Recensioni degli utenti

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.

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.

This is one of the original 'video nasties', and still only available in a heavily cut version in the UK (although easily available in uncut R1 format). Apparently made quickly to make cash for its first time director Nico Mistorakis, it is the story of a young tourist couple, Christopher and Celia who arrive on the picturesque island of Mykonos. At first we think them innocents, entering a world of terror. Soon it turns out that in fact they are the monsters, Christopher in particular being concerned to rid the word of 'perverts', photographing the mayhem as they go through local acquaintances - at first for kicks, then to cover their tracks. Much of the film is just a pretext for a catalogue of imaginative slaughter. The acting is variable at best (Jayne Ryall, playing Celia looking particularly bemused at the whole business, and this was her only film). The film includes sex and rape, both human and animal but, like so much of its ilk, is ironically coy about these physical acts, showing only such nudity and rare bursts of pubes as would sit easily in a softcore sex comedy. The exception is perhaps the urination scene which, because it is so unexpected and rare away from porno cinema, does at least raise eyebrows. The much vaunted 'goat rape' is patently faked and unconvincing but, as it takes place very early on at least alerts viewers to the real nature of the psychopathic Chris.

Surprisingly for a film with such a strong reputation, none of the violence really shocks today, although the range of deaths (by crucifixion and paint poisoning, hanging from a plane wing, heroin overdose, sword and scythe, bulldozer, etc) have an ingenious variety - a testimony to the director's plan to outdo competing exploitation films in range. Celia's bathtub rape is loud and threatening, but that of Susan George in the newly uncut UK issue of Straw Dogs is much more disturbing as well as actually being 'concluded' in the scene. It's another case, I would suggest, of sensibilities having moved on, leaving the BBFC unduly squeamish in cutting so much. Victims of the homicidal holidaymakers include homosexuals, lesbians, a middle aged nymphomaniac, 2 hippies, a Frenchman, a policeman (sent to track the notorious duo down) and so on.

More of interest is the way in which the film provides continuous ironic inversion on a normal holiday narrative. The attractive island, full of native white buildings, blue skies and sunshine, looks to be straight out of a travel brochure, and our sense of place is aided by some reasonable good cinematography. Chris and Celia are the 'tourists' who are visiting, relaxing, and taking plenty of pictures. The difference being of course that they are snapping the humiliated, dead and dying rather than the serene landscape around them, making themselves a different sort of vacation altogether. `We do everything vice versa' as she says, and the film gains most of its power from the stream of atrocity-attractions visited upon the community in this peculiar context. It's their casual return to traditional holiday locales (the local taverna, romantic beach walks or cosy white washed rooms) between murders which is ultimately more disturbing than anything done in the meantime. Island of Death still bears watching, and is considerably better worked than some of the other 'nasties'. If you take this as a recommendation of course, that's up to you.

A British couple, Christopher (Bob Behling) and Celia (Jane Lyle) arrive on a peaceful Greek island to seemingly indulge in photography and the sun. We come to discover that Christopher is a religious fanatic, who, when he's not taking photos and sleeping with his sister, enjoys a spot of goat-raping (goatsploitation?), gay-bashing, and feeding paint to sleazy decorators. He enjoys watching his soon-to-be-victims fornicating with Celia from a distance before flipping out and doing a bit of the ol' murdering. Complete with electronic sound effects, bad camera-work, and terrible acting, this is probably Tarantino's wet dream.

For the rest of us (I hope) this is bottom-of-the-barrel guff. I mean, this is shockingly bad stuff. I like a bit of cheap, guilty-pleasure crap as much as the next film fan, but this is just beyond explanation. Things just don't make sense. The aforementioned paint-feeding scene shows the victim being nailed to the floor, crucifixion-style, with the nails going barely a couple of millimetres into the ground, and then he proceeds to willingly opening his mouth and swallow the paint without struggling in the slightest, just making the odd murmur. Oh, the pain! It's a scene that Herschell Gordon Lewis would probably turn to his assistant and say 'listen, this is just too f*****g s**t!'. The film is basically this over and over again for 90 minutes, and it stops being funny after about 10. Avoid at all costs.

www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Island of Death is a true ungodly video nasty coming to you straight from the best euro-exploitation period. This year 2003, the movie received a complete digital remastering and it finally got released on special edition DVD. The box showed nothing but a red background with the explicit words : "The one movie that the censors didn't want you to see" and "sorry but we can't display images of the film on the cover since they're too gruesome". A bit exaggerated of course, this movie is far from being the goriest or most shocking film I've ever seen. Nevertheless it's mean-spirited, raw, brutal and pretty disturbing from time to time. "Island of Death" doesn't take the rules of humanity too strict and it isn't exactly what they call "politically correct". The movie seems to start like a lovely romantic comedy when a young couple arrives on a Greek Island. They look average but in fact they put other famous cinema couples like Bonnie & Clyde and Mickey & Mallory to shame. They brutally slaughter every person they come into contact with (mostly right after sexual intercourse which give the killings a nasty effect) and they have a few bizarre fetishes.

