Survival Island (2002) User Reviews (103)

You've got to be kidding me

[kuhdsh · 2/10 · 30 October 2008]

I must say, this movie is a joke. From a distance, the plot sounds like a funny comedy from the 80's like "Weekend at Bernie's" or something. But as soon as you find out that this film is meant to be a serious horror flick, it officially becomes your first step towards the cliff dive that is "Demon Island" (or as some know it as, "Pinata: Survival Island"). A demonic piñata? Really? That's the best you could come up with? The "Wizard of Oz" has a more frightening plot (and at least that had attacking, flying monkeys. Now THAT will scare you).

What really put the icing on the cake for me, though, is the "special effects" that were used. Now, don't get me wrong, there were a few (and I use the term lightly) shots that I thought made the "monster" look kinda cool, but everything else just made it look like it came straight out of a Power Rangers movie. Seeing what the "monster's" vision looked like just made it worse. I was like watching a frame-by-frame video of a photo-negative kaleidoscope. About 3/4 of the time I couldn't even tell what was going on, making it look like just a giant mess of colors on the screen. I do have to applaud the effects artists for making things like the explosions look just like those from the terrorist shooting games in the arcade. Bravo.

Overall, I have to say this looks more like an attempt at a more grown-up version of the "Scooby-Doo" movie (especially the scene where they are being chased on the 4-wheelers, and if you've seen both movies, you'll know exactly what I mean). The only people I would recommend this film to are ones that are either really high or want a bad movie to laugh at.

still crying

[monkeyblood · 2/10 · 19 September 2009]

my girlfriend just shouted at me from the other room "ohmygod Killer Pin~ata!!" i yell back "i told you syfy original movies are worse than freebasing crack" When she said Jamie Pressley i had to take a peek, and i got the scare of my life (worse than when i saw someone get hit by a car 5 feet in front of me) i swear some of my hair turned white and i almost crapped my shorts... in a little box in the corner it said "AMC" ...now i'm not a religious man by any stretch, but i could feel the crack of thunder as the last seal was broken and the end of days was upon us.

After i pushed my eyes back in my sockets and took a few deep breaths i thought it HAD to be a mistake, or practical joke, someones last day at AMC and really wanted to screw with his boss -or the rest of humanity... SO then i come here to IMDb so see how many jokers would give this a 10, which didn't surprise me at all.. but i saw that one of the first comments/reviews was from 5 motherfunking years ago. FIVE YEARS AGO, HOLY SHINTO how long has this been going on??

Whomever is responsible for this repeat offense against nature should have their skin removed one layer at a time, or 1 centipede shoved in their urethra for each time its aired, or just shot into a black hole or something. i don't think ill be sleeping for the next week or so.

Anyone who wants to make fun of me for spelling or trying too hard to be funny you just go right ahead, nothing could hurt me more than what my TV just did to me.

too serious to be a guilty pleasure

[a-twetman · 3/10 · 11 June 2012]

Last night I saw "Horrors of Spider Island", a cheesy movie about youths on an island getting killed by monsters. "Demon Island" is much the same concept but done some 40 years later so it might be interesting to compare the two in an attempt to review to latter.

Both have a cast consisting of young people, several of which are good looking women. The gang ends up on an island and are unable to leave, in "Horrors of Spider Island" they crash there, in "Demon Island" they go there willingly to party but the monster breaks their boats (how the monster knew it had to do that is a mystery).

Most of the characters are pretty much just cardboard cutouts meant to be monster food, even though most of the "Horror s of Spider Island" characters actually survive while "Demon Island" kills them off.

The monster is utterly ridiculous in both movies, half man half spider thing in one and demon piñata in the other. Although it must be said that the special effects in "Demon Island" are worse not to mention annoying as the monsters vision is an absolute joke, and everything the monster does is really loud.

In both movies the monster dies in the end and what's left of the cast go home. The main difference is that "Horrors of Spider Island" is slow paced and mind numbingly boring, at least "Demon Island" has more action in it and i therefor the better movie. However, "Demon Island" takes itself a bit too seriously when it could just have been some campy fun.

This movie should be in the "comedy" section at the video store!

