Amityville Island

Director(s) - Mark Polonia (Bigfoot vs. Zombies, Sharkenstein) and Paul Alan Steele
Starring - Danielle Donahue (Muckman, Survival Knife), Jamie Morgan (Halloween Horror Tales, Bride of the Werewolf), and Jeff Kirkendall (Jurassic Prey, Land Shark)
Release Date - 2020
Genre - Horror/Sci-Fi/Comedy
Tagline - "For God's sake get out of the water"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When it comes to indie horror not many people can turn making movies into a career.  When they do they usually transition to other genres or other jobs in the industry that pays better.  Mark Polonia, along with his late brother John, started making no budget indie horror films back in 1985.  Now, 35 years later he is still churning out several films a year.  His films are hit and miss with me.  Some I find really fun and entertaining while others come across as rushed and chaotic.  Sometime back Wild Eye sent over Mark's newest film Amityville Island.  I'm a sucker for no budget horror comedies so I couldn't wait to toss it in.  Thanks Wild Eye for sending it over.

     The film follows a young single mother who moves into a new house across the road from a home where a grisly murder took place.  After buying a few items from the home she finds herself possessed and kills her children.  She's found guilty and incarcerated where her and another woman in for life is purchased by a scientist to have crude experiments run on them in hopes of creating a super solider.
   
     I didn't know what to expect when I tossed this one in.  I was hoping it was going to be a cheap shark movie like Sharkenstein but it was not that.  In fact, the artwork for this release did not paint the right picture at all. Regardless, this is not the movie I thought it was. The acting in this one is fun but the dialogue is very forced.  I did like the characters and how they fit into the story but their interactions were not genuine.  The story for this one seems to have everything.  We get possessions, killer animals, women in prison, mad scientists, and zombies.  However, it comes across as cluttered and chaotic.  I really wanted to like everything that was being thrown at us but it just didn't work for me.  If the movie would have picked one theme to follow it would have been a lot more fun.    Finally, the film is full of cheap practical effects and even cheaper visual effects.  The kills are nothing memorable and, sadly, they are not that fun.  However, if you like cheesy visual effects then you will really enjoy some of the scenes in this one.  Overall, Amityville Island is not as fun as I had hoped.  I love cheap, cheesy, no budget horror comedies but this one is just all over the place.  The story is so out there that I do recommend checking it out at least once but this one has no replay value.