Uninhabited

Horror / Thriller

Australia

R4

Pinnacle Films

There are hundreds of islands in the Great Barrier Reef chain along the coast of Queensland. Most are beautiful and uninhabited. Or so we believe.

Harry and Beth are having a ten-day holiday on one of the uninhabited islands. On the first day their holiday is every bit as idyllic as they hoped. They fill the day swimming and fishing. Beth teaches Harry about the wonderful fauna of the reef islands – stingrays, sharks, poisonous jellyfish, moray eels, and the deadly stonefish that imitates a piece of coral as it sits on the bottom with its poisonous spines erect. The only curious event is a set of fresh footprints in the sand.

That night they hear strange noises – a woman sobbing, screams and other noises that they put down to the muttonbirds that live on the island. Muttonbirds, though, don’t steal clothing from a clothesline or move around the camp at night or film the two sleeping. Harry and Beth are not alone on their island.

One morning a fishing boat turns up off the island. The satphone goes missing so they confront the two fishermen in their camp that evening. In a short fight the fishermen capture the two at gunpoint and tie them up. One is preparing to rape Beth but then the strange noises start again. The two men go off into the bush to find out who is making the noise and in the dark both are killed. How? Who is the killer?

There is a clue in an old hut on the island. A journal details how a young girl was savagely raped by five men while she was dying from stepping on a stonefish a hundred years ago. Later entries from successive victims suggest her spirit will take her savage revenge on any male on the island.

From here on Beth and Harry face a battle for survival until the boat comes to take them home. How do you fight a vengeful spirit?

Geraldine Hakewill and Henry James have a reasonable amount of acting experience behind them and it shows in their good performances. Bill Bennett’s direction makes the most of a beautiful piece of Australia but the night shots are tense and ominous. Like The Reef, this film will do nothing for Queensland’s tourist industry.

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