[Aussie Stud · 1/10 · 28 February 2004]

Thankfully, I didn't waste my money renting this movie, I watched it on cable instead, where it was part of the AMC Friday night "Frightfest" line-up. The only thing I seem to have wasted was my time and my last remaining brain cell.

However, I think the cable channel mistook this movie for a "horror" film where it should have been more appropriately slotted between an airing of "AIRPLANE II" and "STEWARDESS SCHOOL".

My curiosity to see this movie spiked when I discovered that Xander from "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" was starring in it. The first chuckles came when the credits list him as a "Producer", followed by the blatant rip off of the opening credits from the movie "THE THIRTEENTH WARRIOR".

But never mind that, after you get past the hilarious introduction which shows how the evil piñata is created, the movie kicks into overdrive as we flash forward to the present day where a group of frat kids are heading to an island for an underwear scavenger hunt! I kid you not, some people actually spent a lot of time and effort to think up this highly original plot.

I for one was expecting something similar to Nicholas Brendon's last beach horror movie, "PSYCHO BEACH PARTY" which turned out to be a rather amusing camp trash mini-classic. Apparently, Brendon was looking to steer himself in a more "serious" direction and decided to leave the laugh track behind.

Unfortunately, the laugh track follows him to this particular movie as well, but for all the wrong reasons. All of the characters are incredibly annoying, so you're just praying that this piñata thing shows up really fast so it can start the bloodshed. And when it finally does show up, that is when the real laughter begins!

I haven't laughed this hard since, well, "PSYCHO BEACH PARTY"! The piñata looks like it was created on someone's home computer, a Commodore 64 perhaps. You can't help but laugh when you see it's eyes glow orange and you suddenly get to see through "Pinata vision" which is apparently a poor attempt at copying "PREDATOR", but this time, we get to see its victims as orange triangles stacked on top of each other (LOL).

I agree with another user's comment here, before seeing this movie, I was picturing some sort of papier-mache donkey that is brought to life and goes on some sort of a killing rampage. Watching this particular "piñata" running around clubbing people to death with a yard stick was too hilarious for words.

There is one scene that involves a dirt buggy crashing into a log and "blowing up". The 'explosion' graphics look like they were spliced right out of a video game. In fact, I don't even think they used a "green screen" when filming this particular scene as it looks like they transferred a CGI "fireball" from the early-90's computer game "DOOM" directly onto the film - the graphics don't even match the surrounding scenery and the flames overlap the trees! They must have had a lot of good times while filming this. I could picture the director shouting to the girl, "Now fly through the air like you're dodging a fireball!", the girl trying to keep a straight face while improvising at the same time.

The acting is also in a field of its own. If you want to call what these actors are doing, "acting" - there is a scene where one girl is picking underwear off a roped line and decides to skip a few for no reason. The whole point of them being there is to COLLECT AS MANY PAIRS OF UNDERWEAR AS YOU CAN - which would probably also explain why one of the guys also decides to leave several boxers pinned to a bush. Priceless!

The worst actor out of all of them was the one handcuffed to Nicholas Brendon - Jaime Presley. I had to click on her name to see what else she had been in and was not surprised at all to see that most of it had either gone straight-to-video or was a small cameo in a two-bit television show on UPN.

The dialog was downright embarrassing. When Nicholas Brendon tries to impress Jaime Presley at the beginning of the movie by explaining the history of "Cinco de Mayo" after everyone else at the table had passed for stupidity, I just burst out laughing. This movie was simply awful!

Also, when did they change the name of this movie to "DEMON ISLAND"? Is this a laughable attempt at trying to rename the film to trick people into seeing it after the bad word of mouth gets around?

After watching this trash, one can only hope that someone would fill a real piñata with copies of this movie so we can all have a go at it with a wooden bat.

My Rating - 0 out of 10

It took me exactly 15 minutes to decide...but I was curious!

[Enrique-Sanchez-56 · 1/10 · 2 December 2005]

I think the introduction was the best part of the movie. Yes, that part where you have to be spoon fed an explanation about you are seeing (because the director thinks it's a novel idea!) Plainly, no one actually needs this explanation. I think it makes good decoration.

