Out of all the ‘Video Nasties’ the fact that ‘Island of Death’ doesnt get as much love as some of the bigger hitters frankly astounds me. a highly compitent production. Niko Mastorakis takes us on a demented killing spree for which we are unflinching hostages.

The plot? two cousins arrive on a small remote greek island and begin a whirlwind killing spree while engaging in erotic and incestuous happenings. As time goes on however ‘Celia’ (one of the cousins) believes her partner in crime is going too far and begins to pull away from his life of psycopathy…Oh! dont get me wrong, she’s still a SUPER into it murderer…she just isnt AS into it as her partner.

While the nasties had a bit of a ‘rep’ for being extreme and over the top, very few of them were really, truely all that bad…’Island of Death’ however VERY much lives up to its reputaiton. delivering everything from rape and incest through to beastiality and graphic mysoginitic driven mutilation. Its a tough watch in places. But Nikos script work and direction here is ultimately what saves it as a picture. In lesser hands, this could have been REALLY poor ‘grindhouse’ fodder. But Niko makes almost every aspect of the production really feel like a fully fleshed out universe.

The script, clocking in at an hour and 48 is reasonably paced, bleakly toned and deeply unpleasent to see in places. However, it maintains its tone and style from beginning to end and rarely falters. While I do think some slight trims here could help to aid the viewing experience. I ultimately felt like this was about the right length for this film.

Its an examination of Psycopathy and what drives (or rather doesnt drive) people to commit abhorrent acts, and while it maybe sags a little bit here and there, Nikos script work in balancing genuinely unsettling violence with actually interesting character pieces I thought was actually quite unique.

The characters here have depth, nuance, they may not be the cleverest killers ever put to screen, but they do feel quite believable as characters and I enjoyed watching them fall deeper and deeper into the madness of their own creation. Towards the end of the 3rd act ‘Christopher’ (one of the killers) comments that ‘once one thing goes wrong, it can make everything go wrong’ and thats pretty much the mantra of this film.

I’d stop short of saying this is a ‘complex’ work. But it is FAR from simplistic and really does make the most of its characters, the drives behind them and the world building of the mysterious exotic greek island location.

But for me? what really sets this thing up to the next level is the direction and cine. Marrying up this deeper than usual script with a set of visuals that are quite frankly gorgeous in places. Rich deep colourful shots that have expert composition and really make the most of the locations and set spaces they have.

the choice to shoot a lot of these brutal murder sequences as erotically charged pieces really only further drives the unselttling madness of the piece and makes it even more surreal and nightmarish to sit through.

Couple this up with a rock solid edit that really helps sell the nightmare, and some really decen performances that only further help to sell the surrealist and horrifying vision playing out (Not to mention the amazingly out of place soundtrack that somehow works despite feeling TOTALLY out of place) and you have all the makings of a much underrated classic.

‘Island of Death’ will absolutely not be for everyone. Its over the top, graphic, unsettling and a little *too* real for comfort in places. But as a piece of cinema, I really struggle to find fault with it. We have an interesting and somewhat complex script that plays with light and dark moments, with complex characters who have their own independent drives and motivation, married to MORE than compitent direction, interesting and creative visual choices, GORGEOUS cine that really pops, and a rock solid edit holding it all together.

I think this one is probably one of my favourite ‘Nasties’ and if you hanker for the ‘Stronger side’ of Nasty history. This one will more than give you your money’s worth!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/island-of-death/1/