L'Île des insectes mutants

I kinda expect someone like Carmen Electra to appear in a made for MTV piece of nonsense like Monster Island, but I was surprised to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead's name in the credits - it just goes to show that we all have to start somewhere. The presence of the lovely Miss Winstead was the impetus I needed to watch this movie, but to be fair, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the whole thing, regardless of Mary and her marvellous midriff.

The film is set on the eponymous island, located in the Bermuda Triangle, where MTV competition winner Josh (Daniel Letterle) and his classmates arrive for the recording of the channel's Tropical Weekend Getaway, the host of which is Carmen Electra. Unfortunately, as Carmen is performing a musical number in front of her fans, she is whisked away to a nearby mountain by a giant flying ant. In order to impress his ex-girlfriend Maddy (Winstead), Josh declares that he will rescue Carmen; he is accompanied on his quest by several others, Maddy included.

This deliberately cheesy film boasts deliberately cheesy performances (Adam West as Dr. Harryhausen being the hammiest), and features plenty of deliberately cheesy scenes with deliberately cheesy special effects, although, having said that, fans of stop-motion animation will almost certainly get a kick out of the film's massive praying mantises, which are far better than expected.

B-movie fans will also probably enjoy the silly 'man in a rubber suit' monster Piranha Man, who emerges from a swamp to attack the group, and the oversized ants at the mountain (which turns out to be a giant nest). In addition to the giant critters, the film features plenty of eye-candy: Carmen Electra wears a skimpy animal skin outfit, Winstead doesn't (but still looks hotter), and Chelan Simmons as Josh's ditzy blonde sister Jen is also appealing.

Monster Island is by no means a great film, but those who enjoy dumb creature features should still derive a reasonable amount of enjoyment from the crazy monsters and the general silliness of the whole thing.

Monster Island is geared for the under 30 crowd and over 9 crowd. Since I don't fall into the ages between 9 and 30, this was not that great a movie for me. I might as well be watching Beavis and Butthead. The movie is silly and is good for a laugh or two for either a group of friends watching or watching the movie by yourself. I would think that this movie needs friends with you. Teens having crazy fun and out for a crazy adventure are not my ideas of a good movie. The movie does/can make one smile and forget about one's troubles. So, the movie does what it is supposed to do -- provide entertainment, important message, optional. Pizza and beer all around for those 21 and older and soda instead of beer for those younger. Enjoy

It wasn't as if I was deliberately trying to hate the movie, far from it, and I never try to do that watching any movie as I believe in being fair and encouraging when watching and critiquing. Any movie that aims to be a homage or poking fun at anything does promise to be good entertainment, and actually despite having Carmen Electra Monster Island did seem as though it would be one of those movies. Even when taking it for what it is though, the bad execution just took away from my enjoyment of the movie. It does have redeeming qualities of course, the production design is decent, the music score rousing, Adam West is a lot of fun even if hammy and Mary Elizabeth Winstead is very endearing here. However, I didn't like the look of the special effects at all, the monsters(looking at home in the 50s era but seem laughable now) seemed half-finished and fake, and actually I do agree with the commentator that wasn't sure about whether they were trying to honour or poke fun at those of Harryhausen(which I have always found amazing for their time and ones that still hold up). Some will like the tongue-in-cheek humour, for me the dialogue was lacking in wit and in freshness too and came across as awkward instead, the stupidest line going to West as outlined in a previous review. The story seemed stretched and contrived, with the horror elements ranging from tame to non-descript, while the characters are cardboard and irritating. Aside from West and Winstead, the rest of the acting is bland. That is especially the case with Carmen Electra, contrary to what was implied in the marketing she is only in the film 15-20 minutes and she doesn't do anything other than try and look pretty. Just in case I get flamed(and knowing the type of movie Monster Island is I know eventually I will do), I understand totally what Monster Island was trying to do, I just felt that it tried so hard that everything to make a homage/parody work just got lost. That is of course my opinion, and if you think differently(and I can completely understand if that's the case) that's fine, I have nothing against you. In conclusion, even when taking into account what Monster Island was trying to do I didn't care for it at the end of the day, sorry. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Released to TV in 2004, "Monster Island" is a fun, campy adventure with intentionally bad non-special effects that combines elements of movies like 1961's "Mysterious Island," "King Kong," "The Land that Time Forgot" and "Scooby-Doo" (but without the dog); it pokes fun at the stop-motion effects from decades ago and even has a character named after stop-motion guru Ray Harryhausen, played by Adam West.

I'm surprised at the bad reviews, which shows these people didn't "get it," because "Monster Island" delivers the goods in practically every department. For one, the adventure story works even though it's obviously not to be taken too serious; it's just serious enough. Secondly, the cast is great, which includes an excellent assortment of women -- cutie Chelan Simmons, blond dancer Jana Berengel, Carmen Electra, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, etc. And, thirdly, a notable score and soundtrack (including the main song "Jungle Fever" sung by Carmen). Really, everything just clicks for a entertaining, fun adventure movie.

Around the mid-point I realized that I had stumbled on to something special with the introduction of Dr. Harryhausen's ugly-but-cute pet Rudy and the subsequent nigh-moving scene between Dr. Harryhausen and Maddy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). The way Maddy starts to morph into the queen (or goddess) of the Matambas due to the tribal necklace is another highlight.

I'm grading this flick according to what it is and what it aspires to achieve: "Monster Island" is a campy TV-movie with intentionally bad F/X and a fun adventure story, which is taken just serious enough. With this in mind, it's superlative on practically every level and, in my opinion, is more entertaining than "Goonies," the two "Scooby-Doo" movies, "At the Earth's Core" (which isn't saying much, lol) and even "Star Wars" (yes, there are some Star Wars elements). In other words, I'd happily watch "Monster Island" before any of these five movies.

The film was shot in British Columbia and the studio and runs 92 minutes.

GRADE: B+/A-

Cheapjack trash from Canada, filmed under the MTV banner, so inevitably this is a film that feels very dated these days. It's a monster movie following the reality TV format, with a bunch of contestants heading to a remote island to rescue kidnapped starlet Carmen Electra. The island is inhabited by giant insects and in the right hands - had this been a proper B-movie with oodles of gore and the like - could have been fun. Instead this plays out as a lame comedy and is almost totally worthless. Adam West has a supporting role and a pre-stardom Mary Elizabeth Winstead co-stars.