One thing surprised me. The visuals of the "natives" and their relationship to the piñata were interesting to watch, "most" of the time. The quality of the whole thing had that professionally rehearsed quality that you beg for in a cartoon.

If it weren't for that introduction, I may have not stayed over the 15 minute mark to see what this movie was all about.

The transition from the actually better-than-it-deserved intro-music to the MINDLESS GRUNGE sound of those inane rock guitars was my first indication that I was about to turn this movie off in a few minutes.

Then, the water gun games between the rafts. Wow, that was so compelling. The minutes were ticking. My palms were getting wet and sticky. But I forged on!

Then came the earth-shattering character development scene about a Port-O-Potty! I was breathless with anticipation. What could they think of next?

Then, believe it or not! That grungy music again! Oh, I was captivated!

After this, I had to make a life-changing decision. Would I stay or go?

OK...I stayed. Then, more character development about young people smoking pot. Folks, this was deep! You gotta believe me, here!

Then, of course comes the discovery of the awe-inspiring Piñata from hell! What does our hero do? He hits it with a stick, of course! What else would any self-respecting dude-about-town do in a situation like this?

And then.......

YOU GUESSED IT! YES!

IT came to LIFE!

And then why NOT spoil it? The rest of the plot resembles the Friday the 13th genre, of course. Pick them off, one by one...oh the TENSION, the DRAMA...the utter "grippingness" of it all!

The unanswered questions, the doubts, the comic relief...oh, the sheer artistry...

The UTTER, UTTER, uselessness of it all!

(CLICK)

So bad it's painful

[jhs39 · 1/10 · 10 June 2004]

Poor Nicholas Brendon. While his other Buffy castmates get to do theatrical films he is stuck in this straight to video abomination so awful everyone involved should actually be ashamed. The monster is particularly embarrassing--a computer generated thing that looks like it stepped out of a video game and almost never interacts with the live actors, making it seem even more fake. The idea of a killer Pinata might have offered some campy fun if the thing actually looked like a Pinata. The only film I've seen recently that was comparably dreadful was House of the Dead, which I actually walked out of when I was foolish enough to pay and see it in a theater. Movies like this really make you long for the return of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

About What You'd Expect

[sparklecat · 17 September 2003]

College co-eds are stalked by an evil pinata in a tropical paradise! A premise like that could be the makings of a cult classic.

Alas, "Pinata: Survival Island" seems neither inspired nor clumsy enough to reach that status. The film DOES qualify as an obscure horror hoot, especially in the early scenes of the wicked pinata's reign of terror.

"Buffy"'s Nicholas Brendon is always a welcome presence, but there's little to his role here, compared with your average BtVS rerun.

A Brilliant and Visionary Piece of Cinema

[El_Zombiachi · 1/10 · 1 December 2005]

Surival Island ranks among the moments that our young 21st Century needs to put behind it, ranking somewhere on the list between Natalee Holloway and Nickelback. As a collective society, it is our duty to try and learn from these mistakes and move on. What were the mistakes within this film that our society needs to correct in future releases? As an American, I felt this was my duty to my country, nay, the human race itself, to suffer through this visual cancer and glean from it what I could. All I got was a searing pain in my pancreas and 80 minutes off my life.

When I popped this soon-to-be-coaster-on-my-coffee-table DVD into my DVD player, I was hoping maybe that Pinata was the name of the island, or some kind of deep, entrancing metaphor. No, my prayers were unanswered. The villain of this film is a demonic piñata in the most literal form. As I watched the film, I couldn't help but wonder the inspiration behind it, despite the unnecessary and prolonged exposition detailing the creation of our Aztec/Maya/other Central American tribal piñata demon. Do our brilliant directors have a phobia from childhood they feel a need to unleash upon an unfortunate public? Apparently so.

