ISLAND OF DEATH (1976) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

ISLAND OF DEATH (1976) 

Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: Region Free
Rating: 18 Certificate
Duration: 108 Minutes
Audio: Mono LPCM Audio English with Optional English SDH
Video: 1080p HD Open Matte (1.33:1) 

Cast: Robert Behling, Jane Lyle, Jessica Dublin

Director: Nico Mastorakis

Synopsis: Welcome to Mykonos, the holiday destination of choice for sun, sea and slaughter! From cult director Nico Mastorakis, Island of Death is a travelogue of atrocities with scenes so strong that the British Government was once compelled to ban it as a “video nasty”. Arriving on the idyllic Greek island, Christopher and Celia appear to be every inch the perfect, handsome young couple. Little do the welcoming locals realise that they are in fact a pair of murderous degenerates, determined to spread their own particular brand of perversion across the island. DIY crucifixions, opportunistic bestiality, sexual peeing and murder by all conceivable forms ensue – including death by makeshift blowtorch, samurai sword, dump truck and more!

Christopher (Bob Belling) and Celia (Jane Ryall) are a young English couple whom arrive on the small Greek vacation island of Mykonos for a bit of relaxation and good times. The island is simply gorgeous, the villas are clean with bright white painted walls, the locals are a colorful sort and the weather is fantastic. Upon arriving in such a wonderful place the young couple cram into a phone booth for a quickie while Christopher calls his mother in the midst of their fornicating only to taunt her with their naughtiness, which is very bizarre, but trust me, it gets way weirder! At this point we don't know much about this young couple but were pretty sure that both are probably right fucked in the head and the real fun hasn't even started as of yet.

Soon begins a deadly routine of the couple befriending various islanders, seducing them, photographing the dirty deed and then murdering the victims is a series of gruesome ways. This duo are demented nuts who see themselves as some sort of perverted avenging angels who exact severe punishment on sinners with odd proclivities, which is certainly odd as these two are clearly bat shit insane and drenched in sin, the reveal at the end of the film is the cherry on top of this exploitation sundae. 

Director Mastorakis freely admits he deliberately set out to shock audiences with this slice of exploitation nastiness after having watched Tobe Hooper's seminal shocker The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). He set pencil to paper and simply made a checklist of outrageous sexual perversions and disgusting murders, the sleazier the better, it must have looked something like this...

Incest with sister ✓ 

Sex with a goat  ✓

Sodomy ✓ 

Golden Showers ✓

A lynching from a plane ✓ 

Crucifixion ✓ 

Drowning in lye ✓ 

Death by sword ✓ 

Victimization of minorities ✓ 

Christian hypocrisy ✓ 

Death by spear gun ✓ 

Rape ✓ 

Christopher and Celia are not very likable people, they're definitely not people you can empathize with unless you happen to be a demented psychopath. This is not about sympathetic figures caught in an extreme situation who are forced to do the unthinkable, this is a film that simply enjoys seeing bad people act out terrible deeds upon what are largely undeserving victims. As sleazy as the film is it manages to be quite watchable with some decent cinematography shot by Mastrorakis himself and from a variety of skewed angles. Another quirky element that adds to the movie's charm is an odd folky soundtrack which brought to mind David Hess's score from Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left (1972), there's also some strange narration which doesn't so much endear you to the lead characters as it does ad an element of black humor, the film is quite funny despite what my wife thought, looking at me shaking her head disapprovingly from the other room. Island of Death will never be mistaken for great cinema but I think it's a pretty fantastic watch for those predisposed to raunchy exploitation with a side of weirdness. According to director Mastorakis the c0-star of the film Bob Behling, who also appeared in Cujo (1983), committed suicide in a rather odd way, he apparently crammed a tube connected to a propane gas take down his throat and opened the valve, which sounds just awful.

Arrow Video had previously released Island of Death on DVD back in 2011 and have now simultaneously released it on Blu-ray in the US and UK with a brand new 2K restoration from the original negative, providing a nice bump in A/V quality, colors are more vibrant, skin tones appear more natural and there's a depth and clarity largely absent from the standard-def image. Texture and fine detail also have some nice HD gains

The a newly lossless mono audio also fares well enough, those quirky folk songs will be stuck in your head for a few days, the Blu-ray also offers an English subtitle option. 

