Island Zero (2018) - Slow.  Very slow

I really wanted to like this one more than I did.  It's a low budget indie horror and I know that you don't need a massive amount of cash or special effects to make a movie work, but I think the lack of financing does hurt this production a bit.

An island off the coast of America finds itself under attack from a water-based beastie.  It's a fair enough premise for the horror genre, but its major problem is its pacing.  When I saw the runtime was actually over the traditional ninety minutes, I did wonder what I was in for.  The opening scene is a sample of what was to come.  It's long.  Or it certainly feels that way.  I know the film's defenders will say that it 'builds tension,' but it was just slow (to me).

When the film properly starts, we're introduced to the characters (the lead of which was punching above his weight, in my - catty - opinion!) and their acting is a bit hit and miss.  I don't know whether I'm being overly harsh because (according to what I've read online) a lot of the actors were actually locals who volunteered to star in the film and didn't have any acting credentials.  Plus the dialogue is clunky and there merely to get exposition across as quickly as possible, making delivery hard for even the best actor.

Once you've had the 'set-up' you can pretty much have the movie on in the background and do the ironing, as you're not going to miss much.  It's just people wandering around, slowly coming to terms with what we - the audience - already know.  

The gore eventually comes and the make-up is good on dead bodies and there is some decent practical effects.  But, due to the lack of budget, there really isn't enough and it comes after one hell of a slog to get there.

'Island Zero' isn't awful, but it's just nothing new or memorable enough to really stand out in its genre.

5/10 a hard trek, a bit like unicycling to Mordor and back