The characters were laughably foolish college students with nothing in mind but alcohol and sex. When they discover the sin-filled piñata, they do what any logical human being would do, attempt to open it and consume the alcoholic beverages they expect to pour from its ceramic interior. Logical, yes? At this point, the evil is unleashed, and the pygmy-like creature goes on a rampage across the island. For some inexplicable reason, it transforms into a demonic, frightening and dangerous beast while traveling, but when attacking, it reverts to its non-threatening, pygmy state. Even by completely suspending my belief, nearly every plot detail of this film was utterly laughable. However, unlike most comedy-gold-horror films, this one was lost my attention and like a plague victim had me begging for the end.

This film left me asking one question over and over like a battered Nancy Kerrigan: WHY? Why would anyone find this remotely frightening? Why would anyone agree to star in this film? (A midget-piñata on a bloody rampage? This sounds like a winner!) Why would anyone want to write this? Why were the characters motivated to behave as foolishly as they did? Why is this on DVD while so many great films are not? Why had I just sat still for an hour and a half of my life that I will never get back to watch this? Do yourself a favor, donate the $5 you would blow renting/buying this to your local homeless shelter then go play some mini golf. It's a better way to spend your time, I assure you.

Stunningly Awful

[danabunner · 1/10 · 28 February 2007]

I don't understand why this movie isn't on the Worst 100 list. I've seen 7 movies on that list, and this one is worse than any of those. If I gave a 10th grade class an assignment to create special effects and they turned in the ones in this movie, I might feel sorry enough for them to give them a D. I hope they didn't pay the special effects team more than $500. Not only are they embarrassing poor, the animated figure doesn't look like the costumed figured used in the close ups.

Meanwhile the acting is so stiff that one is left wondering if the final footage came from the 2nd or 3rd reading of the script. Or if the script was simply being written an hour before the filming.

If you are looking for a silly horror movie to watch with a group of friends for laughs, this is a very good candidate. On that scale, I would give it an 8.

This movie will be lucky if it even makes it straight to video!

[jchou-1 · 1/10 · 28 June 2001]

I had a chance to see a private screening of this movie. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, waste your money to go see this movie in a theater or to even rent it. Pinata is hands-down the worst movie I've ever seen. The dialogue is horrible; in one scene, one of the characters describes that the sound the pinata makes is like the pain and suffering of a village of people, which incidentally matches the exact myth of the pinata. The biggest problem I had with this movie is that it is neither horror or a satire on horror; rather it is stuck somewhere in between. At least with the "Scream" trilogy and "Scary Movie" you get a decent attempt to ridicule the horror genre. Pinata seems uncertain of whether to ridicule the genre or be one of its movies. Please don't see this movie.

Don't Waste Your Time on This FILM???

[whpratt1 · 1/10 · 28 February 2004]

Love all kinds of Horror films, from the silent films to the present day gems. However, this film is absolutely HORRIBLE. These college gals and guys fool around with an experiment besides trying to make out, but there is very little time for romance. The so called MONSTER is like a spoiled brat of a kid, who wants to chew up everyone in sight and has a horrible TEMPER!!! The college kids try to extinguish this creature with gallons of gasoline and nothing seems to work, they run around in circles trying to get away and of course, some wind up in body bags. I have to give credit to the poor actors who tried their very best to create some kind of picture, Nicholas Brendon,"Psycho Beach Party",2000 and Jaime Pressly,"Footprints",'02. When the CAMPUS POLICE finally came to their rescue and asked them,"JUST WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?", the entire remaining CAST went SILENT!!! If you want to waste your time and see a NOTHING of a film, THIS IS FOR YOU!!!!

THE authoritative film on Pinata Demons

[ngjohns · 10/10 · 27 February 2004]

The Hillenbrands have done it again!!! I can't say enough good things about this movie. Although, if it weren't for the pinata (played by your boy Ed Gale, of "Cycle Sluts" fame) I wouldn't have nearly as many good things to say, because most of them concern the pinata. I saw the toned-down version on AMC; I can only imagine what it must be like with swear words (hint:awesome). I started watching it as a joke, but by the end the pinata actually became quite scary. He's only 4 feet tall, but I think it's his unrelenting tenacity that does it. Laugh now, but try going to sleep after watching it. If you only see one film about Pinata demons this year, make it this one, without a doubt. Pinatas!