Onto the bonus material we have some great new extras beginning with a massive four-part documentary exploring the films of Mastorakis, a thirty-eight minute piece with author Stephen Thrower discussing the movie, and a seventeen-minute piece with the director returning to the island of Mykonos where the film was shot. Additionally there's a 23-minute archival interview with Mastorakis, the original trailer, over a half-hour of Mastorakis film trailers. and five selections from the soundtrack. 

Separate from the disc extras we have a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys, but it's hard to top the original DVD artwork from Arrow, love it. There's also a fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by academic and film historian Johnny Walker.

Special Features:

- Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative, approved by writer-director-producer Nico Mastorakis
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Exploring Island of Death – film historian Stephen Thrower on the making of a cult classic (38 Mins)
- Return to Island of Death – Mastorakis returns to the original Mykonos locations (17 Mins)
- Archive interview with Mastorakis (24 Mins)
- Alternative opening titles (2 Mins)
- Island Sounds – five original tracks from the Island of Death soundtrack (24 Mins)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 Mins)
- The Films of Nico Mastorakis – four-part documentary charting the director’s filmmaking career (159 Mins) (Blu-ray Exclusive)
- Nico Mastorakis Trailer Reel (35 Mins) (Blu-ray Exclusive)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
- Fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by academic and film historian Johnny Walker

Notably missing from the Blu-ray is the audio commentary with director Nico Mastorakis and author and Calum Waddell which was featured on the previous arrow Video DVD, which I can only assume is part of the fallout between High Rising Productions and Arrow Video. Also absent is the Mastorakis interview and a Q and A session, plus the 2010 re-recordings of “Destination Understanding” from “Island of Death” by the bands Kylie Minoise, Acid Fascists, Sea Bass Kid, Southern Tenant Folk and The Fnords. The original DVD release from Arrow also included a double-sided fold-out poster and a different collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by critic David Hayles.

Island of Death is wonderfully sleazy and faithfully lives up to it's reputation as a demented Video Nasty, a trashy piece of tastelessness and totally awesome. If you love raunchy exploitation movies this is a must own slice of shock-cinema. 

DVD REVIEW: Island of Death (1976)

ISLAND OF DEATH (1976) DVD

Release Date: March 21st 2011

Label: Arrow Video
Region: Region 0 PAL
Duration: 101 Min.
Rating: 18 Certificate
Director: Nico Mastorakis
Cast: Bob Behling, Jane Ryall, Jessica Dublin, Gerard Gonalons


Plot: Greece is transformed into a bloodbath of sex, death and sadism when an English couple arrives for a perverse rampage of lust and murder through the sleepy streets of a quiet island. No taboo is left unbroken as the feral pair screw and slice through the local population and their livestock, driven by a combination of libido and twisted morality to slay those they see as unfit to exist. Now, see Nico Mastorakis’ notorious and long censored video nasty in all its uncut and full strength glory.

Film: Every so often I'll watch a film that really puts my wife to the test. The test being if she made a wise decision marrying me. To be fair I'm not quite sure that she passed the test, and after 13 years together the jury may still out on that one. There must be doubt when she walks into a room and on screen she witness's a man fuck a goat and then slit it's throat. I can see why she questions herself from time to time. It's probably creepy that she's mortified by what's transpiring on screen and I'm off to the side smirking from ear to ear and occasionally eliciting an inappropriate giggle. Well, that's how my wife was introduced to the Greek Video Nasty Island of Death (1977)

Christopher (Bob Belling) and Celia (Jane Ryall) are a young English couple whom arrive on the small Greek island of Mykonos for a bit of relaxation and fun, it's a lovely place. The island is gorgeous, the villas are clean with bright white painted walls, the locals are a colorful sort and the weather is fantastic. In such a beautiful place the two do what any young couple would, cram into a phone booth for a quickie and simultaneously call his mother in the midst of their fornicating and taunt her with their naughty deeds. Bizarre stuff, right away I knew this was going to be the blackest of comedies. At this point we don't really know much about this twisted couple but were pretty sure that both are probably right fucked in the head and the real fun hasn't even begun yet.

