Title: Dark Island (2010)
Directors: Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer
Runtime: 87 minutes
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I’m starting to think that no matter how many cheesy, bad films I catch on Netflix, there will always be another one in my mailbox that I’d never heard of. This time around it’s Dark Island, which tells the story about some scientists and soldiers who are sent to an island after something evil is unleashed.
I don’t even know where to begin here. There’s the typical “creepy thing” that gets released, evil corporations, and backstabbing. Basically, a dark mist – think of the mist creature from the TV series Lost – has been released on this island, and it infects someone, turning them into a type of zombie. This transformation is manifested by nothing more than a couple black veins. The special effects are pretty laughable. The best is when a possessed person is dodging someone’s blade; just thinking about it again makes me chuckle. It just looks so silly!
The acting isn’t terrible, but none of the performances could be called good. Rather, it is pretty mediocre all around. I’ve never heard of anyone in the cast, but the DVD artwork has about six names billed on top: Jai Koutrae, Victoria Floro and Eric Lim to name a few. Like I said, I never heard of any of them before, and doubt we’ll see too much from them in the future.
The directing is decent, all things considered. Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer direct the film, and their only other credits are a couple short films. Dark Island plods along in a nonsensical way, and at times I couldn’t help but wonder if the film didn’t have a real script, and they decided instead just to wing it, and improvise the whole thing.
I wish I had more to say about Dark Island but it just doesn’t have anything at all that’s worthwhile. A tired and over-used plot that has been done better hundreds of times, really subpar special effects work that The Asylum would be embarrassed by, and even the makeup – or lack there of – to define our possessed is just bad. It’s a shame because this type of film has a lot of potential to be entertaining. Unfortunately, Dark Island simply isn’t.
Dark Island (2010) was released on DVD by MTI Home Video on July 1st, 2014. It was directed by Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer, and written by Simon Boyes, and Gregory Gieras. The film is 87 minutes in length, and is rated “R” for some violence. Cinefessions was provided a DVD copy of the film for review from MTI Home Video.
Chris was raised on horror films, which gave him a deep love for the genre, especially its most quirky and offbeat titles (like A Nightmare on Elm Street 2). This love quickly turned into an obsession for cinema in 1997, when he decided he needed to see every major theatrical release. Video games (JRPGs), reading (anything but fantasy), and reality television (Survivor) are just some of his other passions. He’s been with Cinefessions since 2013, and has been writing reviews all over the internet for the past twelve years.
