BERMUDA ISLAND
Directed by: Adam Werth
Starring: John Wells, Sarah French, Victor V Gelsomino, Tom Sizemore, Noel Gugliemi, Sheri Davis, Wesley Cannon, Janet Wang, Greg Tally, Zera Lynd
Disaster strikes the passengers of an airliner heading out of Miami for Puerto Rico, when first a federal prisoner escapes his captors and then the plane hits a freak thunderstorm, sending it plummeting into the ocean. Survivors manage to make it to a small tropical island but soon discover that more nightmares await them….
BERMUDA ISLAND sets itself up to be a low budget disaster movie but that turns out to be something of a red herring - a means to get us and survivors to the island so the real story commence.
We start with a FBI sting operation which results in a high body count, but it’s a success because renowned gun-runner Diego Montalban is finally in custody and about to be on his way back to Puerto Rico. The film then shifts locations to the departure lounge as various colourful passengers check in for their flight. This is pure disaster movie 101, and we have a whole bevy of people we cannot wait to see bite the dust, such as the Karen who complains loudly about the delay. I was very reminded of Snakes On A Plane which has a similar build-up to the flight.
ThE action on the flight is quite brief - there's a shoot-out and numerous people are killed, but this is overshadowed by the fact the plane has suddenly flown into a thunder storm, gets struck by lightning and crashes into the ocean - all within about 60 seconds of screen time.
The next segment of the film will be familiar to anyone who watched the tv series, LOST - the ragged survivors washed up on shore, trying to make the most of their situation - finding shelter and food being the priority. As half the group try to build some form of shelter, the rest go foraging. Instead of food, they find death - a "tribe" of green humanoid monsters with claws and teeth which can rip through flesh.
One of the film's strengths is it isn't afraid to off its characters. Other than the main trio who are ostensibly our heroes, anyone is fair game if they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The production must have had a good supply of raw, bloody meat because there is a LOT of gory carnage.
The film also has some interesting character beats. Early on the island, there is a dispute among the survivors (too many "alpha male" types ended up on the island). FBI Agent Victor Sweden (Cannon) leads his group away, but keeps sneaking back to see what he can learn from the original group and copying their skills. There's also a flavour of Lord of The Flies in the way the usual societal morality and ethics fall swiftly to the side in favour of a raw need to survive at any cost.
There are a few negatives. The eclectic script's pacing is uneven, especially considering the numerous jumps of genre. There are way too many scenes of people challenging the status quo "Hey, who put YOU In charge?" says just about everyone at some point). There are also long periods where both groups seem to forget they are on an island with a tribe of flesh-eating monsters who are systematically hunting them. However, the cast does a decent job overall and the film gets a lot of kudos for relying on practical effects where possible.
THE VERDICT
BERMUDA ISLAND may suffer from an identity crisis for its first half (it’s a police procedural! It’s a disaster movie! It’s a creature feature!") but one thing is clear about it's agenda: this film means to entertain, and it certainly does that. It is a relatively low budget film but it has decent monster suits, practical gore fx and a large cast who will keep you guessing as to who's going to bite it next.