-Scenes of The Last Island
Interview with Politica Columnist Annemarie Grewel (Cinema 3, 1990)
Original Theatrical Trailer
Promotional Gallery
Trailers
Double-sided Sleeve (Blu-ray only)
Dual-layered Disc
Postcard
