Demon Island
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''Demon Island'', also called ''Piñata: Survival Island'', is a
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
that stars
Nicholas Brendon Nicholas Brendon Schultz (born April 12, 1971), known professionally as Nicholas Brendon, is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Xander Harris in the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003) and Kevin L ...
and
Jaime Pressly Jaime Elizabeth Pressly (born July 30, 1977) is an American actress and model. Known for her role as Joy Turner on the NBC sitcom ''My Name Is Earl'' (2005–2009), she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy ...
.


Plot

A small, isolated tribe is cursed by spirits for their sins. One of the tribesmen crafts a clay piñata which the tribe put their evil into, and then sends the object afloat in the ocean. A group of college students sail to a remote island for an annual Cinco de Mayo treasure hunt. There, every fraternity boy is handcuffed to a random sorority girl. Each couple is instructed to collect as many pairs of strewn underwear on the island as possible. The couple that collects the most underwear and presents them to judges Monica and Paul will receive $20,000. The groups consist of Jake and Julie, Doug and Carmen, Bob and Lisa, Larry and Connie, and Kyle and Tina. As the hunt starts, the pairs eagerly retrieve underwear, apart from Kyle and Tina who have just broken up with each other. Bob and Lisa find the piñata, accidentally bringing the object to life. It proceeds to beat Bob to death with a branch while Lisa runs away. Kyle and Tina decide to forget about the break-up and join in the game. Lisa warns Larry and Connie of the piñata, but neither of them believe her and continue on their search. They pick up a shovel and get a bunch of underwear from a secret stash. The piñata picks up the shovel and crushes Connie's head before turning on Larry. Lisa goes to the camp and tells Paul and Monica about what she saw. The judges, unsure about whether they should believe her or not, go to look for Bob. While they do so, Jake and Julie see the piñata, and when Jake goes to open it, the piñata grabs him and rips out his testicles while it beats Julie to death. Paul is later killed, as Kyle and Tina reconcile. A new group of Kyle, Tina, Doug, Carmen, and Lisa now leaves when they see Bob ripped in half on a tree. Doug is hanged by the piñata. As Carmen and Lisa go back, Lisa takes a bathroom break right before Carmen gets her head chopped off. Monica finds Kyle and Tina. Lisa makes it to the camp and thinks Larry and Connie are in there just before she is killed by the piñata. Kyle, Tina and Monica kill the piñata by blowing it up by a Molotov cocktail.


Cast


Production

Originally, the piñata monster was played by an actor in a rubber suit, and the film contained no computer effects. After the final cut, computer effects were added to make the monster more frightening.


Reception

Bruce Eder of
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praised the film's evoking of numerous horror films from past decades, and said, "The plot is clever, turning logic on its head in grisly fashion and twisting around some of the conventions of the modern horror genre." Additionally praising the inventive deaths, "nutty lightheartedness", and set design, he concluded, "''Piñata: Survival Island'' ... is not a great movie, just a better, cleverer movie than one would expect from this genre at this late date and also a great deal of fun." Felix Vasquez of Cinema Crazed regarded it as a guilty pleasure which seems deliberately ridiculous. He commented, "Sure, this is an age old formula, but I’ve never seen it put to such use before. There’s nothing but fun in this film and you can’t help laugh at the horrendous acting by the cast ..." Barbara Kingsolver's 2022 novel Demon Copperhead makes lighthearted reference to the film, in chapter 40, when the protagonist sees it at a drive in.


References


External links

* * {{Hillenbrand brothers 2002 horror films 2002 direct-to-video films 2002 films Films set on islands 2000s English-language films Films about fraternities and sororities English-language horror films