Surprisingly entertaining...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 16 March 2023]

Odd why the copy of this 2002 horror movie that I found was titled "Demon Island" when the movie's actual title is "Survival Island". Oh well.

When I sat down to watch "Survival Island" here in 2023, I remember having watched "Survival Island" once before, though I have to admit that I had entirely forgotten about the movie. So it was actually nice to sit down and watch it once again. Especially since it actually is an okay movie. Sure, this is not a milestone in horror cinema, not even remotely close. But "Survival Island" actually makes for a good, old fashioned stalked-by-a-demonic-entity movie.

The acting performances in "Survival Island" were fair enough. And they actually had a handful of familiar talents on the cast list, with the likes of Nicholas Brendon, Jaime Pressly and Garrett Wang. And it was a nice thing with the voice of Joaquim de Almeida as the narrator.

Visually then I have to say that "Survival Island" was actually good. I liked the design of the demon clay idol, or pinata if you will. The design was interesting and it was a nicely articulate, which helped bring the entity to life on the screen. The constant screaming and loud unearthly noises that assaulted the audience whenever you saw the demon clay idol on the screen grew very annoying, very fast, trust me on that one.

Sure, "Survival Island" is not an outstanding horror experience, but it actually is a watchable enough movie for what it turns out to be. Take it for what it is and just lean back, munch on the snacks and watch the movie.

My rating of "Survival Island" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Pinata??

[bygsexytoy · 1/10 · 3 December 2005]

This was one of the worst movies I had ever seen! U can tell that it was definitely a low-budget film, and the writing was awful. It was a typical, cheesy college kid film with the pretty size 0 beach blondes, college hunks and jocks, and of course the one black guy in the film (who never survives in horror films)looking to party and get wild. The creature's was computer animated, and it was so bad that it took the fear out of the film. The story line was very weak and not at all believable. I surely hope that they do not plan to make a sequel to this! I recommend that this film gets lost in the pile somewhere. From the very beginning I knew who would survive and who wouldn't. Two thumbs down here!

Note to Hollywood: Pinatas are not scary

[psjnky · 1/10 · 13 September 2008]

A MUST BUY for insomniatic nights!!!! If I could give it a -1 I would. I was stuck between 2 of my favorite late night reruns and looking for something to kill an hour until my show came on. Came across this and thought I'd watch for a while. How bad could it be? I mean at the very least I get to watch attractive college chicks run around the jungle in skimpy clothing, there's worse ways I could spend my hour... boy was I wrong In recent years I had grown accustomed to watching late night awful movies, Sci-Fi originals mostly. I always felt that you couldn't get much worse than "Ice Spiders", though once again this movie proved me wrong.

I was frequently annoyed by the fact that through the "Pinata Vision" (aka predator ripoff) it looks like this birthday toy was a meer steps behind the victim, yet when the camera reverts to a view of the victim coming at the camera, its no where in sight. The fact that the creature has the ability to fly but yet can't catch these people has me bewildered. It has a hatchet that it is god awfully inaccurate at throwing, but luckily it works like a boomerang and comes back. I also love how one guy gets riped in half (or so they say) but everyone else meerly gets stabed. Or how about the first girl that sees it, watches it kill the guy, then later thinks the guy is in the tent.........

Long story short, other than the occasional laughable stupidity of an attempt to make a scary movie, the movie is dull and boring. I attempted to stay up and see how it ended, though I couldn't do it. I fell asleep and missed my show. I might go buy the movie, simply for those insomniac moments.

So, so bad

[yojimbo999 · 1/10 · 9 February 2003]

How bad is this movie? It's so bad that it doesn't even have any decent gratuitous nudity. They have a hot babe in Jaime Pressley running around an island in a midriff baring shirt, but no skinny dipping scene? Blasphemy! Worst, the movie is pitifully stupid and amateurish.

Definition: Sh*t-stain

[gigan-92 · 1/10 · 23 May 2012]

One of those rare mounds of sh*t you happen to stumble upon as you innocently search late night television for a flick to watch. I can only ask what was the point? Generic storyline, pathetic creature designs a given, and effects that came straight out of a Play Station 1 game. Pretty gory, nothing especially well done though. Tom Savini would wipe his ass with this tripe.

