The Island Blu Ray Review (Eureka Entertainment)

The Island (aKa Sang Sei Sin 生死線, and Life And Death) is a 1985 horror film directed by Po-Chih Leong (Foxbat, Banana Cop, Immortality, Baby Blues, Fatal Love, Itchy Fingers, He Lives by Night, and Hong Kong 1941). It was written by The Dak Bo Creative Group and Kei Shu (To Hell with the Devil, Soul, Tracey, Temptress Moon, and The Happenings). It was produced by Sammo Kam-Bo Hung (Into the Fire, Seven Warriors, Lady Reporter, Sworn Brothers, Scared Stiff, Mr. Vampire Part 3, The Final Test, Pedicab Driver, and Hocus Pocus). At the height of summer, teacher Mr Cheung (played by: John Sham from Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind, Double Impact, Edge of Darkness, The Lunatics, To Hell with the Devil, Mad Mission 3, and Gun is Law) takes a small group of his students on an excursion to explore a rural island that he assumes is uninhabited. When they arrive, Cheung and his class discover that they are not alone because the island is the home to three deranged brothers which includes Tai (played by: Lung Chan from The Big Boss, The Legend, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Ghost Killer, Mad Mad Ghost, Crazy Safari, and Hocus Pocus), Yee (played by: Jing Chen from Return Engagement, Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, The Iceman Cometh, Royal Warriors, Vampire vs. Vampire, and Her Vengeance), and Sam (played by: Billy Sau Yat Ching from Millionaires’ Express, Scared Stiff, Fatal Love, The Crucifixion, Project A 2, and Righting Wrongs) plus their equally deranged mother (played by: Lap Ban Chan from Corpse Mania, The Ghost Snatchers, and Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow). One of Cheung’s students refuses a marriage proposal from the youngest, each member of this deeply strange family decides to take revenge on their unexpected guests. Will they be able to survive this disaster???? The Island is basically the Asian version if you mixed The Hills Have Eyes and Mother’s Day with some Texas Chainsaw Massacre thrown in for good measure. I’ve never heard of this 80’s horror feature until it was announced for home video from Eureka. It’s a nice surprise, I wish I would have found it sooner because it’s one of the better darker films from Hong Kong. It takes a small school trip that turns into a nightmare. Veteran director Po-Chih Leong is behind the camera for this one. I’ve seen a few of his previous movies and this probably his work. John Sham as Mr Cheung is one of the most unlikely heroes that you have ever seen. He doesn’t seem to have what it takes and he comes off weak early on. The island has a real nice build up to everything, this role goes from wimp to bad ass by the time it’s all finished. He is pushed to his limits and he will protect his students over his own life. The disturbed Fat Family really steals the show here with unhinged performances from character actors Lung Chan, Jing Chen, and Billy Sau Yat Ching lead by their disturbing mother Lap Ban Chan. They are extremely weird from the start. The audience instantly knows something is off when they show up. They use snakes as weapons and as someone that’s terrified of them, it always gets to me. They are excellent villains in this, you really want them to suffer because they are nasty and mean spirited. The rest of the supporting cast includes Hoi-Lun Au (Millionaires’ Express), Timothy Zao (Porky’s Meatballs), Ching-Yuen Tse (Porky’s Meatballs), Wai Kwan Kwok, Ronald Wong (Horror School), Si Git Hau (Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind), Bo-Yan Ngan (Crazy Games), and Lai-Seung Yuen (The Happenings). The Island starts out as a fun adventure movie with a teacher and his class. As it develops, it gets stranger and more violent. It has enough violence, gore, and uncomfortable situations but it’s not as extreme as you would think it would be. It still works and it adds to it’s thrilling atmosphere. These children don’t feel safe at all, especially the girls. They have some devious plans for them. The Island gets the audience on the edge with it’s tension and bizarre scenarios that keep happening. I was pleasantly surprised how you never knew what was next with this. I enjoyed how humor wasn’t included in this. The Island is very dark and depressing, it goes with it’s psycho themes. It’s very entertaining and it’s fun to see these underdogs try to battle this family full of lunatics in an isolated location, STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Eureka Entertainment! This 1080p (1.85:1) unrated uncensored transfer from a brand new 2K restoration. I’m really too familiar with Eureka yet but this is an excellent first impression for me. They took this obscure 80’s low budget horror production and it looks great in HD. It has to be a massive improvement over anything from the past. I don’t think it can better than this presentation here. The locations really pop for the sharp visuals. It has an Cantonese: LPCM 2.0 Mono track on the disc. I would have loved to have an English dubbed track included with this. The suspense and thrills are the standout scenes with the score really taking control of it all. The dialogue is very clean, the torture is elevated, and the music has a big boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has a brand new exclusive “Audio Commentary” with Frank Djeng. It has a brand new exclusive “Audio Commentary” with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. Lots of interesting highly detailed and unknown information is shared on both of these tracks. If you want to know more about The Island, these are both worth the listen. It has the almost 17 minute “Tony Rayns On The Island”. He chats about the company D and B that was started to do alternate stuff to the popular Golden Harvest at the time. He talks about some of their earlier projects before This Island. He mentions the influences of America for all kinds of Hong Kong horror especially with slashers . He mentions Shaw Brothers got into all kinds of horror while the other two were making them. The martial arts movies weren’t doing as good so that’s why so many different genres were explored later on. The Beast is brought up as a possible prototype for this from newer rival Century. It’s a very detailed history of why this horror feature was made in the 80’s. It has the 2023 little over 22 minute “Surviving the Shoot”. It’s an interview with director Po-Chih Leong. He chats about being involved with earlier Hong Kong stuff. He talks about The Island being a battle between normal and crazy. He says the older brother from the Fat Family was also doing stunts behind the scenes. He talks about how he got it and his personal experiences on the shoot. He wanted to make something that stood out from all of the action films at the time. He jokes about everything being real so some of the scenes hit harder than expected. He shares it’s main themes and the villains motivation in this. It has the “Trailer” for The Island. It’s from the Masters of Cinema line from Eureka Entertainment. This limited edition comes with a slipcover, it has different artwork underneath, additional artwork inside, and a 20 page booklet. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!