FILM REVIEWS:
MONSTER ISLAND (Original title: ORANG IKAN) (Singapore/Indonesia/Japan/UK 2024) **
Directed by Mike Wiluan
The film is set in 1944. WWII rages across a world divided. Sailing across the sea, a Japanese Hell Ship transports prisoners of war (POWs) to occupied territories for slave labour. On board the ship is Saito, a traitor to the Japanese who is being sent back to the motherland to be sentenced to death. As further punishment, Saito is shackled to another POV, a British soldier named Bronson, who holds nothing but hatred for Saito because of his Japanese nationality. When the Hell Ship is torpedoed by Allied submarines, Saito and Bronson are thrown overboard and wash ashore a deserted island. A bit of irony appears, as the torpedo attack occurs just the ship’s commander says that the prisoner has been abandoned by God. But they are not alone. Bronson and Saito are hunted by a monstrous creature- the Orang Ikan- who will stop at nothing until both men are dead. Bronson and Saito must put aside their hatred for one another to survive the island and kill the creature before it kills them first. The film, which is supported by the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), started production in October 2023 at Infinite Studios in Batam, Indonesia - one of the largest production service facilities in Southeast Asia and in West Java.
The film hails from 4 countries as the ‘country (countries) of origin - Singapore, Japan. Indonesia. UK and Japan, and with reason or reasons. The famous Singapore director Eric Khoo (MEEPOK MAN) serve as one of the film’s producers. The film is based on Malay folklore, and Indonesian Malay is spoken in Indonesia. The two protagonists featured are Japanese and British.
The film, with its stunning landscape, was shot in Indonesia. Outdoor locations across Sukabumi Regency, West Java — including Curug Sodong waterfall and broader areas within Geopark Ciletuh — offering dramatic cliffs, caves, jungle, rivers, and waterfall vistas used during exterior scenes. But most of the action sequences are shot in the dark, with the result that it is difficult to see what is going on.
The film’s original title is ORANG IKAN, which is the Malay word for Human Fish (orang is Malay for human and ikon is Malay for fish), which is what the monster in the film looks like. The monster also resembles the one in THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and is an actor in a monster costume. The film is directed by Indonesian director Mike Wiluan, who specializes in horror films.
Two enemies forced to work together, stranded on an island, is a premise also used in the John Boorman film HELL IN THE PACIFIC, in which TWO ENEMIES, a Japanese soldier (Toshiro Mifune) and an American (Lee Marvin), are stranded on a deserted island. It takes half of the film to establish the settings before the film becomes a monster vs. two prisoners film. But there is hardly anything fresh in the film, which ends exactly as one would have expected.
MONSTER ISLAND or ORANG IKAN opens on Shudder, the horror streaming service, on Friday, July 25th.
Trailer:
