Excellent low-fi movie in a genre I love (see The Wicker Man and Straw Dogs, could we call it Xenothrill) which was genuinely spooky and well-made. In this genre, what a pity Betheny's Children was never completed! That would have been Cumbria, but the Cornish atmosphere here makes up for it!
Reviews
2 Reviews
The Island
(2005)
A tale of two halves
30 October 2010
I was completely gripped for about the first third of this movie- the premise is intriguing as it unfolds bit by bit, the atmosphere is worthy of the ultimate clone story 'Brave New World' and has a smattering of 'Logan's Run' on there. The contained world is beautifully realised and marvellously sinister, and Sean Bean is strong as the Doctor who runs the joint. Sadly lead stars McGregor and Johanssen discover the sinister truth behind their existence less than half way through the movie and subsequently do a runner, after which the tension and mystique dissolves into a disappointingly dull bog standard action flick, as so many of McGregor's movies seem to! It's a sad waste of a potentially classic movie. So I give it 5, 9 for the first third and two-ish for the second part.
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