Island of Death doesn't contain much humor unless you see the irony in many things. For example: the guy kills homosexuals because he thinks it's pervert and against the will of God, while he himself has sex with a young goat! I thought that was pretty ironic, and there are lots of similar "jokes" to discover in "Island of Death". Even though there are a lot of horrible scenes, the movie itself is pretty light and not at all difficult too watch. Excellent stuff for exploitation fans. The leading actress (Jane Ryall) is a beauty but she never played in movies again.

I kind of liked the film, it's just that the characters run around with no real point to their craziness. As I was saying, poor goat. The goat was nahing while the guy was pretending to grind on it. I would have liked the rape scenes to be more graphic (not the one with the goat though). Jane Ryall who played Celia only did this one film. She was very nude throughout. This crazy couple who killed and tortured many people ended up in their rightful places. I almost forgot about the gay transvestite couple who are also picked out for being sinners. If you like crazy off the wall stuff, then this is your film. 3/10

Of all the infamous nasties out there Island of Death, for me seemed to be one of the more luridly attractive ones. I.e. contained the most depravity! Having finally tracked down a reasonably priced and uncut version of the film I finally got to see what all the fuss is about.

It is certain from the outset that explicit violence and gore are not what got this film banned. The nails through the hands and force-fed paint scenes are certainly no worse than what you see in glossy 15-rated Hollywood horrors now. I think what offended with this one is not so much the actions of the film's murderers, Celia and Christopher but the lifestyles of their victims.

Oh yes, gay, lesbian and straight, the promiscuous and the drug users are all in the cross-hair here. The film maker even takes time out to execute a black detective. Just for having the audacity to try and bring good old Chris and Celia to justice.

While the violence is muted the sleaze certainly isn't. Things bash along in a fashion that stops a little shy (a little too shy if you ask me) of softcore porn. But don't worry, what it lacks in explicitness it more than makes up for in frequency. You will be pleased to know that the absolutely gorgeous heroine (or should that be villainess) played exceptionally woodenly by Jane Ryall only ever keeps herself covered up for thirty seconds at a time.

In truth Island of Death is worth it for Ryall alone. She genuinely looks good enough to eat and that whole ditsy, can't act thing that she does only serves to heighten her appeal! For me anyway. Rather disturbingly, the comely Ms Ryall appeared briefly in one other crap Greek film and then was never heard from again. I mourn.

The story of Island of Death is the usual poor fodder, although certainly superior to many. The Bonnie and Clyde thing is never fully realised however as it is implied that Christopher is the real psycho and Celia is just meekly caught up in his wake - occasionally looking wretched and criticising his actions. But yet she carries out probably the most cold killing in the whole film. What the hell is that all about? Either make her a proper victim or a proper villain. It also irked me a bit the speed at which she turns on Christopher at the end. Mind you, this is trash cinema after all. Island of Death plays out almost like a crap sex comedy and that isn't a bad thing. No one likes a bad film that takes itself too seriously.

This is definitely one for fans of trash films and 'so bad its good stuff' (me). The acting is universally poor with a couple of the characters apparently just reading their lines conversationally.

Aside from that however, it actually looks quite professionally made. The shots are reasonably framed and the camera-work not too static. The editing has dated it a bit but that just lends it that inimitable sleazy 70's feel.

So thats about it, nasty in tone, but not in action perhaps? A little kinky, certainly: Just check out the promiscuous older woman being urinated on. Does it deserve its infamy? Probably not, but its still a good bit better than most of the dross on the nasty's list.

Oh yeah, bring back Jane Ryall.

I picked this up in the sale a few days back and having read fairly negative reviews, I wasn't expecting a lot. As you'll probably know this film was banned as part of the video nasties hysteria, but even this uncut edition wasn't all that shocking by modern standards. Well perhaps the scene with the goat was a little shocking, but it's really not that bad. The first 10 minutes of the film might put you off, but do keep watching, as it'll start to make a lot more sense before long.

Without spoiling the film, it's a fairly straightforward story about killers on the rampage on a small island. It was made on a very small budget, but the island serves as an attractive cost-free backdrop. On that note, it is beautifully filmed. Lots of wide angle lens shots and on the Arrow Film release, aside from a small section of deteriorated film near the end, the colours are vibrant. I really wasn't expecting such a fine looking movie.

