Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

ApolloBoy109 As we all know in order for most run-of-the-mill horror films to work the characters have to behave unbelievably stupid. They have to make foolish decisions to advance the agenda of the writer. This film takes that meme to new heights of dumbness. Cribbed from The Wicker Man and mixed with the homoerotic earmarks of a David DeCoteau film, Unhappy Birthday fails to raise interest.The man-on-man sex scenes, I suppose, are to shock and divert us from the failures of the script. And while the scenes were titillating, actors David Paisley and Jonathan are attractive and capable enough actors, the well-worn story is so painfully predictable. The feeble reason why they come to the island and the ending itself do not add up. We know instantly they are in trouble. They do not. We know who is going to be the whack-job instantly. They do not. It's hard to root for people who are mindlessly being lead into a trap. Lastly, the lead actress is neither convincing, attractive enough or engaging. The three-way scene between the leads exists only to add running time to this poor film.

Keith DeWeese Not a great movie, but it's certainly not as bad as so many make it out to be, IMHO. I've seen much worse with higher ratings. It kept my interest, and, as much as I found myself vacillating between liking/disliking the main characters, I really wanted different fates for them. As for the enigmatic Corinne: I think she needed a good long walk on the mud flats or maybe a short pier.Didn't like all the slow motion, the fast motion, etc. I think the film's color palette worked well, but I really am tired of the artsy use of jump cuts and sunsettings in five seconds.The original THE WICKERMAN is probably the closest "family member" to this film, but it has some interesting 1950s/60s Brit sci-fi elements (I'm thinking John Wyndham here) in the villagers' hoodies and some of the reasons they do what they do.This is a slow-moving, dread-filled movie, and there is some head-scratching sequences, but I'm all for scratching my head if the mood is right.

clabkeloh okay...the plot summary above is weirdly off on the plot points and unhelpful. The PR copy on the DVD compares this film to both "Wickerman" and "Let's scare Jessica to Death". I thought 'how is that possible?'...Guess what? . . This film is a wonderful, strange mash-up of just EXACTLY those sorts of things! The acting is truly good, especially for such a low budget effort. The photography is very nice, and the stylistic and editing choices are nearly brilliant. The gore is very low key and contained but the creeping dread and superb building of suspense make it all the more shocking when it happens. The story is about a young woman and two men in a strange (but all too believable triangle relationship) who are drawn to an isolated tidal island--hence no one being able to leave while the tide is in. The group comes seeking to meet the woman's long-lost sister who appears to be part of strange religious community that dominates the island. Sexual ambiguity and the woman's new pregnancy bring extraordinary tension into the fragile 3- way. While on the island the sinister cult community becomes more and more menacing. From here the movies goes from merely 'moody' to terrifyingly CRAZY so simply and so deftly you just have to see it. In all... a stunning and beautiful effort in small/independent film making and a great little horror-movie.

showtrmp This movie is stylishly made and definitely pulls you along, helped mainly by Jill Riddiford's performance as the pious and grandmotherly Corinne. Riddiford keeps you guessing until the very end whether she is unhinged or just childlike and pitiable. That said, this is also one of those thrillers where the characters have to make all the wrong (and increasingly stupid) decisions in order to keep the (ridiculous) plot going. By the end, I knew I was supposed to feel the horrible moral ugliness of the deranged religious fundamentalism espoused on "the island", but all I saw was a series of gruesome hate crimes (with the gay guy, of course, getting it the worst). It's been done before--and with less obvious sadistic relish.