Saturday, May 16, 2020

Island of Blood, Actors and Actresses Boiled and Skewered

Oh so many awful deaths. Lovely actresses meeting unimaginable fates as actors are cut up. Today we have a slasher film from 1982, "Island of Blood," directed by William T. Naud. How did you miss this one? That is what I'm asking myself as I believed I had seen all the slasher films from the early 80s. So many good death scenes in this one, including an acid shower for a nubile actress and a hunk actor getting his limbs severed by a chainsaw.
A movie crew is delivered to an island to film an 'up with people' movie (don't ask). Just before they get there a gratuitous scene in which a nubile lass is shotgunned while swimming in the pool foretells the fate of so many of the arriving crew. The leading lady is BJ (Bari Suber). She's a dish, and all her lines consist of "Make love to me...Take me...I want you" She is usually clad in short shorts, a swimsuit, or a white silk negligee. Even before the filming starts, the murders begin, The killer carries a cassette player with him (or her) and plays the tune "Boil Me and Set Me on Fire." Hence the first actor to go is pushed in the aforementioned pool in which the water is boiling. No one will miss this dweeb as the crew will feast on boiled lobster for lunch.
As BJ mouths her aforementioned lines to the perverted director (Ron Gardner), in private rehearsals, more murders will occur. The very pretty Donna (Maria-Alise Recanser) will give us a gratuitous shower scene before the killer replaces the water with acid making Donna not so pretty anymore. Nail guns, chainsaws, and knives will also beset our cast. As the numbers dwindle, cat-fights are hinted at as the actresses don't like each other. BJ will even have pre-marital sex with the director as spikes come through the bed making him a shish kabob. As the end of the film approaches, BJ will be in great distress as she runs in her negligee and the final reveal will be...surprising.
Might BJ be the killer, as she is sick of screwing old movie executives to get a lead role (this never happens)? Is America ready for an 'up-with-people' film, or is the slasher genre a great elixir to keep these films out of the theaters?  Is BJ too beautiful to die or will this film take on an Italian (Giallo) mindset? For some neat kills and a standard, but great, slasher plot, enjoy "Island of Blood."

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