The acting seems to come up for a lot of criticism, which I disagree with. Robert Behling puts in a great performance as Christopher, creating a genuinely interesting character. He reminded me a little bit of Ted Bundy, although he looks more like Greg Kinnear (it would've been funny to see him in the role!). I enjoy watching characters like this. Michael Reilly Burke as Bundy, Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis Bloom… you get the picture. Personally, I think Behling puts in a great performance.

I guessed straight away that Jane Lyle was a model and she comes in for a lot of criticism, but I actually think she was perfect for the role. She has an innocent look and I agree with Stephen Thrower's assessment that her line delivery adds something extra. It may not be an example of the finest acting ever, but she comes across as a little simple and naïve, which (without spoiling the film) fits perfectly. The pair of them reminded me of the Ken and Barbie killers. Other actors put in a reasonable performance, aside from the director, although he only appears through necessity (an actor pulled out last minute apparently) and it's not an important section of the film. In fairness, even by his own admission he isn't a great actor, but it's not too distracting.

The music is absolutely brilliant and was co-written by the director, so it fits perfectly. On the Arrow Film release it comes as an extra on the disc (along with a ton of other great extras).

There are a few things which will seem out of place. For starters, there are often scenes with no extras. It's a holiday island which is at times seemingly deserted. Also you'll notice that victims have a strange habit of not screaming for help, which is strange. Often the film seems quite surreal, perhaps a little like parts of 'American Psycho'.

Much like American Psycho, this film has a dark sense of humour. But it also has an interesting point to make about morality and voyeurism. Indeed, Christopher's character could well be a Daily Mail reader, so outraged that he has been 'forced' to watch things he didn't want to see (based on his moral code) that he now wants to take revenge and see the "perverts" punished. The irony being that the Daily Mail has run many campaigns against video nasties, despite the fact most readers would be unlikely to (and probably haven't watched) these films. In the film, the hypocrisy is quite clear for all to see and the crucifixion (along with many other things) puts the emphasis firmly on religious conservatism.

So all in all, I think it's a great film. From the unusual opening credits, which use a camera shutter sound to set the scene, it's a very unique and interesting film. There is a 15 minute section near the end which dragged a little, so some better editing here would've raised this up to an 8, but for me it's a solid 7/10. It's unique, well shot, has fantastic music, great characters and more importantly, it has something to say. We could do with more films like this, rather than Iron Man 12 or X-Men 20. And well done to Arrow for putting out a great print of it. If you like your films sleazy and unusual, then this is definitely worth seeking out!

I believe that this was supposed to be shocking or something.... All that I can say is....POOR GOAT!!! This flick is so poorly done that the parts that "should" shock and revolt you come across as laughable at best. The characters are so lame and 2....wait....1 dimensional, that I applauded each sick death.....all except that POOR GOAT.

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.

"Island of Perversion" (the version with this title is uncut, by the way) is a movie that tries simply to be an exercise in pure cruelty and depravity, but doesn't have the artistry (or the budget!) to pull it off. Mastorakis obviously has no shortage of imagination, but some of the most "shocking" scenes are staged in a way that....well, lets you know they're "staged" and "fake", so you're not really disturbed. Still, this film definitely has the ingredients to be a cult classic. Two stars out of four...but ONLY for the curious.

An English couple visit a small Greek island and start a veritable frenzy of sex and murder. The point seems to be to punish what they see as perversions, but they turn out to be a hot bed of perversion themselves. Can't say I like this film, any film that contains multiple murders, bestiality, incest, forced sodomy and tons of nudity and also manages to be pretty dull is doing something fundamentally wrong.

It's interesting to note that writer / producer / director Nico Mastorakis took his inspiration for this notorious Video Nasty from the success of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre". He was determined to outdo it in terms of what perversions he could bring to the table, and it's fairly safe to say that he achieved his mission. This is an effectively sleazy and nutty film that quickly segues from gorgeous travelogue to exercise in pure, hard edged exploitation. Mastorakis adopts an "everything but the kitchen sink" approach when coming up with ideas. Among other things, we see some impulsive bestiality, a golden shower, rape, drug use, and a highly memorable plane ride.

Robert Behling and Jane Lyle play Christopher and Celia, a good looking young couple taking in the sights and sounds of the Greek island of Mykonos. However, they're also there in indulge in their violent and depraved whims. Although, after a fashion, Celia implores Christopher that there be "no more victims", he's the kind of guy who can *always* find a reason to murder somebody.

"Island of Death" is pretty fun for movie lovers who treasure the trashy side of world cinema. While it goes on a little too long for any exploitation film, at an hour and 46 minutes, and may lose the viewers' full attention on occasion, it still comes up with memorable depravity often enough to make it an acceptable viewing experience. The gorgeous photography & scenery stand in marked contrast to every raunchy thing taking place on screen. There's nudity from both of our leads and a fair level of gore. The intense Behling and the more straight laced Lyle are entertaining, and backed up adequately by Jessica Dublin as Patricia, Gerard Gonalons as Foster, Jannice McConnell as Leslie, and Nikos Tsachiridis as the mangy looking shepherd.

