Fire Island

I try not to be too down on some films but Fire Island really is awful. It has nothing to do with the fact that many of the characters are gay, that doesn't bother me at all, but the direction, editing, music, acting and story are really terrible. The characters are obnoxious, unlikeable and underdeveloped and why they would be friends in the first place is beyond me. You don't feel for any them. Nothing happens in the first 30 mins but we do get almost endless shots of wild deer and driving (for a film that's only 83 mins in length it shows there is very little story and lots of padding) and you can see who the killer is the moment you see them. There is no atmosphere, no tension just a lot of people who you want to see killed off. This is the worst film I've seen in 2023.

So maybe I have lower expectations but based on the other reviews I almost didn't watch the movie. However I decided to give it a go regardless. I will say I didn't think the acting was all that bad. I found myself wanting to watch it so I was somewhat engaged. The other reviewer is right that it didn't have a lot of action right away but once it got going the second half there were some creepy moments and a few scenes where I actually jumped. The photography is decent, but the music was very strange especially the last song. It was kind of cheesy but maybe that was deliberate. I think this movie had potential to be better than it was, primarily because of the ending and the reveal of the killer. It was pretty obvious and the reasoning was ludicrous. I think if they had come up with a better plot and motivation for the killer I would have upped the rating. So I have seen worse but I have seen much better as well.

I really hate giving this film a lower score, and not only because it's got a lot of those as of this writing. It really doesn't deserve ALL the negativity it's getting. I won't speculate on why so many reviewers seem to have problems with the characters - a group of predominantly gay individuals - or why they can't understand how they could be friends etc. The film actually does a good job of distinguishing them, and defining relationships, and I enjoyed the first half while they were being established. I prefer horror films that allow us to get to know the characters, and I give credit to the writer/director for doing a better than average job at it. And the performances from the main cast are all good, with some actors I'd like to see more of. That's pretty rare for such a low budget endeavor.

But once we cut to the detectives at a crime scene it stumbles so badly it is almost impossible to recover. First, the actors are bad. And then what they are saying is so poorly written it makes one question who wrote all the other scenes. Nothing about these scenes (and there are more than one) works on any level. Cops walk through blood trails; detectives jump to the most spurious assumptions; forensics can show up and be done in a few minutes and the chief behaves in such an unprofessional manner the only excuse would be if we are supposed to think he might be a suspect. And then once the action starts happening the film's other weaknesses stand out even worse. Technically there are some weird sound problems and some bad music choices. Weak editing becomes glaring during moments of violence as it tries to cut around budget, effects and stunt deficiencies and fails miserably. The staging and story crumbles; it sets up the murderer in a blatantly obvious fashion which is then treated like it's supposed to be a surprise. Characters run away only to have the killer repeatedly pop out in front of them as if he's teleporting or as if they are only going to the places where the killer is waiting for them. The enthusiasm I felt during the first half hour waned during the next half hour and then crashed. My score dropped from a 7 to a 3, but I'll settle for a 4 because the first half was refreshingly believable. If the filmmaker sticks with character pieces I'd be willing to give them another chance, but if its a genre piece where the attention to staging, logic and style makes the difference between something good or the huge amount of rubbish out there I might not bother.

Literally nothing happens in the first 30 minutes of this movie.

Then, suddenly...there is a guy in a deer skull mask killing people.

The aforementioned first third of the film is wasted on the attempted character development of some of the most loathsome and annoying individuals ever put on screen.

The whole thing takes place during the pandemic.

Where everyone is on lockdown, except, apparently, on Fire Island.

Which, as far as I can tell, acts as a gay resort, or something.

We find ourselves following a group, as they visit the island with hopes they can set their depressed gay friend up with a good looking new dude...after losing his previous partner...when he died.

However, both the writing and acting are completely atrocious.

With the plot construction being just as bad.

The whole thing is borderline unwatchable.

Now, I've been known to watch some pretty bad movies...but this one was a real struggle to sit through.

Let alone remain engaged.

There's just way too much cringey drama...and not enough horror.

And, even when there is horror...it has virtually no context.

It just happens...and the film continues to go nowhere.

Making you wonder why you are even putting in the time to watch it.

There is, eventually...a "big reveal"...but, not only is it waaaaay too predictable.

The reasoning behind it is, frankly, idiotic.

I honestly can't think of one redeeming quality that this film possesses.

So steer well clear.

Unless you have a high tolerance for cinemasochism.

Because this is definitely one of the worst horror films of 2023.

1 out of 10.

I couldn't believe how lazy the editing was in this movie. About a quarter way through the audio takes on this weird tin can reverb that doesn't go away, and at the end of the movie they didn't even bother to edit out the marker code. The acting was okay, but the script and transitions were pretty awful and nonsensical. I'd recommend watching drunk with friends for a laugh, but don't do it sober. Not scary enough to be horror and not funny enough to be a comedy-this was just a hot mess. I gave this 2 stars because I wasn't bored, the house was nice, and the lead actor was cute. Thoughts and prayers.