Uninhabited

I watched 'Uninhabited' as part of a MIFF double-horror special at Nova, Melbourne. This was second on the bill after 'The Clinic', which itself was a slightly-below average movie.

The film is entirely set on a gorgeous entirely secluded remote island on the Great Barrier Reef. A couple are on a ten-day romantic escape to this island, and early on in their getaway mysterious and unexplained happenings commence.

I actually enjoyed the first portion of the movie, the building of mystery was handled reasonably well and I held some genuine curiosity towards what was happening on the island (being set on an island I was half expecting some kind of black smoke monster to appear at some stage!).

However this intrigue dissipated pretty quickly. The acting, particular of the male lead was noticeable pretty poor and the film struggled to create any meaningful suspense or horror. The only part of the film which managed to create any kinds of feeling of suspense was the remoteness of the setting, but this is fairly stock standard for the horror genre. The plot was very clichéd and very predictable.

Overall an uninspiring film which unfortunately didn't build on mystery created early on in the film.

Beth and Harry goes on a island to spent a holiday there for ten days. Soon they discover some signs and realize they are not alone there and somebody else lives and visits them at night when are asleep. After finding an old cabin also they found an book that has something written and so will know that a girl was raped and killed there one hundred years ago and now seek revenge on every man that stays on the island.

I was anxious to see this movie because of the poster that looks alright but it was a disappointment. This is not a horror not even a thriller. Based on real events? Maybe for the first ten minutes.

I think that you don't need to pay too much attention at this film but instead let yourself be mesmerized by the stunning landscape.

I am not surprised that there isn't a lot of loving for this movie. Sold as a horror movie, but lacking any real substance, and yet it actually does a lot of things pretty well.

The two leads are both very amiable, and do a decent job, admittedly neither is working from a wonderful script. I liked the pacing of the film, the beginning so bright, so beautiful, so full of expectation and bliss, a contrast to the end, which was dark and chaotic.

The suspense was good, and well built up. I kept expecting someone to jump out of the trees, or for it to have a moment or two similar to Lost.

The ending let it down, it deserved better, and the obvious scene, where we knew the fish was going to get one of them.

A decent watch. 6/10

This isn't a terrible movie, considering the budget there is a lot worse out there.

I can't put my finger on why it took me half the film to warm to the protagonists, but they do eventually grow on you.

The deserted island is creepy and there are moments of deep tensions but no actual scares.

A large portion of the film is dedicated to building up suspense but the director waits too long before bringing things to a head and by then the pay-off is just too light.

Good enough production, acting, no shaky cameras and this movie is totally watchable but it lacks the budget and the originality to make it anything more.

Ever since the tale 'And the sea will tell' by Vincent Bugliosi and Bruce Henderson became a bestseller, numerous attempts have been made to discover the horror behind uninhabited islands. This Australian film comes straight from the director Bill Bennett, who successfully directed his critically and publicly acclaimed flick 'In a Savage Land.' Bennett, however, disappoints this time.

Beth (Gerlandine Hakewill) and Harry (Henry James) set off for a vacation to spend an idyllic time at an uninhabited island somewhere in the Coral Sea, off the eastern coast of Australia. Once there, the couple is fascinated by an appealing tropical climate, turquoise waters, white sands and pleasant winds. Led by their basic instincts the two begin combing the island and finally discover an old house and an abandoned grave with a name 'Coral' on it. They also become victims of lunatic shark-hunters, who tie the couple and leave them to die. The couple is however saved by an unseen entity, who forces the lunatics to take to their heels. The apparition's presence in the island is validated by 'her' sobs in the air.

Further investigation leads Beth to a diary, which belongs to someone who came to the island long back. The diary accounts the history of island claiming it to be haunted by the spirit of a girl named Coral. The diary says Coral worked for a fishing crew at the island a century ago, and once got a deadly stone fish sting. She was subsequently raped by other men of the crew. Now Coral turned into a ghost and had since been avenging her death by killing anyone who comes for spending vacation in this tropical paradise.

The film suffers from lack of content. Since the content is meager, several unnecessary sequences have been added. The photography is great but gets less attention from the director. The director could have used the silence of island for building a great atmosphere, which unfortunately 'Uninhabited' falls short of. The ending is fizzy and doesn't explain much about Beth's future. Harry dies in a jiffy and his part ends abruptly. I don't think its a good idea to be so concise when it comes to direction. I would anytime prefer to read 'And the sea will tell' or watch 'BBC's South Pacific episodes' instead of watching this somewhat childish and awkward creation or film, if this could be called one.