Dead Man's Island

Caught Dead Man's Island on ITV in the UK recently and was completely bowled over by how stupendously bad it was. It was brilliant! What a cast -- Barbara Eden! William Shatner! Morgan Fairchild! Traci Lords!!!! Don (not Donny) Most!!! Christopher Atkins! Olivia Hussey! (poor thing) Malcom McDowell!! (Wasn't Rosie Grier available?) The writing and the acting were cringe-inducing from the start.

Overflowing with cliches -- the tough but genteel Southern journo-cum-investigator (that would be Barb Eden, playing Henrietta O'something -- better known as Henry O.), the wealthy industrialist (that would be Shatner as Chase Prescott), the secluded island cursed by Indian legend. I'm not making this up!

Best of all was Barbara Eden's outrageous lime green poly-blend pantsuit she wore as she interrogated the others about their whereabouts when the shots rang out that nearly killed Chase Prescott. Barbara, honey, you look positively Boca Ra

I knew nothing about "Dead Man's Island" when I started watching it, other than the casting of Barbara Eden and William Shatner (whose famous shows aired during the same years on NBC in the '60s), and the setting on an island. As it progressed I noticed a little similarity between the movie and Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None". In the end the movie turned out to be OK, not great. What caught my eye throughout the movie was that Eden's reporter stood out from the rest of the characters: most of them wear neutral colors most of the time, but she almost always wears bright colors, as though she's an anomaly in this group.

What I mainly say about the movie is that the casting of Barbara Eden, William Shatner, Roddy McDowall, Olivia Hussey and Don Most means that a beautiful genie meets a captain traveling through space meets an intelligent ape meets drama's most famous lover meets a 1950s goof-ball.

William Shatner is a millionaire convinced someone is trying to kill him and Barbara Eden is a journalist and an old girlfriend of his trying to solve the mystery on a creepy island mansion. Whodunit plows along and some secrets from his past add to confusion. Ending surprises but somewhat disappoints, too. The underemployed stars playing the parts help keep it watchable. An Indian giving boat rides also mentions a little history behind the real Dead Man's Island in Vancouver.

One of the best films I have seen. I can understand people's comments about clichéd themes, but the acting is great. It has beautiful scenery, and a good plot. I have been trying to get it on video, but, obviously, is not available. I believe it is an enigmatic, atmospheric film with great music and attitude. Fabulous!

What can I say! It has Barbara Eden in it and that is all you need! A rich man who believes someone is out to kill him hires his ex to solve the case. Who would want to divorce Barbara? Check it out if you can!