PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Written and directed by Matthew Festle (Hacked, Flick Fanatics) and Alexys Paonessa (Bring Her to Me, AIMEE: The Visitor), Isleen Pines is a fun little horror/comedy flick that makes you really long for Halloween and all the parties that take place during that special time of the year. The whole time I was watching it I was thinking about how much I wished it was Halloween already and how much I am looking forward to attending as many Halloween parties and haunted houses that I can when October finally rolls around again because this movie does a great job of capturing the overall atmosphere of my favorite holiday.
Isleen Pines Synopsis
A group of friends gather for the annual Halloween party, but unfortunately this year is going to be different as a homicidal alien creature crashes the festivities. As the bodies start to pile up at the hands of the creature, it becomes obvious that there may not be any of the guests still alive to win the costume contest that takes place later in the evening.
So, we’ve established that this movie puts you in the Halloween spirit, but is it any good? Keep reading and find out…
The Cast
One of the strengths of Isleen Pines is that it has a great cast, and you can tell that everyone had a blast working on this film. Led by Nallia Lajoie (The Gingerweed Man, Alien Planet) and Darren Deng (The Last Night, Self Help), this movie boasts a wonderful cast that also includes Jackson Turner (Hacked, Found Footage of the Dead), Glenn Plummer (Blood Sacrifice, Asbury Park) and several other talented actors and actresses. The cast has some awesome chemistry, and as a result you find yourself caring about the characters and just wanting to hang out with them in general because they come off as being a fun group of people that you can relate to.
The Story
I also enjoyed the premise. It may not be the most original in the world, but it works for the most part. We get an alien creature that shows up at a Halloween party and starts killing everyone that it encounters, and I had a great time watching it slashing and slaughtering people left and right. If killer aliens are your thing, then you are most likely going to enjoy this movie as much as I did.
The special effects are also a strong point for the movie. They look amazing, and I love the fact that all the effects are practical and there are no CGI effects anywhere to be found. All the death scenes look sweet and realistic and are loads of fun in general (that exploding penis scene is the highlight in my opinion). I was really impressed with how awesome the effects looked, and the folks behind them should be very proud of their work as they look better than most of the stuff that is in big mainstream Hollywood films these days.
The Downside
On the downside though, I must admit that I didn’t care for the ending. It seems like things are just really getting interesting when the film just seems to come to a screeching halt right in the middle of things. I don’t know if the people behind it are planning to do a sequel that picks up right where this one ends or what, but I couldn’t help but feel a little let down by the way it ends and think that there should have been a little more. Other than the ending though, I really don’t have any other complaints and think that everything else about the movie was very well done.
Isleen Pines – Final Thoughts
Isleen Pines has a lot going for it and I enjoyed it. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the old school films of Ohio-based Speed Freak Productions (who brought us the completely awesome Demon Summer and criminally underrated Midnight Skater back in 2003 or so) with a little bit of Troma thrown in for good measure. I also dug the soundtrack and thought that the music that was featured in the film was quite awesome. If you are a fan of movies like this one, I recommend that you check it out, I think that after everything is said and done you will agree that it is a unique little movie that has something for everyone.
