ISLAND OF DEATH

Christopher and Celia have just arrived on the island of Mykanos. Christopher, in a voice-over, expresses his instant love for the island. "365 Churches. A place where they worship God. The perfect place", he tells us. Well, not quite perfect. Not yet anyway. Not until Christopher and Celia "improve" the island by systematically knocking off everyone Christopher views as immoral. Christopher is the avenging angel type, a man claiming to do God's work. He and Celia - who is more like bait than a sidekick - work their way through three or four townsfolk before a visitor comes calling, a detective who has followed them from London, a man all too familiar with their handiwork.


Robert Behling Island of Death

That's the basic set-up for ISLAND OF DEATH, a weird, unpleasant but ultimately hilarious exploitation flick that apparently caused quite a stink when it was released in 1975. It ended up on the dreaded Video Nasty list, a surefire way to ensure it's cult status, and faded into relative obscurity for quite some time. I remember first hearing about the film when I was just a teenager searching out rougher stuff in my local video store. From what I was told, ISLAND OF DEATH was a goddamned nightmare of a film, chock full of disgusting and depraved shit guaranteed to make me squirm. But, as it almost always turned out, that was just an exaggeration.


Jane Lyle Island of Death

Nico Mastorakis has time and time again acknowledged that he was inspired to make ISLAND OF DEATH after watching THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Something about Hooper's immortal classic struck a nerve with the first time filmmaker and he decided that he too wanted to make a film that was an all-out assault on his audience. ISLAND OF DEATH reads like an exploitation fan's wet dream. You have bestiality, rape, lesbianism, urination, kinky sex, copious amounts of nudity, buckets of blood, a bulldozer decapitation, a crucifixion, incest and the slow melting of a woman's face via a home-made blow torch. Sounds like Mastorakis managed to pull off that all-out assault, right?


Island of Death

Well, no. Not really. Mastorakis forgets something vitally important. Something is only shocking and disturbing if it's placed in the right context. ISLAND OF DEATH, for all it's nastiness and sleaze, is one of the funniest films I've seen in years. In fact, the whole thing plays out more like a black comedy exploitation riff on BADLANDS than THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. This film is downright gonzo and it's ever-shifting tone and over-the-top execution renders the nasty stuff impotent. Sure, the blow torch scene is brutal but it's hard to wince when you're staring at Robert Behling's mug while he fakes murderous ecstacy.


Island of Death

This is one of the reasons I'm torn in my opinion of ISLAND OF DEATH. It's a damned fun film. It's so ridiculous and perverted that I couldn't help but laugh throughout the film. It might have been a shocking film back in 1975 but it's been rendered tame by years and years of rougher stuff going in and out of my VCR. It no longer has the ability to shock - if it ever did - but it sure has the ability to entertain. Exploitation fans will likely have a blast at all the perverse shenanigans and overblown performances. Everyone else will probably just scratch their heads and walk out.


Island of Death

I must admit I'm generally biased when it comes to films that deal with the "judge not!" mentality of the religious. Everything from WITCHFINDER GENERAL to MARK OF THE DEVIL, films that recognize that the most evil acts are often carried out by those claiming holy right tend to sit well in my book. I'm often accused by people in my social circle of being anti-religion. Well, I am, actually, but that's kind of beside the point. Deal with enough religious folks and you quickly realize that those people who accuse you of being an immoral atheist have no problem whatsoever with their God torturing people endlessly simply because they couldn't buy what the priests were selling. The tone of ISLAND OF DEATH is decidedly anti-clerical and anti-religious. It's litany of blasphemies comes direct from scripture and it takes a great deal of pleasure in exposing the hypocrisy of many religious teachings.


Island of Death

But that's just me and whether or not you enjoy the subtext - or even disagree with it - is purely up to you. What it really boils down to is whether or not the movie works, whether or not it accomplishes what it sets out to do. Well, if you're like me, one of those die-hard horror / exploitation junkies, chances are ISLAND OF DEATH isn't going to push your buttons. Having sat through everything from the Guinea Pig films to the August Underground films, the violence on display in ISLAND OF DEATH didn't faze me at all. Having endured more than my fair share of Pinky Violence, rape / revenge flicks and countless Joe D'Amato sexploitation flicks, the perverted stuff on display in ISLAND OF DEATH didn't faze me either. If you're relatively new to the exploitation arena or just uber-sensitive to things like man-on-goat fucky-fucky, you may find yourself a bit freaked out. It all depends on your level of tolerance.


Jane Lyle Island of Death

At the end of the day, warts and all, I will recommend ISLAND OF DEATH. It's a good looking film, shot in remarkable locations, and stars one of the most striking female leads around, Jane Lyle. It's got a fast pace and plenty of laughs, intentional and otherwise, to keep you entertained. Just don't expect anything too extreme or punishing and you might find yourself having a good time.


Recommended.