UNINHABITED

It’s been a while since I indulged in a ghoulish motion picture that used ‘true events’ as its inspiration. That is the claim made in the opening frames of Bill Bennet’s UNINHABITED...

If you are lucky enough to reside in Queensland Australia, there is no more heavenly place to spend a romantic 10 day jaunt then on a remote coral island on the Great Barrier Reef. This is exactly what young lovers Harry (Henry James) and Beth (Geraldine Hakewill) decide to do. The apparently deserted island’s platinum sand, emerald palm trees and exotic wildlife appears to be the perfect tranquil setting for a romantic getaway.

But one night in and their suspicions are aroused that they are perhaps not actually alone. First its tiny footprints in the sand leading to the central foliage which does not at first seem much to worry about. But incidents then start to occur that have a slightly sinister edge to them. Beth’s underwear is removed from her bag and hung off the branches of a tree. Bones and trepan (that’s a ‘sea cucumber’ if you didn’t already know!) are gutted, hooked and left to dangle outside their tent. But when the couple find, to their abject horror, their own camcorder has been used to film them as they sleep, the first symptoms of panic start to set in.

Still refusing to have their dream vacation ruined, the pair attempts to make light of the ‘disturbed pranks’ and make a game of trying to ascertain who is behind the creepy shenanigans.

The discovery of an abandoned shack leads them to an antique journal whose aged pages offer an explanation, albeit a mystical one, to the strange goings on. When they are joined on the island by a pair of ominous foreign fishermen, at around the same time that their only chance of an early return home disappears in the form of their lost ‘Sat Phone’, their plight turns from desperate to truly horrific...

The movie started quite promisingly to be fair. I loved the use of sound in particular. The rustling leaves flitting from left to right to give convey an unseen menace within the boundaries of the islands trees. Further on in, eerie cries and howls gave added a wonderful creepy element to the couples predicament. But all too often, infuriating decisions were made by the perilous pair. For example, as they were approaching crisis point and scared out of their collective wits, the hackneyed "You stay here while I investigate.." number was trotted out. All it led to was a cheap red herring scare and all it achieved was disseminate some rare tension.

As you would expect from the setting of the film, the scenery is stunning. The 1.85: 1 aspect ratio showcased some truly beautiful shots of pastel tinted sunrises at dawn as well as wilting full moons at dusk. Maybe not enough to save the movie but enough to keep my eyes glued to the screen.

Finally, a tentative bit of research taught yours truly the difference between a movie being based on a "true story" and a movie being ‘inspired’ by ‘true events’! You see, back in the 1970’s writer, producer and director Bill Bennet (who also stars as Jackson the owner of the couples chartered boat) made a trip to North West Island, a mere 13 miles or so from where UNINHABITED was filmed. On his jaunt he learned that North West Island was ‘allegedly’ haunted by the ghost of a young girl called Lola who was poisoned by the venom of a stonefish before suffering a protracted excruciating death. The shack next to Lola’s grave has since been dismantled and now resides in a museum in Gladstone just outside Queensland. While this is all vaguely interesting, I did find the ‘inspired by true events’ thing a little erroneous considering a bit of fun folklore was the source of this claim. Wolf Creek this is not! So in summary: while the Coral Sea may be very deep, yours truly is just a little shallow sometimes! As such, the biggest compliment I can pay this movie is just how jaw-droppingly gorgeous Geraldine Hakewill looks in skimpy beach wear! Lacklustre movies every now and then are salvaged by a delectable actress and Uninhabited is one such example!

Review by Marc Lissenburg