Director: Josh Gerritsen
Writer: Tess Gerritsen (Screenplay)
Starring: Laila Robins, Adam Wade McLaughlin, Teri Reeves, Matthew Wilkas, Stephen Atkinson, Anabel Graetz
Plot: A fishing community on a remote Maine island finds itself suddenly cut off from the rest of the world after the ferry stops coming. When people start to vanish, the terrified survivors realize that someone – or something – is hunting them.
Tagline – Every thing needs to eat.
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Fun Creature Feature
Story: Island Zero starts as we meet the residents of the small fishing community on the Maine Island, Doctor Maggie (Robins), biologist Sam (McLaughlin) novelist Titus (Wilkas) and many more, with Christmas around the corner the non-permanent resident are looking to return home, only for the ferry not to arrive and connection to the outside world gone.
As the days pass the tension starts to rise and the supplies dwindle, but the bigger threat comes from the sea as a new predator is looking to eat, can they make it offer the island before becoming the latest target.
Thoughts on Island Zero
Characters – Maggie is the temporary doctor on the island, she does her best with the residents, but can’t wait to leave to return to her home on the main land for an isolated Christmas. She provides help when the attacks happen, while remaining calm through any panic. Sam is a marine biologist that lives on the island who believes the problems in the water will happen with the fish population seemingly vanishing, he does have to face relationship issues with his wife not wanting to stay on the remote island. Lucy is the wife of Sam’s, she is a journalist, but isn’t happy on the island anymore looking to move back to the mainland either with him or without him, she always feels like a replacement mother to his daughter which has made her feel insecure at times.
Performances – Laila Robins is good in one of the leading roles, she shows the calmness required in her character throughout the film. Adam Wade McLaughlin is good as the marine biologist while Teri Reeves is good as the one that wants a sensible solution to what is going on. The rest of the cast are good throughout the film without anyone being a stand out.
Story – The story here shows the residents of a small remote fishing community that come under siege by an unknown predator that can’t be seen by the naked eye and will hunt to feed. This does fall into the creature feature style of survival film where the group must survive against a new predator. It is a tried and test formula and plays out how you would expect without being overly challenging to watch, the idea does leave our characters facing personal demons to survive too.
Horror – The film is a creature feature which does play into the horror well, if you saw the movie Grabbers, this does have similarities without the comedy parts.
Settings – The film is set on the remote island, with only one way to get off the island, this works wonderfully because it shows the isolation the characters will be facing with no way of communication to the mainland.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are used well, moments of practical for the gore and the infra-red to identify the predator and wildlife around the island.
Scene of the Movie – Interrogation.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It does take slightly too long to get going.
Final Thoughts – This is a simple fun creature feature, it hits the marks it needs to and keeps everything entertaining for the audience.
Overall: Creature feature 101
Rating
