Terry's Reviews
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Savage Island - 2003 Directed by Jeffery Lando Written by Kevin Mosley Starring |
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| Steven Harris and his wife Julia Young take a
boat trip to her parents home located on small Pacific Northwest island. While visiting,
Julia’s parents make it clear that they intend to develop the island into a resort.
The thing holding up the real estate deal from happening is the refusal from a family of
squatters named the Savages living on the island. Worse yet, one night while driving
across the island, Julia’s reckless brother Peter runs over something on the dark
road, which ends up being the youngest Savage child. This is a nice set-up for revenge and
Director Jeffery Lando orchestrates vicious retaliation in the tradition of THE HILLS HAVE
EYES. Lando and writer Kevin Mosley flip a role reversal on the characters, making the city family in some ways more brutal than the Savages. The overall result is an eruption of violence that forces each character to try to survive. The actors bring a nice level of professionalism to the production with Winston Rekert standing out as the frightening Eliah Savage. Lando’s directorial approach paints a gritty, grainy picture where nobody is left unscathed. My favorite sequence was when Julia, her mother and six-month old baby are put in harms way and Julia fights to keep her baby. Lando coordinates the chain of events with a deft touch never losing sight of what’s most important. Music Composer Chris Nichols adds much to the grim proceedings and should be noticed for his contribution to making SAVAGE ISLAND work. This film is not for the squeamish, which is surprising because it’s not really that gory. SAVAGE ISLAND is a look at what can happen when human beings from opposite ends of the social spectrum are pit against other with life held in the balance. |
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