L'île des morts

Island of Death is the Video Nasty equivalent of the story of Bonnie and Clyde. This film has an elevated status on the Video Nasty list as it's often seen to be one of the more nasty entries. This is certainly true, as the film features all manner of gory and sadistic sequences, and it really isn't hard to see why it got banned. As far as I'm concerned, Island of Death is an absolute treat, as the film is a constant stream of highlights and it's a great deal of fun seeing our central couple skipping from one murder to the next. It's obvious that the film is not meant to be taken completely seriously, as director Nico Mastorakis implements a pitch black sense of humour into most sequences; the fact that the central duo are complete and utter hypocrites is perhaps one of the most amusing things about the film. The plot simply follows a young British couple who travel to a small Greek island. After a phone call to the man's mother, it soon becomes apparent that these aren't normal people; and when they start murdering their way through the island's perverted inhabitants in the name of God, this notion is confirmed!

The film is notorious for a few scenes, the one involving a goat being of the most well-known. However, aside from this; the film features a plethora of gory highlights to delight the exploitation fan, favourites of mine involving a man hanging out of a plane and a rather one-sided swordfight. As you would expect from a Video Nasty, the acting is rather poor; with the central duo putting in particularly horrid performances. It really doesn't matter, however, as director Nico Mastorakis makes up for his actor's lack of talent by selecting a beautiful lead actress; and the stunningly clean Greek locations, which brilliantly offset the gritty scenes of slaughter. Films like this are quite common, as aside from Bonnie and Clyde, we've also had Badlands, Natural Born Killers, True Romance and more; but this is the one that is relentless and really gives the audience the impression that anything can happen. The film boils to down to an excellent climax, which delivers a brutal final twist to the tale as well as serving up comeuppance...well, almost. Typically for this film, the comeuppance isn't dished out in the most immediately obvious way, and overall; for its imagination, brutality and daring - I don't hesitate to recommend this film!

Director Mastorakis is apparently the first to say that this film was made with one driving force - Money.

It's clear to see that the director has sat down and said 'what's the most depraved, shocking and disgusting ways in which to rape, torture and kill a bunch of people' and on this level the film works.

However, don't go looking for some deep underlying message to whats going on. I find it impossible to find any way of excusing this nasty little piece of cinema by saying that it has some thought provoking undercurrent quite simply because it doesn't.

The story is of a couple arriving on a Greek island and instantly punishing the local residents for what the male lead see as sinful behaviour. Amongst the supposed sins are adultry (an ironic one given the nature of the stars vengence), homosexuality, lesbianism, drug-abuse and....well being a goat.

The scenes of violence are rather tame compared to many films of its time let alone some of the blood-soaked mainstream movies about today. But it is not the violence that shocks about this film still today. It is more so the notion of the acts commited and the seemingly pointlessness of them.

Some have called it a nasty little gem, others have found it to be over-hyped and rather dull, I however found it to be a classic piece of exploitation cinema. If you can't enjoy the film for it's visual acuity, I defy anyone not to enjoys its heavy seventies kitsch soundtrack, Classic.

This film touts that its been banned the world over and its easy to see why, its a film that plays with your head from beginning to end and leaves you feeling unwell for days. Odds are if you see it you'll understand why people don't want you to see it.

The story of a pretty young couple on vacation in Greece turns more and more twisted as time goes on. Rape, murder, sadism and a few other delights get taken to the next level as more and more depravity is revealed. The film was made with the intention of disturbing the viewer and it disturbs almost from the outset as things very quickly are revealed to be seriously amiss. Its gets to the point where you're sitting on egg shells waiting for the next terrible thing to happen.

You'll forgive the lack of details but anyone who is interested in seeing this are best left to fend for themselves. I think that plot-wise the less known the better so that you can truly enjoy, if it is enjoyment, the twisted twists.

I don't know if I like it or hate it. The film certainly provokes a reaction but I'm not sure thats a good thing or bad thing. Certainly its not for anyone with gentile sensibilities. Its well made but beyond that you're on your own.

6 out of 10, though I'm not sure how to fairly rate it.

Island of Death (1978)

** (out of 4)

Christpher (Robert Behling) and Celia (Jane Lyle) arrive on a small Greek Island where their lust for rape and violence soon terrorizes the entire community.

Nico Mastorakis' ISLAND OF DEATH is one of those notorious films that you often read about yet no matter what you read it really can't prepare you for the madness that you're walking into. This film was obviously trying to be another Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and I'd also think that something like THE WICKER MAN had an influence. Does the film live up to its notorious reputation? You bet it does and I'd argue it's even crazier than its reputation. Is the film any good? Umm...not really.

If you're a fan of the ultra bizarre then there's no question that you'll want to watch this but at the same time there are all sorts of problems with it. For starters, this here clocks in at 106-minutes, which is at least twenty-minutes too long. The pacing is incredibly slow throughout but the biggest issue is the fact that there's really not much of a story. The entire film is just a set-up for one shock after another and the lack of any real story helps it drag at times. In fact, all of these people are being raped and butchered yet no one on this small island starts to get concerned.

As I said, there's a lot to recommend here and especially if you're a fan of exploitation. I lost count of how many rape scenes there were. You had straight rape. Gay rape. Lesbian rape. Hippie rape. Hell, there was even goat rape! You've got a wide range of bizarre killings with plenty of blood flowing. Obviously there's a ton of nudity scattered throughout the film as well. It really did seem that Nico Mastorakis just wanted to shock viewers by throwing one bizarre scene out there after another and on that level the film is a success.

ISLAND OF DEATH is certainly a nutty little film that has several good things but also plenty of bad things. I would add that I enjoyed both Behling and Lyle in their roles.

Director Nico Mastorakis has made a cynical cash-grabber (by his own admission) that is too cynical to impress anybody but a sophomore genre fan.

The most extreme, confronting genre pics, to paraphrase a character in VIDEODROME, "have a philosophy"; that is what makes them dangerous.

ISLAND OF DEATH's philosophy is to throw many "shocking" elements into a cinematic mix and stir slowly. The result is a dish with no taste but an ugly appearance.

Not to be confused with Serrador's brilliant WHO COULD KILL A CHILD? (sometimes called ISLAND OF DEATH), Mastorakis's effort is set on a Greek island which is a stage for various forms of slaughter, a little bestiality and some wholesale perversion.

Everything moves at a snailish pace and the violent set pieces are poorly directed.

Touted as "The movie that the censors didn't want you to see", I'd hazard a guess that the censors never saw it, they simply read the presskit until their knees jerked upwards.