Cast:
Ron Perlman (Frank Brodie),
Mark Kiely (Scott Davis), Roxana Zal (Tara Matthews), Guillermo Rios
(Eddie Mendoza), Kimberlee Peterson (Kelsey Cunningham), Julian Sedgewick
(Kovacs)
Plot
Summary:
A private plane carrying
the daughter of a rich businessman crash-lands on the uninhabited island
of San Miguel off the coast of Mexico, an island regarded by the locals
as cursed.
The businessman's Chief
of Security, Scott Davis (Mark Kiely) mounts a high-tech mission to
rescue the survivors, and in his search to find a guide, comes across
Frank Brodie (Ron Perlman), a man who was on the island ten years previously.
Davis finds Brodie to be a brooding, reclusive drunk, haunted by his
experiences on the island, and Brodie tells Davis that it isn't worth
mounting a rescue mission as the survivors will, by now, be dead.
Brodie, however, decides
to tag along, bringing along a veritable arsenal of weapons and a fatalistic
attitude, ridiculing Davis' plans as naïve. Accompanying them is Tara
Matthews (Roxana Zal), a young woman purporting to be a medic, and Davis'
second-in-command, Eddie Mendoza (Guillermo Rios), a down-to-earth practical
man who very quickly realises Brodie knows what he is doing and is inclined
to believe what the man says. Bringing up the rear is Kovacs, the techno-whiz
of the group, complete with thermal-recon equipment and a high-tech
communications system.
On landing on the island
it soon becomes very clear that they are not alone - something is out
there watching them, and the trip rapidly descends into a nightmare.
Brodie then informs them
of the reason he left the island ten years previously - he was the only
man left alive after a disastrous experiment in mutant animal genetics
leaves the place infested with creatures that have only one aim in life
- and that is to kill …
Frank
Brodie (Ron Perlman)
Frank Brodie is a haunted
man. For ten years he has lived a reclusive life in a small Mexican
village, plagued by nightmares of his experiences on the island of San
Miguel. His abode amounts to nothing more than a hovel, full of half-eaten
pizzas, dirty clothes, unwashed dishes, and a plethora of fly-papers.
There is a clutter of empty tequila bottles and full ashtrays, and he
keeps at least two scoped rifles and a knife in plain sight.
Brodie would appear to
be an ex-soldier. He wears dog-tags, uses a 'Zippo' lighter, and characteristically
rolls his cigarette packet into the sleeve of his tee-shirt. He is certainly
old enough to have served in Vietnam in the early 1970s, and his familiarity
with weapons points strongly to military training. He has experience
of jungle warfare, as becomes apparent when the group arrive on the
island, Brodie being well aware of tactical advantages and disadvantages
in such a hostile environment.
Morose at the best of
times, Brodie is fatalistic and cynical, having little faith in Davis
or his team. Tara he is highly suspicious of, and he believes the whole
mission is destined to fail. So why has he decided to come along? His
whole life has been tainted by his escape from the island ten years
previously, and by the screams of the people he left behind - he has
returned to face his demons.
Yet he is possessed of
a dry humour and sharp wit.
When Tara makes the comment
that the genetically-enhanced baboons are developing at an incredible
rate and are nearly Neanderthal, Brodie's answer is dry and succinct;
"I'd like to get out
of here before they get cable …"
Weaponry
AR-15 (M16) rifle,
probably a M16A1, .223 (5.56mm), with NATO standard SS109 bullet.
Operation: Semi-automatic,
selective fire.
Feed: 20- and 30-round
box magazine.
Weight: 3.18kg
Length: 990mm. Muzzle Velocity: 1000m/s.
Rate of fire:
(cyclic) 700-950 rounds/minute.
Effective range: with
older ammunition, 400 metres.
Slide-Action shotgun,
resembles a Smith & Wesson Model 916 Pump Gun, 12-gauge, 6-shot, with
walnut stock and finger-grooved fore-end. It would make sense for the
weapon to be multi-choke, making it adaptable for various game. As Brodie
is keen on stopping power, the cartridges could well be double-ought
buckshot, carrying between 9 and 15 pellets per load.
Weight: 7.25 lbs.
Length: 28" -
30", depending on type.
Sawn-off shotgun,
make unidentified, double-barrelled side-by-side, 12-gauge, pistol-grip
stock. Cartridge load undetermined, but probably lighter than buckshot.
The danger of using a sawn-off shotgun single-handed is the problem
of the ejector mechanism slamming into the fleshy part of the hand between
thumb and finger due to the recoil - best to steady the weapon with
the other hand on the top of the barrels ….
Bolt-action rifle,
make unidentified. Sporting model with a moulded, pistol-grip walnut
stock inlaid with a diamond insert. Of Browning type. Magazine may hold
between 4 to 5 rounds. Probably .30-06 centre-fire, enough to bring
down reasonably large game. Equipped with a powerful scope, make unidentified.
Lever-action rifle,
probably Winchester 94 carbine, .30-30, (12" twist), 6-shot tubular
magazine. Walnut straight-grip stock and fore-end.
Weight: 6.5 lbs.
Length: 37.75"
overall.
.41 or .44Magnum
revolver, probably Smith & Wesson, 6-shot, blued, with checkered
grips.
Also wears a large, steel-bladed
D-Guard knife, and carries grenades and explosives in his back-pack.
Trivia
There is an editing mistake
in the film - as Davis walks along the track he gets caught by a loose
branch around his boot. After disentangling himself, he asks Brodie
how far away the plane is. Brodie informs him that it is about a kilometre
away, and they won't make it before dark. At this point Brodie's jacket
buttons are on the left side of his jacket. Cut back to Davis, who says
they will make it. When the camera cuts back to Brodie, his jacket buttons
are now on the right side of his jacket. The shot is in reverse....
* * *