(1985)
Directed by Michael Stanley.
Starring Robert Nolfi, Robert Lengyel, Julia Rust, Lisa Pak

I first came across this title while roaming the video stores back in the day and rented it simply because of the title and the box art. I mean, how could it be bad? It says right on the box that a group of shipwreck survivors end up on a deserted island, and “a living hell breaks loose when the survivors encounter gruesome, flesh-eating Beast Creatures!” I was totally sold. And after watching it, I was amazed that no one else was talking about it. Everybody remembers the little Zuni Fetish doll from Trilogy of Terror, right? Just imagine a whole island filled with them!

The basic story takes place in 1920 and is about a boat load of survivors from a cruise ship that sank. After drifting for a few days, they end up on what seems to be a deserted island. While they start to explore the island, looking for possible food and water, they eventually find out that they are not alone at all. In fact, the island is inhabited by the title characters, which only stand about a foot tall. But there’s a LOT of them. And when they attack, they are clever, fierce, and relentless.

Now a couple of things to point out that might have serious film scholars turning their noses up. This is a very low budget film. There is a lot of padding with the characters walking around the island through the brush and trees. The creatures are basically made of rubber, with very little detail other than white eyes (that glow at night), pointed teeth (and a lot of them) and black bushy hair that looks like they could be in a metal band from the ‘80s. But when these creatures start to attack, it is well worth the price of admission!

While on the subject of the cast, pretty much the entire lot of them were never in any other feature films besides this one. Some might think it could mean they are just not good and chose another profession. But I personally think they do a decent job here, making their characters at least seem real. Sure, some of them are a little over the top, such as John Vichiola’s portrayal of Mr. Morgan, the arrogant ass that is complaining about everything. We also have to give some major kudos to the entire cast for selling the attacks from the little monsters. Just imagine five or six of the actors, each with about a half dozen of these dolls attached to various parts of their bodies, or one or two in their hands, twisting and screaming as they try to sell the attacks. And they do. Might not be cinema at its finest, but damn if it isn’t entertaining as hell. So yes, for a low budget film, they serve their purpose and do it better than I’ve seen in most titles of this caliber.

There are some pretty humorous bits of dialogue that had me snickering. While picking berries for food, one of the ladies is bitten by an unseen beast creature, putting a nice bite mark on her hand. She jumps back and screams. One of the others asks if she’s okay and she promptly replies, “Oh I’m fine”, and then goes back to picking berries. But my favorite part is during one of their rest breaks amidst all the walking, one of the crew members asks the old grouch about himself. He tells him he was talking his wife to England for an operation, but she didn’t make it off the ship. The crew member then says, “I hope things work out for you.” Nice!

But the best part of this film, and the real reason you should be adding it to your collection, is because of the title beasties! These really have a similarity to the Zuni Fetish doll, expect about half the size and nowhere near the detail. The only movement they do is closeups with their jaws moving, or when they are biting someone, or when they run, their little arms swing back and forth. Which, I must say, is a pretty cool effect, especially when adding the sound effects.

The first real time we see them, right before the first night attack, one of the women who is holding watch sees what looks like a two glowing eyes. Then she sees four more. Then a dozen. Next thing, the whole screen is filled with all these glowing eyes.

There is a couple of gory bits that will take you by surprise and is well done and pretty effective, especially because you’re not expecting it. But the title characters are the real stars here. Watching the interview with the director on the extras on the recent Blu-Ray release from Vinegar Syndrome, and he had a couple of the creatures with him during the interview. I swear that if I ever found out I could purchase one of them, I would be in deep shit with the wife because I would probably pay WAY too much.

And speaking of the Blu-Ray release, a huge kudos to Vinegar Syndrome for not only resurrecting this all-but-lost title but doing such a great job in the restoration. The VHS tape always looked pretty dark and more than a bit grainy. The new print, restored from the original theatrical version from a 16mm camera negative looks great. The nighttime scenes that were pretty much blacked out in the VHS copy, now you can at least see some of the action. Not sure why the disc includes the VHS version unless maybe you want to see what it was like to watch it for us old timers!

The disc also has interviews with the director Mike Stanley and writer Robert Hutton, a partial commentary by Stanley, and even some test footage. Great stuff and an amazing release.