The Corner Penthouse

Blumhouse's Fantasy Island (2020) is a theatrical adaptation of the 1977-1984 television series. Read on to find out more...


In Blumhouse's Fantasy Island (2020), the enigmatic Mr. Roarke (Michael Pena) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious, but remote, tropical resort. Stepbrothers J. D. (Ryan Hansen) and Brax (Jimmy O. Yang) Weaver want to "have it all" and party all the time. Gwen Olsen (Maggie Q) wants a "do-over" for a life-altering decision that she regrets having made. Melanie Cole (Lucy Hale) wants revenge on high school bully, Sloane Maddison (Portia Doubleday). Police officer Patrick Sullivan (Austin Stowell) wants to be a "soldier" like his late father. When the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island's mystery in order to escape with their lives.


This is not the first TV show to be adapted into a movie of another genre. Off the top of my head, there was the action show Starsky & Hutch, which became a big-screen comedy starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. In the case of Fantasy Island, the drama series has become a horror film. Well, it's more like an "action horror" film, but it's still firmly "horror", nonetheless.


There is very little reference to the TV series, other than the setting and characters. I was actually surprised to see the character of Julie (here called "Julia"), who was played by Wendy Schaal in the 1981-1982 season of the show. The main house has a similar look to the one from the show, but it's not even close to being an exact replica of the original, which is the Queen Anne Cottage at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia, California. When Mr. Roarke comes out to greet his guests, he says to his staff, "Smiles, everyone." This is what Ricardo Montalban's "Roarke" would say to his staff when guests arrive. Late in the movie, one of the guests give the shows most famous quote, "The plane. The plane." Who says that particular bit of dialog becomes quite significant in the closing moments of the film when the final twist is revealed. Finally, the last line of the film ("Welcome to Fantasy Island") is what Mr. Roarke says when he welcomes guests to the island. There are no other references that I noticed.


The movie is enjoyable for a B-movie, up until the third act, where it all unravels thanks to a ridiculous plot twist...or a series of them, I should say. The movie starts twisting itself over and over again it until it becomes a pretzel of poppycock. I won't spoil the final plot twist, but it COMPLETELY NEGATES everything that came before it and makes no damn sense. It's one of those instances where, if you try to figure it out, you realize that it's just the writers - all THREE of them: Jeff Wadlow, Chris Roach, and Jillian Jacobs - insulting your intelligence. For the sake of your sanity, when the gang goes into the cave for the second time, just shut off the movie and think up your own ending. I guarantee that you will come up with something more logical than they did.


Blumhouse's Fantasy Island (2020) is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1 hour 49 minutes for the unrated version and 1 hour 49 minutes for the theatrical version. Both versions of the movie are included on all releases. (Movies Anywhere rounds up to the next minute, so I can't provide a "down to the second" runtime to see what the runtime difference is between versions.) Audio tracks include 5.1 DTS-HD MA for English, and 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks for English Descriptive, French, and Spanish. The film includes English, French, and Spanish subtitles. (Note: Audio and subtitle info is taken from the press release as the Movies Anywhere digital copy I was given was only in English.)


Here's a list of all of the bonus features that can be found on the Blu-ray disc (and the Movies Anywhere digital release). According to the press release, the same bonus features are also included on the DVD.

• Audio Commentary on Unrated Version with director Jeff Wadlow and cast.
• Deleted Scenes - Includes the following six scenes: "First Sighting" (1:03), "Devil Face Arrives" (0:43), "Roarke Checks In" (1:45), "Entering the Caves" (0:55), "Nightmare Diary" (2:07), and "Death Do Us Part" (2:26).

Of the six deleted scenes, only three have significant deletions. For the other three, it seems that only a few seconds of footage (a shot or two) in each wasn't actually in the film.


A digital copy code voucher is also included in the standard Blu-ray case. The DVD front cover makes no mention of a digital copy, so I assume that one is not provided with that release.


Blumhouse's Fantasy Island is available on Blu-ray and DVD. As for the original series, only Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, and the TV movie Return to Fantasy Island are available on DVD.


All images were taken from the IMDB gallery of the film. A Movies Anywhere digital copy of the movie and bonus features was provided by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for review on this site.