So if you’re not a fan of classic TV, Fantasy Island was a show where different guests came to an island, run by Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Roarke, where their fantasies come true. And sure, sometimes the episodes were scary but they were generally fun and introspective for the most part. So now that horror studio Blumhouse has decided to add a sinister twist to this concept, I’ve only got one question: why?
From what we see on the trailer, we have a new Mr. Roarke played by Michael Peña, inviting guests onto his island to experience their fantasies play out. Melanie, played by Lucy Hale, is particularly cynical about the whole experience. Her fantasy was to torture a school bully, but once she realizes that the island is able to manifest the fantasy in reality, things get dark fast. Each of the guests are forced to live through their fantasy, all of which slowly start to twist into nightmares. The trailer hints at a darker secret on the island that all of their fantasies play into, though what it could be remains a mystery.
Besides Peña and Hale, we have Maggie Q, Austin Stowell, Portia Doubleday, Jimmy O. Yang, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Michael Rooker. It is directed by Jeff Wadlow, who also directed Cry Wolf, Kick-Ass 2, and Truth or Dare, which also starred Lucy Hale.
As a fan of the original (and of anything Ricardo Montalban has done ever), I’ve got to question the decision to make the island evil. It would be one thing to have, say, one of the guests have a dark fantasy that ends up sucking the other guests in or maybe the guests think they are there for their own fantasies but just a part of someone else’s. It just seems like a weird thing to do with an already established franchise.
Also, weirdly enough, the film will be premiering on the same day as the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which has now be redesigned to look less like a nightmare. Wonder who’s going to win that box office fight.
Fantasy Island is set to premiere in theaters of February 14, 2020.