It is hard to believe "The Island" did not do well when it came out three decades ago. You would think that audiences would have clamored to see it after the huge successes of "Jaws" and "The Deep," which was author Peter Benchley's other big screen adaptations.

Investigative reporter Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) heads to the Caribbean with his son (Jeff Frank) to solve the mystery of disappearing boats, their crews, and passengers. He is obsessed with debunking the myths surrounding what many call "the Bermuda Triangle." During his search for the truth, Blair and his son are apprehended by marauding pirates. They take the two to their island where they are still living life as centuries-old buccaneers. Blair must find a way to escape the island and save his brainwashed son from the pirates and their leader (David Warner).

I imagine the movie version of "The Island" can be trusted as what Peter Benchley wanted viewers to see since he wrote the screenplay. The film moves along at a nice pace and establishes its characters strongly. It does a good job of building up to its climax even if the ending does feel abrupt.

Director Michael Ritchie did a great job capturing the beautiful locations used to make the film. Everything from the tattered clothing of the pirates to the natural settings evokes a sense of authenticity. His knack for timing shines through in particular scenes with suspenseful build-ups. Richard A. Harris's editing gives viewers just enough of shockingly brutal scenes to induce a queasy feeling in the stomach of viewers who aren't regular watchers of gory genre films.

Michael Caine does his usual wonderful job portraying Blair Maynard. He keeps Maynard balancing desperately between calm and frenzy as he sees how the pirates live and what they plan to do to his son. Jeff Frank is convincing in his role of Caine's son, Justin Maynard. He might possibly have the toughest role in the film. He has to convince the audience he is a true convert and has become a buccaneer. David Warner is perfect as the reserved-yet-volatile leader of the pirates.

"The Island" is an unnerving suspense thriller which holds just enough violence and gore to please horror and slasher fans. I recommend it for viewers who enjoyed "The Wicker Tree" and Benchley's "The Deep." Although it is not perfect, this is a film that deserves more recognition than it received in its initial release.

A group of vacationing doctors on a fishing trip are murdered by an axe wielding killer. Reporter Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) suspects foul play with the many missing boats in the area over the years. He decides to investigate and brings along his 12 year old son.

This is written by Peter Benchley who is best known for Jaws. I didn't know anything about this movie to start and I assumed this to be a serial killer movie with the opening. The piracy idea is intriguing but old timey pirating is just stupid. It makes no sense about the women and the inbreeding problem. The worst are the old timey weapons and the tiny boats. A lot of problems could be solved if Benchley and the filmmakers don't get married to the idea of the stereotype old pirates in the modern world. This would be vastly improved with a modern take on piracy. People today know about Somali pirates and would look at this as something artificially silly.

Michael Caine has made a lot of dross during his lengthy career, but THE ISLAND has to tie with JAWS: THE REVENGE as his biggest turkey. This adaptation of the Peter Benchley novel sees Caine playing an investigative journalist who goes off to track down some missing yachts in the Caribbean. Eventually he discovers that modern-day pirates are the culprits.

Admittedly, the film starts off on a decent enough footing. Things kick off with massacre featuring some outrageous gore effects (the axe-in-the-head is an unforgettable cheesy moment). The stuff showing Caine travelling to the island had me intrigued. Once the pirates are fully introduced, it falls apart completely, and for the rest of the film we're stuck with a sorry rabble of overactors and a script that forgets to be suspenseful or interesting in any way. For an hour we watch repetitive situations over and over again until things pick up for the brief, OTT climax which might well have inspired Stallone's recent RAMBO.

Caine tries to bury his head in the sand throughout and who can blame him? He must have known this was a sorry state of affairs during production. David Warner shows up in his most miscast role ever, while villain duties are mainly lent by LOVEJOY's lovable Tinker, Dudley Sutton! Zakes Mokae is the only one who comes out of this with any credit and that's because he bags what is essentially a cameo role. If the film had kept the same level of bloodshed as we saw in that cheesy opening it might have been a so-bad-it's-good piece of filmmaking; as it stands it's just so-bad-it's-bad.