Parents' Guide to Blumhouse's Fantasy Island

Making the twisty, turny TV series into a suspenseful horror film is logical fun, and its cornball/eye-roll moments are, as Mr. Roarke would say, a part of the adaptation's natural conclusion. In this take on the concept, the island's guests won their trip in a promotional contest and will get their wish fulfilled during their visit. They arrive with a healthy amount of skepticism: Some want something shallow, others are looking for deep and emotional. The series always left the source of the island's powers -- and the details of Roarke's involvement -- a mystery. In Blumhouse's Fantasy Island, some of those answers are revealed.

At times, characters' choices lack common sense, or something happens that's never really explained. You're probably meant to brush those moments off as "well, you know, the island," but once your brain has acknowledged that the story has gone off the rails, it's too late. Some modern-day horror elements pop up, more to make your stomach knot up than because they have a place in the plot. Really, the whole scenario is nightmare fulfillment (rather than wish fulfillment), but while younger viewers might carry some of the film's scarier images away with them, because the story is clearly in the land of pretend, lingering impact seems unlikely. What might stick better is an awareness of consequences. Bottom line? This is an enjoyable, fresh angle on horror, but it's not terribly memorable. Roarke himself tells the visitors that their experience on the island will be like a dream: They won't remember what happened as much as they recall the feeling it gave them. That could just as easily define this film.