Soon begins a deadly routine of befriending an islander, seducing them, photographing the dirty deed and then murdering the victims is a myriad of gruesome ways. This duo are demented avenging angels who exact punishment on those they deem sinners with odd proclivities which is just odd cuz these two are out and out batshit insane and disgustingly pervereted. There's a reveal at the end that's the cherry on top of this grotesque exploitation sundae. Director Mastorakis freely admits he set out to make a deliberate exploitation film aimed at shocking audiences after seeing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He set pencil to paper and simply made a checklist of outrageous sexual perversions and disgusting murders, the sleazier the better... Incest✓ Bestiality✓Sodomy✓ Golden Showers✓A lynching from a plane✓ Crucifixtion✓ Drowning in lye✓ Death by sword✓ Victimization of minorities✓ Christian hypocrisy✓ Death by speargun✓ Rape✓ and loads more. Pure exploitation, little plot, sleazy sex and a decent bodycount.

Christopher and Celia are not very likable characters, definitely not people you can get behind unless you're a psychopath. This is not about sympathetic figures caught in an extreme situation forced to do the unthinkable, this is a film that simply revels in seeing bad people act out terrible deeds upon largely undeserving victims. As sleazy as the film is it's very watchable and rather well photographed by Mastrorakis himself. Other quirky elements adding to the film's entertainment value is an odd folksy soundtrack not unlike The Last House on the Left (1972)   and a weird narration that doesn't so much endear you to the characters as it does ad an element of black humor, the film is quite funny despite what my wife thought. The acting is spotty at times but  I would hold it up against other exploitation classics like I Spit On Your Grave (1978) and The Last House on the Left if not better. While Island of Death will never be mistaken for great cinema I think it's a pretty fantastic watch for those predisposed to raunchy exploitation cinema. On a sad note according to Mastorakis star Bob Behling, who also appeared in Cujo (1983) and Land of the Minotaur (1976), committed suicide in a rather odd way. He apparently struck a tube connected to a propane gas take down his throat and opened the valve.

DVD: Arrow Video have give Island of Death a brand new transfer, completely uncut for the first time. How this made it past the notoriously strict BBFC censors uncut I'll never know, that's just crazy. The film is presented in it's original 1.33:1 fullframe aspect ratio the transfer looks surprisingly good for it's age, great color and clarity with only few noticeable instances of print damage, a very fine restoration indeed. The mono audio fares well enough that the film's quirky folk songs will be stuck in your head for a few days. No subtitle options are provided.  On top of a great transfer Arrow have given the film a great assortment of bonus material including a brand-new commentary with the director, featurettes, interviews and a trailer.


Special Features
- Brand new audio commentary with director Nico Mastorakis and author and Calum Waddell Mastorakis and Waddell discuss the film at length. The two have a jovial  rapport that makes for a spirited and entertaining listen. Mastorakis talks about the films beginnings, it's casting and the films reputation as a Video Nasty. He also discusses the death by suicide of star Bob Behling, it's a pretty bizarre and successful suicide.
- Q&A with director Nico Mastorakis (16:55)
- Interview with Nico Mastorakis (25:00) - an entertaining interview with the director who speaks of the film with great interest and humor.
- Original trailer (2:56) - a trailer under the film's alternate title Cruel Destination.

- The Music of Island of Death (6:43) - a short featurette featuring songs from the movie set to stills and scenes from the film.
- 2010 re-recording of “Destination Understanding” from “Island of Death” (20:39)

An interesting featurette featuring five bands interpretations of the films main title "Destination Understanding", the bands featured are Kylie Minoise, Acid Fascists, Sea Bass Kid, Southern Tenant Folk and The Fnords. A good mix of indie, noise, punk and bluegrass.

My check disc from Arrow Video featured all of the disc information but none of the following packaging extras. Should you be so lucky to purchase this here's what you get.

- Double-sided fold-out poster

- Collector’s booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by critic David Hayles

Verdict: Island of Death is fantastically sleazy by design and lives up to it's reputation as a vile and demented Video Nasty. It does what few other films have, it actually shocked me a bit and in that respect I was endlessly entertained by the sickening parade of repulsive acts. A film truly deserving of it debaucherous reputation loaded with sex, violence and devilish black humor. It's sleazy, trashy, and irredeemable - it's Island of Death and its totally awesome. If you love exploitation cinema there's no way you're not going to enjoy this, I could watch it again and again which is something I can't say about other exploitation flicks. 4 outta 5