People may want to put this on their "to watch" list, especially if they want to make a point of checking out everything on the Video Nasty list.

Seven out of 10.

I better start this by saying that I am no expert when it comes to the sleaze or exploitation movie genre. I didn't realise there was a specific genre for exploitation until recently but I suppose there would have to be...it's obvious, just me being an idiot. This film, taken on it's own merits with no preconceptions about anything and only the knowledge that it was about a young couple who kill people on a peaceful island, was just what I was looking for. Something a bit like the old Lucio Fulci films I used to love when I was younger. Well this wasn't quite like those. Or it was, but only the ones that were complete trash like the Black Cat Fulci film that is a turkey...like this! I don't want to spoil it for you so I won't be giving any details away but let me just sum up the movie: The acting is painfully baaaad. I know there are a million B-Movies and especially horrors that have acting just like this so I suppose you can expect it and may overlook it. Then to the plot. What plot? Then on to the dialogue. The dialogue?? Is there an actual worked out script or were they told to not say much and if anything came into their heads then just to mutter it and try and look convincing? The dialogue is poor.

There are a couple of scenes that trouble people it seems from reading the boards here; The 'goat sex' scene. The guy does apparently have it away with a goat but I can confirm to you that you do not see this happening and it is not happening for real (at least that is what I believe!). At least the film makers had the sense to use the Hitchcock idea that 'Suggestion is more potent than graphic display' -of certain shocking scenes in film. You still see him...his face..but try not to get too excited! Then he kills the goat by slitting it's throat. Again here the makers spare us the graphic details but what we see is a goat alive, a goat dead, with tomato sauce all over it. There is sex in the movie and the whole movie revolves around jealousy and to a certain extent, sex. Although most men will appreciate the beauty of the various topless shots in this film, overall it fails to be sexy. I don't think it aims to be sexy ALL OF THE TIME but I do think the director wanted to make you like what they were doing in order to shock you later. It failed miserably. When this movie is over you will return here and agree with what I just told you. You will also wish you had gone and watched something else like a good Lucio Fulci movie or something of the B-Movie genre that really grabs you! 2/10

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!

All joking (about Goats) aside, Island Of Death is a Horror masterpiece, if I ever saw one, although, it seems to carry a reputation that would rival that of Cannibal Holocaust, which is most certainly not the case. The gore might not be plentiful, but this film is still, quite disturbing. If you've seen this, then you know it's not about the gore, anyway, although, it is present. It's not even about the cheesy schlock qualities. Island Of Death is atmospheric, and haunting, and completely unique, and yeah, it can be shocking

A semi-incoherent tale of a happy young couple, Christopher and Celia. As the young lovers make their way to the Island of Mynokos, Greece, we get the strong impression that something is a little off with these two. Christopher and Celia, at first, just seem a little impulsive, but after Christopher rants to Celia, the first night, about random women he sees, being adulterous, whores, and sinners, he gets up the next morning, with Celia being too tired to get it on with him, he locates the nearest goat, then rapes, and kills the damn thing, so, yeah, something is a little off.

Christopher is a delusional, self-righteous psychopath, convinced that it's his responsibility to punish everyones sin's, however he sees fit, completely oblivious to his own mental state. Celia, allegedly, being the only voice of reason in the relationship, doesn't have a whole lot of luck at reasoning with this guy, but considering, she also takes much pleasure in cold-blooded, murder, and almost seems like she's only playing the role of the sympathizer, as her own personal game, so, Christopher just doesn't take her too seriously, I guess. So, together they shoot, stab, mutilate, violate, and destroy pretty much anyone who might get under Christopher's skin. No one is safe on the Island Of Death... especially the goats.

Directed by some Greek guy, who, from what I've heard from him in an interview on the DVD, doesn't really "get" Horror, much less, B-Horror. Motivated only by cashing in on the popularity of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, nowadays, he sounds downright appalled by his actions as director of Island Of Death. Somehow, this guy's financial vision turned out to be much more than he was going for. An Exploitation diamond, to be exact. I don't know if it's the unfitting score, or the fact that way too little is explained, or even the peculiar attitude, and atmosphere that this film unknowingly flaunts. There's just something about this one that sets it apart from most everything else I've come across. Passionately recommended to anyone who likes unusual, beautiful horror, with unintentional humor, which also packs a punch. 9/10

I love horror...I appreciate the sickest horror...I love disturbing films...even when they push the envelope as long as there is something good about the film...this film offers nothing. No story, nothing sick done is a "cool" way...it's really, really bad...I bought it because I want to see all the so called "SICK", banned films from the 70's & 80's...this one is just a waste of your time.