GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
Derry Herrera
Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
nebilcs-168-165298
I'll start with the negatives - not a lot happens on-screen and there is a reliance on unlikely plot devices. For example, a thermal imaging camera is introduced at precisely the time it becomes necessary and as an unlikely Christmas present. It could very easily have arrived on the island as part of the military observer's equipment. Using guns to shoot at invisible attackers with tentacles seems a lot less efficient than handing out axes and machetes...The positives though... I found the directing very mature and the whole mood very immersive and suspenseful. Obviously the budget and technical constraints were recognised and so the filmmakers went down the Jaws/Alien route of leaving the big reveal as late as possible and leaving as much to the imagination as possible. Consequently the better part of the film is the first 2/3 of runtime. And there were some pleasant details. The casting was appropriate for the location in terms of age and the characters were mixed and interesting with an absence of California teeth or tans. The film didn't flinch from showing gore but was a long way from being reliant on it and the plot was interesting if inconclusive in the finish.Overall, then, a reasonable sci-fi plot suffering from limitations but elevated by insightful direction and great choice of location into something worth watching.
tdrish
Island Zero is clearly a very low budget film. I wasn't quite expecting that, as I recognized some of the names attached to the project. Chinese/American mystery author Tess Gerritson, who wrote many bestselling books such as The Surgeon was the writer for this, which drew my attention. Island Zero doesn't have a lot of money to work with, but for what they had to work with, I would say this was a fair attempt. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, the cameras used for the film are far from amazing, in fact, quite laughable at the generic quality, however, all is forgiven from me for the few surprises that lay ahead. I do not like the opening scene, a dog is killed off ( her name was Sweetie, how cute!), and we learn in the very beginning that there is something out there in the waters that is killing off any form of life, weather it be animal , marine, or in the fishermans case, human. The suspense and intense atmosphere seal the films solidity, giving us a feel that we are out there with them. In fact, some scenes, I actually felt sea sick. Let's say this, if The Blair Witch Project was transformed into the open waters, that would be Island Zero. So expect that, and accept that. If you're expecting a real gory horror movie, you may be disappointed. There's one, maybe two gory scenes in the entire film. For the most part, this movie doesn't concentrate on trying to gross you out, it doesn't even try to spook you. If you ask me, this was more of a mystery then a horror or scary movie. What's out there, what does it look like? So if you're looking for a high body count thriller, move on. If, however, you're tired of the ordinary, and want to move on to something a little more...intelligent, then by all means, dip into this fantasy.
GL84
Following several strange incidents, the residents of a small island off the coast of Maine find themselves cut off from the rest of civilization and being hunted down by a ravenous sea creature intended to be used in a military experiment and must get away from the creatures alive.This one ended up being a solid low-budget indie creature feature. That is built mainly on the wholly intriguing main premise of the film that makes for a lot of potential fun to be had. This one really works itself into a nice groove at the beginning where it slowly features the eventual buildup of their lives on the island, from the residents who make a living on the sea to the different potential romances brewing and how that gets interrupted by the serious implications on the outside of the storyline. This creates an effective atmosphere throughout here where the creatures closing in on the community by being responsible for their situation and creates both intrigue and suspense about what's going to happen due to this fine early build-up. Once this goes into the creature attacks, it has some rather enjoyable attacks. Starting with the first discovery of the body parts strewn across the island, this offers up some nice concepts involving the creatures attacking here which features the later attack on the shipping vessel heard through the radio or the discovery of dead bodies in bloodsoaked houses which finally clues them in that something is out there. With a stellar sequence of the unseen creatures attacking and taking out one of the locals inside the house, a later ambush where they realize the creatures' intent in the area and a fine finale where the creatures are put into even more action-centric encounters that are rather thrilling, it's exciting scenes are placed at the right spot to give this a lot to like. Along with the creature design and backstory that has plenty to like here, it ends this on a high note and is what make this one hold up over its flaws. While this one makes out well enough due to its low-budget imitations, there are a few out there that would find fault with this aspect of the film. The fact that it stays within this close-knit community, never really venturing out to other aspects of the area and looking like it's all done with local limitations makes this one a lot more restrained than it really should be. That includes the slow-burn pace which doesn't ramp up the action as much as it should, featuring plenty of low-key moments of the group going about their lives or trying to push the storyline about the creatures being there which just takes so long to move to that part of the story which is what holds it back. Likewise, some might also be on this one for the fact that it's a lot longer than it really needs to be which is certainly aided along by the overly slowed-down pacing. This one really could've been trimmed down some by either taking a little less time on the setup or injecting a bit of urgency into the proceedings once it had been obvious what was going on, which would've kept this one going a little faster. Otherwise, this one wasn't too bad.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.
Colin Christian
A group of people living on a small island in New England find themselves cut off from the mainland,no ferry,no supplies,no power,no internet. At first,the obvious limitations of the budget was a little worrying,but the cast,the story,and the writing really made up for it,and I found myself absorbed in the lives of these people,and the lurking horror out of sight. The first 45 minutes are very effective,and I do wish they had stuck to this instead of the later attempts at sci-fi action,which is rarely possible on such a small budget. There are a few bits of gore,which seemed to be the wrong color to me,next time up the red and shiny! The second half was OK, and with a larger budget I could see this movie doing very well,I really liked the setup and the atmosphere and paranoia of the first half was very well done indeed. So,a mixed bag,I was hoping that the apocalyptic Lovecraftian feel of the first half would continue through the whole film,perhaps the filmmakers would go that route on another movie? Because there's lots of promise here,a damn fine effort. The doctor's identity drove me nuts,until I realized she was in Planes Trains and Automobiles!! She was fantastic,a great character,I liked the film and would watch it again.