Imagine “Creature from the Black Lagoon” with a “Predator” approach to action and gore instead of the classic Universal monster flicks and you have some idea what Mike Wiluan is going for with his clunky Shudder original “Monster Island.” The problem is that describing this gruesome take on “The Shape of Water” makes it sound way more fun than it is to actually watch it. Despite some solid low-budget make-up work and decent central performances, “Monster Island” doesn’t have enough meat on its bones, somehow feeling narratively inert even at just 83 minutes. The brief length might make it a reasonable diversion for creature feature fans but given how much I personally adore the old Universal Monster flicks that inspired this one and how quickly I got bored, maybe not.
“Monster Island” opens on a Japanese ship that’s transporting prisoners of war in May of 1942. Aboard the vessel is a soldier named Saito (Dean Fujioka), who has been deemed a traitor, and so is handcuffed to a British POW named Bronson (Callum Woodhouse). When the Allied forces reach the Hell Ship and torpedo it in a sequence of truly choppy editing meant to disguise a meager budget, Saito and Bronson end up marooned on a deserted island, quickly discovering that they are not alone. There’s a creature stalking them known as an Orang Ikan, which, again, looks like the fishman from “Shape of Water” with significantly sharper fangs. Wiluan almost charmingly leans into the “man in suit” aspects of his film, barely hiding that Alan Maxson is the dude in this particular lizard costume, an effective approach. If you can’t hide the budget, embrace it.
And that’s really about it. “Monster Island” is the story of enemies forced to become friends to survive a greater foe, although Wiluan almost aggressively avoids any of the interesting thematic paths available, including the idea that the Orang-Ikan was kinda just minding his own business before soldiers landed on his beach, or any sort of significant depth of character for Saito or Bronson.
To their credit, Fujioka and Woodhouse have notable immediacy, selling the horror and tension of their predicament effectively. Their work, along with the makeup effects on the creature, keep “Monster Island” feeling urgent in the moment even as it feels equally shallow overall. It’s strange to watch a film that’s as short as this one and still feel like it never quite got to feature length in the script phase. It would have helped to have bit more dark humor or playful filmmaking choice to fill in the narrative gaps. It’s a film that’s lacking in tone other than “argh.”
On the one hand, it’s easy to admire a filmmaker who clearly loves old-fashioned monster movies make a no-frills action variation on the Gill-Man. And give me the kind of practical special effects and make-up work done here over low-budget CGI any day of the week, which often looks dated before it even comes out. Is it possible to admire the throwback elements of a feature while still being largely bored while watching it? “Monster Island” is the answer to that question.
