Reviews

As the classic short story, of shipwrecked sailors being hunted by a crazed tracker, became copyright free in 2019, it was only a matter of time before a low budget effort hit the screens. Sadly, this one is too low in budget and just doesn't have the ability to get the suspense onto the screen.

In this version of the story, men in a room, tell you they are on a ship (because it's not obvious), then wake up on a beach and discuss how their ship must have exploded and they've been swept ashore. There wasn't even the budget for a CGI or model ship. Seriously, they said, "We're on a ship," then we cut to them on a beach and they say, "our ship must have exploded." - That should tell you everything you need to know.

Overall, the acting is on the poor end and the thrills of the original story are completely absent here. However, the one stand out feature is Casper van Dien who is surprisingly charismatic. It's a hammy kind of role requiring a hammy kind of acting and he seems to understand what is expected; as a result he manages to carry the film whenever he's onscreen, (which isn't enough). I would not call it "good acting", but at least he manages to inject some life and personality into it.

As a huge Cronenberg fan, I was really excited to see this but was left disappointed.

It's one of those films where the themes and ideas are bigger than the story, but where it falls down is the themes only make sense to the characters of the film, The characters seem to operate on an internal logic, meaning they understand what is happening, but it makes little to no sense to the audience. Like a bad piece of modern art, it's something odd given to the audience who are then asked to figure out some kind of meaning when little meaning genuinely exists.

The themes demand you experience the movie as some kind of exploration of human evolution, biology and sex, as represented through surgery as an artistic performance; but the overall experience is like listening to an art-bore explain the symbolism on a work of art that consists of a pile of melted toothbrushes for two hours.

On the plus-side, the acting, photography and art direction are very good, but the plot is so thin it could be written on a postage stamp.

It's certainly unique and like nothing else you've ever seen, but few people will be rewatching it to try and unlock its meaning. A one-time viewing will suffice for 99% of Cronenberg fans.