Film Review – Fantasy Island (2020)

“Fantasy Island” began life as two television movies for ABC, quickly turned into a series that ran from 1978 to 1984, taking viewers to a special place of unknown magic where vacationers could live out their deepest desires or confront unfinished business. The show was a hit, securing pop culture domination and high ratings for the producers, who eventually returned to the brand name for a 1998 revival series that was anything but successful. While the program had its dark side, dealing with the mysteries of the human heart and the dangers of psychologically unstable characters, there was a dramatic pull to the stories, creating enjoyable T.V. For 2020, co-writer/director Jeff Wadlow tries to turn “Fantasy Island” into a horror film, showing some appreciation for the knotted reality of the original material, but he largely goes his own way with the picture. The director of “Cry Wolf,” “Never Back Down,” “Kick-Ass 2,” “True Memoirs of an International Assassin,” and “Truth or Dare,” Wadlow doesn’t have an inspired resume, and it should come as no surprise that his confused take on the series is downright painful to sit through. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com