Virgin Paradise

A trip of attractive coeds decide to vacation in the Caribbean and run afoul of some modern-day pirates.

The biggest problem with this Emmeritus film is the godawful narration. For some reason, our main character, who acts normal in the film proper, speaks in a pouty baby voice surrounded by stuffed animals as she recounts the films events to her diary/the audience.

The main plot is a decent change from the usual Emmeritus fare in that we get out of Canada and go down to the tropics. The ladies go off on a cruise with a bag of diamonds accidentally on -board and the criminals try to track them down. Nothing amazing but the scenery is nice.

I'd imagine they realized they were short on the runtime and brought back lead Zuzana Marlow for some filler but for the love of God why did they think making her character like that was a good idea?! She also delivers some lame jokes like one of the girls once lost her bikini underneath a stamp (har-har).

The film fizzles out with no action finale making Virgin Paradise for the die-hard fans of Emmeritus Studios only.

Robert Casella, playing the role of murderous pirate captain, "Reece", steals the show! His nuanced performance expertly blends a sense of gruff tenderness with explosive outbursts of absolute ferocity. The "Uzi scene" was almost too much to watch.

The young ladies certainly did add interest to the show. They all delivered quite credible performances. Lovely to look at AND excellent acting.

Released to Canadian television, it's hard fathom why this action / romance / thriller never saw theatrical release. It would surely have made quite an impact at the Oscar's!

Robert Casella's debut performance definitely elevated this movie to a higher level. I can't wait to see what he does next...