In the 1980s, the U.S. military created a secret project on a remote island, experimenting on human volunteers with the hope of creating the perfect super soldier. Instead, they ended up creating a whole bunch of human-fish hybrids before shutting the project down.
Fast forward to the present day, and loser/slacker Duke has found himself stranded on that remote island, where all of the failed experiments are still living out their daily lives, unaware of 40 years of culture and technology that have passed while they’ve been there. So, after fixing the island up with an Internet connection, Duke sets about to bring these fish monsters into the 21st century—and turn the island into the hottest new resort that ever went viral on TikTok.
That’s the basic premise of this animated film, but it doesn’t really give you an idea of what the film is actually like. In order to give you a better idea of what to expect from Isla Monstro, I must first ask you this question: Have you ever wondered what the Creature from the Black Lagoon’s genitals look like? If your answer is, “Yes,” then this is probably your type of movie. If your answer is, “No, but now I’m curious,” then I have good news for you. If your answer is, “Wait, what the…?” then this is maybe not the movie for you.
Granted, that’s only one scene in the film, but it’s a good benchmark for what kind of experience you’re in for. There are multiple cartoon-explicit sex scenes, a fair amount of cartoon-graphic violence, a whole lot of drinking and drugs, and plenty of crass jokes, vulgar language, and more.
I’m not necessarily opposed to crass jokes and vulgar language. I can definitely get behind a good, raunchy comedy. In this case, though, oftentimes, it just seemed excessive. There’s a difference between, “These crass and vulgar things are funny,” and “These things will be funny because they’re crass and vulgar.” This movie trends more towards the latter, in my opinion.
In general, the film has an air of edgy self-awareness, and many of the beats have an undercurrent of, “Hey, now we’re doing this.” It’s also peppered with plenty of pop culture references and movie quotes, including random lines from everything from Back to the Future to Avengers to Empire Records. There’s even a subtle nod to the film’s own tie-in comic, seen on a shelf in the resort’s gift shop. As a lover of references and Easter eggs myself, I can definitely respect that.
This is a pretty low-budget, independent film, but the cast has a lot of names you’ll recognize. There are animation legends like Maurice LaMarche as Dr. Oculus, a brilliant scientist turned into a giant, sentient eyeball; and John DiMaggio as Colonel Fergusen, one of the military personnel sent to infiltrate the newly opened island resort. There’s James Marsters as Reggie, the aforementioned (British) Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Spencer Grammer as Moon, the sentient jellyfish who loves Jazzercise, and who might also love Reggie, except they’re both too shy and awkward to act on their feelings. There’s Barry Bostwick as the President, who seems to be patterned after George W. Bush. (Fun fact: This is not the first time Barry Bostwick has played a bumbling President in a zany, sci-fi comedy. National Lampoon’s Men in White, 1998. It’s not worth looking up.) And then there’s Harland Williams as Sam, a buff, slug-man type creature whom you can’t help but like.
In general, this movie really wasn’t my cup of tea. But it might be yours! If you don’t mind crass and vulgar humor, you’re not squeamish about cartoon sex and violence, you like tongue-in-cheek parody with a heavy dose of sarcasm and self-reference, and the thought of Creature from the Black Lagoon’s genitals actually intrigues you… then Isla Monstro may just be the movie for you!
Creative Team: Steven Shea (director, writer, producer), James Schrader (writer, “Duke”), Anna Roberts (producer), Mike De Trana (executive producer), Brian Volk-Weiss (executive producer), Melissa Gruver (line producer)
Released By: The Nacelle Company
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