Destino Fatal

Another worthy entry in the seemingly endless list of horrible 80's slashers, "Scared Alive" (a.k.a. "Island of Blood" and a.k.a. "Whodunit") is a wondrously inept and totally redundant low-budget flick with all the right ingredients: a senseless basic premise, unmemorable characters, a complete absence of logic, laughable dialogs, various but totally non-shocking killing methods and one remotely ingenious little gimmick (a constantly repeated rock song of which the lyrics reveal how the next victim will die a gruesome death). The movie starts with a bunch of idiots (= aspiring actors/actresses) gathering on an island, allegedly to start shooting a movie after the weekend when the rest of the technical crew arrives. None of them has a clue what the movie will be about, why they were selected or what they will do on this geographically isolated island location for the rest of the weekend, but hey, that's totally normal right? Then, and luckily quite fast and at a regular pace, they're being picked off one by one by an unseen killer. His/her curious modus operandi involves hanging a walkman somewhere near to the next victim that is repeatedly playing the same song entitled "Face to Face". The singer states with what weapon the character is going to get killed, resulting in a boy drowning in a pool filled with boiling water ("Boil me! Boil me!), a poor girl showering in battery acid ("Burn me! Burn me!), another poor chick getting her face nail-gunned to the wall ("Nail me! Nail me!) etc … Some of the murder sequences are wickedly entertaining, but overall seen is "Scared Alive" just another very dumb and forgettable slasher. The attempts to mislead the viewer and throw in red herrings fail miserably and literally none of the characters deserves a bit of sympathy. The idea behind the unforeseeable "twist-at-the-end" is rather admirable, but still very implausible and badly processed. I also think the make-up artists were all schizophrenic, as some murders are illustrated quite sick and explicitly, whereas certain others are lame and occurring off-screen. Let's just conclude it's a really bizarre and amateurish slasher movie only intended for avid genre fanatics. Oh, and the complete lack of nudity – especially with one shower sequence and one alleged sex sequence - is unforgivable!

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Island Of Blood; before launching into my critique, here's a breakdown of my ratings:

Story - 0.50 Direction - 1.25 Pace - 0.75 Acting - 1.00 Enjoyment - 1.00

TOTAL - 4.75 out of 10

The story is a mess. The writer and director, William T Naud, tried too hard to add the mystery and overcooked it. I believe he thought he was casting red herrings throughout the story to throw the audience off the killer's true identity. What he was doing was supplementing illogical dialogue and narrative, which made it confusing and silly. For example, the casting director keeps oversimplifying the cast's lines and then blatantly comes out with a quip to draw the audience's attention to him, "They'll know whose dying when they see it." The subtlety of this pretence is as subtle as getting hit in the head with two gold bricks. Then, there's the section where we learn how the performers obtained their roles. They didn't audition: They simply received the invite in the mail. We're intended to assume these people have something in common. It would have been a good ploy had Naud built upon it. But he doesn't. The ending is the worst thing about the picture. When the murderer is exposed, we realise that unless we had psychic abilities there was no way for us to deduce the killer's identity. I didn't feel too bad because I'd pretty much given up on the Whodunnit side of the story by then. And that is a botch-up in itself as the alternate title is Whodunnit. That title alone says, get your thinking caps on and notepads out; who'll be first to get the murder?

Naud is a smidgen better behind the camera. Generally, his technique is above average. There are a few enticing and eerily low lit scenes where he uses shadow and light admirably. His major pitfall is the pacing of the film. Island cried out for a varied tempo to add extra power to the scene's mood. The single pace is too slow for most of the film, which makes it less exciting and scary than it should be.

The cast isn't brilliant. Most miss with their portrayals of the characters. Franklin Phlem needs to be more of a presence on the screen. He needed more charisma and oomph. You see Ron Gardner trying to flesh him out, but he mainly comes across as dull. A couple of the characters need to be more menacing. One needed to be more of a diva. Though the story was overcooked, the performances were underdone.

I couldn't in all integrity recommend the Island Of Blood. It could have been such a good movie had the story and cast been more robust. Should you stumble across it someplace, then it will pass an hour or so, but don't expect too much of it.

Please feel free to visit my Killer Thriller Chillers list to see where I ranked the Island Of Blood.

Take Care & Stay Well.

A producer, director and seven cast members meet on a small isle off the coast of SoCal to make a movie, hosted by a curmudgeonly recluse. People immediately start dying in dubious ways. Who's the killer and why is he or she murdering them?

"Island of Blood" (1982), also known as "Whodunit" and "Scared Alive," is an obscure early 80's slasher that starts well enough with a little droll humor and Bari Suber being notable on the feminine front as BJ (her only role as an actress). Marie-Alise Recasner is also effective as Donna.

Unfortunately, there's not enough human interest to hold one's attention as the characters are cardboard. Worse, the second half devolves into dull chase/assault sequences in the dark and, mostly, inside a schoolhouse. The ending is quite good, however; a nice surprise.

The contemporaneous "Humongous" (1982) and "The Slayer" are better films of this ilk, as are the later "April Fool's Day" (1986) and "American Gothic" (1987). By "ilk," I mean slashers with the milieu of a remote island. "A Bay of Blood" (1971) is another example, although that's set at a bay, yet similar enough.

The flick runs 1 hour, 19 minutes, and was shot at Paradise Cove, Malibu (beach and island scenes), Dana Point Harbor (marina) and San Fernando Valley.

GRADE: C.

A group of actors arrive at a private island of begin shooting for a movie. They start getting killed off to the words of a punk rock song whose chorus is "Burn me, stab me, chop me, nail me, boil me, saw me" ! If you can look beyond the average acting and mostly poor script the movie is half way decent. It does hold your interest, some of the killings are decent and the song the victims get killed to is catchy! The ending has a good twist too, which I won't give away. Island Of Blood is not a tereffic horror film but it isn't too bad either. Hard core horror fans will not be totally let down. Still most casual fans, won't appreciate the low budget feel to the movie. That is just too bad!! If you are into 70's-80's slasher fare, this one is worth a look.

Not the most inspired slasher; but after a slow start, the practical fx /kills start chugging along at a decent pace, along with a satisfying conclusion. The characters range from likeable to complete one dimensional cardboard cutouts. I'd be very interested to see an uncut HD transfer since most of the film is extremely dark. If you're a slasher / horror aficionado, definitely watch this at least once. It has that comfort food early slasher vibe I dig.