Absolute Horror Film Forum

This film starred Malcolm McDowell, so I thought, it can't be too bad - WRONG.

This is one of the most boring movies I've had the unpleasure to sit through - but sit through I did, in the hope that something wonderful or funny would happen - neither did.

Too be honest the background to the film was more unnerving, and stays with me still. You see it's based on the mass burial ground of "Hart Island" where the indignant, homeless and unclaimed are buried in mass graves. The pits are dug and filled by convicts under the supervision of Corrections Staff. As the ferry man drives our female lead "Cop" across the island he tells her that it had previously been used as a quarantine island for people with deadly and infectious diseases, and later housed a large sanitarium for the criminally insane. So with this in mind you can see the possibilities within storyline - what do we get - conscientious flies.



Now the Cop has gone to the island to identify the body of a young girl who'd been a victim of the "Double-Dutch Killer" of which we are inundated throughout the movie - for no apparent reason whatsoever - to a slow-motion shot of three girls skipping rope - and at one point a full minute close up of a pair of skipping shoes, nice brown suede with a cute flower stitched on in white cotton. This could've been acceptable had the movie been about the "Double-Dutch Killer" but it isn't (the poor bugger had probably seen this film )

Malcolm McDowell plays King a rich guy who has bought the island to open up to the homeless people to build them houses and give them work - yeah right, his real reason is to get the homeless to participate in "Drug Testing."

When his first in command disappears while taking soil samples he gets worried and gets a small band of people to look for him - three convicts, the female cop, a Corrections officer and himself. They plod around the very desolate countryside, until one of the cons literally stumbles over the corpse, which is in an advanced state of decomposition (a few earth worms thrown over him for good measure). The con that found him (Mos Def) wanders off to "get a grip" and is attacked by a small swarm of flies. Instead of saying "Look at that idiot, they're only flies." One con freaks out and does a runner - what kind of bad guy is scared of flies? They spot a larger swarm on the horizon and flee in the truck leaving Mos Def to the flies - nice people huh? He is later discovered in the same state as the first corpse (the same earth worms scattered over him - hope they got paid well ) Anyway another con goes down and this time we see some special makeup effects as, being bitten by a fly while getting out of the truck, he has gone a pale shade and his skin is bloating. This eventually tears open and the flies swarm out, leaving the hard working earth worms to slither about menacingly. Down goes the Corrections officer next. Then the only convict left (who is really a good guy - ain't they all?) goes out to bury him while King decides to blow up their only sanctuary. As he runs up to them the con tells everybody about the boat down by the quay. So off they run only to be stopped by King waving a gun and trying to convince them to lie about what's happening on the island. Before he can shoot them when they say no he's attacked by the flies and ripely pops open. When the remaining two survivors are left alone as the flies flutter around their heads the cop realises "They were after King"

Then we're back in good old NY and she's reopened the convicts case, and guess what - he really is innocent - Hooray. As they walk off she looks to the right and we're left with the three skipping girls - thank God, for the final time.

The worst thing about this film is the "Fly-Cam" that gives you their POV - only thing is I've never known any fly or flying creature be able to come to a complete stop in mid-air, There are some birds that hover, but this isn't a stand-still there is still some movement.

I should've known right from the start though, as the opening credits used the same font that ALL the John Carpenter films use. Bad films always try to be something they're not.

Ah, well that's one and a half hours out of my life - but what the hell it at least gave me some story ideas - so not too much of a waste.

1/10

Come join me - We all float down here.

Pennywise.