Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Taylor Chien
Starring: Bianca Haase, Brock O’Hurn, Michael Vlamis, Michelle Randolph
Sometimes a location cries out for a movie to be shot around its
environs. When writer/director Taylor Chien stumbled across an
abandoned holiday resort on a small Hawaiian island, he knew immediately
he had to shoot a horror movie in its weed-infested grounds. Trouble
was, the resort was set to be demolished in just three months time. That
didn't turn off Chien however, and he managed to knock out a script and
shoot his movie before the wrecking ball struck.
Unfortunately, the resulting film – The Resort – plays
exactly like a movie that has been rushed into production in such a
short space of time. In the titular one time tourist trap, Chien
certainly has a great setting (local legend even claims the place is
haunted), but he never finds anything interesting to do with it.
The movie sees the usual group of high-cheek-boned twentysomethings
gather to become grist for the gore mill. Lex (Bianca Haase) is a
horror novelist seeking inspiration for her next book. Her three best
mates – loudmouth Sam (Michael Vlamis), airhead Bree (Michelle Randolph) and hulking man-bun Chris (Brock O'Hurn) – chip in to treat
Lex to a trip to Killahuna, a remote Hawaiian island home to a tourist
resort that was shut down following a series of incidents linked to a
local legend - apparently the area is haunted by a spook known as "The
Half-Faced Girl."
Even at only 75 minutes, The Resort struggles to fill its
running time. It's close to the hour mark before it begins to even
resemble a horror movie. Until then we spend an interminable age
following our quartet (who have a combined total of four dimensions
between them) as they trek through an admittedly very scenic locale and
engage in bland discussions regarding the existence of the
supernatural.
When the horror does finally kick in there's nothing new on offer. Had
this been made not so long ago it would most likely have been a found
footage movie, and it probably would have been more interesting had it
employed that format (ironically, a video of drone footage our heroes
watch before setting foot on the island has more eeriness than the
resulting adventure). The climax is staged in near darkness, making it
difficult to get a sense of what's going on and where our characters are
in relation to exits and a way out of the nightmare they've stumbled
into. There's a well-rendered gore effect, but it feels too over-the-top
for the relatively straight drama that precedes it.
Chien makes the mistake of adopting a flashback structure, with Lex
waking in a hospital bed at the start of the movie and relating her
ordeal to a disbelieving cop. This means that from the off we're aware
of exactly who makes it out of all this and who doesn't, killing much of
the suspense that might otherwise have gripped us. That said, these
characters are so uninteresting and their journey so monotonous that by
the time they're in danger you couldn't care less who makes it off the
island.
