By Drew Dietsch
| Published
I miss monster movies. Sure, they still get made, but there used to be a more robust ecosystem for these kinds of low budget creature features. Nowadays, it doesn’t feel like folks can appreciate and enjoy the simple pleasure of a guy dressed up as a monster terrorizing some folks. Doesn’t need to be the Infinite Jest of horror flicks, just a nice little bit of B-movies goodness treated with sincerity.
That’s pretty much the whole package when it comes to Monster Island. It’s an open genre riff on The Defiant Ones but set in World War II and the location is an island in the Pacific where some freaky fish folks happen to make their home.
What more can a simpleton such as myself ask for?
The Story of Monster Island
Monster Island starts on an inhumane prisoner-of-war ship but doesn’t spend too much time before getting to what’s on the marquee. Our heroes are a British officer (Callum Woodhouse) and a Japanese traitor (Dean Fujioka) who are chained together just in time for the ship to get torpedoed.
They wash up on the shore of a nearby island that happens to have a monster on it. Title achieved! Now, they have to survive a competent Predator riff that substitutes an alien hunter for a Creature from the Black Lagoon/mermaid monster.
Not Bare Bones, “Meat and Potatoes”
Monster Island might get accused of being bare bones by other critics, but I prefer to see it as a “meat and potatoes” movie. At 83 minutes, this flick goes through all the expected beats of this story at an expedited clip, but it’s not a poor execution of this familiar tale. The trust built between the two lead characters is earned and earnest, but never given a ton of specific flavor or depth to make it stand out from its peers.
Same thing goes for the monster of Monster Island. Simply the sight of a regular monster suit performance is enough to make me smile, so I admit the heaviest of bias in this regard. However, no amount of practical effects, including a handful of enjoyable gore gags, makes up for the fact that the Orang Ikan (the original name of the movie) is a straightforward creature without a ton of unique flavor.
But, just like a meat and potatoes meal, there is a flavor there. It’s just one you’re very used to.
A Decent Drive-In Date
Streaming has really screwed up our perception of movies. Monster Island is distributed on Shudder and you can stream it on their platform, but it’s the kind of movie that seems best suited for a roadshow on the old drive-in circuit back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. If it had been released back then, it would probably be getting a prestige restoration and release by a boutique physical media outlet.
But, Monster Island exists today and it can’t help but feel “not bad” in the modern landscape. I can only give a solid recommendation of it to weirdos like me who will show up for a movie simply because a guy is dressed up as a fishman and it’s not a piece of animation. Otherwise, I think most folks would enjoy their simple time with Monster Island but will be unable to see it as a pale imitation of better movies.