I can't think of a single reason why AMC would display this crap on FearFest Fridays, which are usually pretty memorable. This movie is by no means a classic, not even fun to laugh at. It just sucks. If the title alone doesn't send you packing, let me assure you the time spent watching this you could have read a book, took that nap you've always wanted or at the very least get your taxes done.

Candidate for the Edward D. Wood, Jr. Award???

[jglapin · 1/10 · 27 October 2003]

This was the worst movie I have seen in years. Only a complete stone fool could have written and directed this picture. The opening narrative of people in some Central American tribe casting all there troubles in a clay figure and setting it adrift might have worked had it not been for some obvious inconsistencies. First, the last time I looked at a global topographic map or read "National Geographic" Central America was flat and covered with dense jungle. This sequence looked like the Sierra Madre of Northern Mexico. Second, just about all of the supposedly starving villagers who were facing famine were as fat as jelly doughnuts. Hello?

I will not even comment on the dopey Young Adults that arrive on the Island. IF they are our future please find me a "Wayback Machine".

Um,what????

[cagercage · 4/10 · 30 July 2005]

How, I say how did the Pinata know to destroy modern boats that look nothing like the kayaks from it's own time? And why, since it had the bear paw does it need to beat everything with a stick? And what, in it's origin explains the whole hanging body parts on a tree? Why the Hell after deciding in safety in numbers for perhaps the first time in horror movie history do these idiots leave Doug to get the rock out of his shoe alone and why does it take so damn long to get it out? Why in God's name did no one bring a cell phone with international access with them? Instead they have to count on someone sending a boat 'soon'. I won't say how they killed it, but I will wonder until my dying day why that should have worked! And you know claymation boy looks soooo much better than cgi boy. The only interesting cgi effect was the black smoke that chased um-Nick's girlfriend. OTOH, the cinematography in general is not bad and the islander does have that foggy eerie look to it at times. And. on the upside, Nicholas is some nice eye candy. Lastly, I really hate incredible coincidence movies too, but I would have felt better if we had learned that Nick was a Mexican history major, or totemic magic buff, or descendant of the tribe that created this thing 'cause that legend seemed awfully obscure for someone to just 'hear'. I am assuming, based on this movie, that Brendon is looking to earn his chops as a Producer from the bottom up and God know I've seen worse (as has any fan of MST 3000) and/or he is one of those actors who just likes to act in anything. Hey, so was Roddy McDowell.

THE COST WAS $6.00, WHICH EXCEEDED THE BUDGET OF THIS FILM

[Mitch-38 · 2/10 · 6 November 2003]

*CAUTION*POTENTIAL SPOILERS* Tepid, bottom of the barrel horror flick with a tissue thin plot, and enough bad performances to embarrass both actor AND viewer. Once again, as is a must in these films, a pack of drunken, horny college kids skip off to some exotic locale. Naturally, they end up as luncheon meat for some creature, toothless redneck or psychotic. Well friends, when it's done right, the film is entertaining and often clever enough to offer a subtle nuance or wink to the audience. Some films offer this as a way of somewhat saying; it's okay, have some fun and don't sweat it too much. There are others, done so well and so suspenseful, they truly succeed in scaring the freckles off of us. DEMON ISLAND or PINATA: SURVIVAL ISLAND, or whatever they're changing the title to this week, is in neither camp. The film is not suspenseful, clever, well acted or scary, unless bad CGI images send shivers down your spine. The dialogue is so insipid, I'd have found more interest listening to a toilet backing up. The actors and actresses, in between looking scared, screaming or bored; the range isn't exactly challenging nor met. They try in fits and starts, but to little avail. Whatever possessed dear Garret Wang, a serious and good actor, to appear in this bit of fluff left me scratching my head in confusion.

You should recommend this terrible film to someone you do not like; other than that, avoid this turkey. NOT RECOMMENDED.

I gave this movie a one because IMDb won't let me go any lower!

[wnterstar · 1/10 · 8 April 2006]

I was channel surfing and I stumbled onto this movie. There must be a worse movie out there, but I sure haven't seen it.

The plot was derivative tripe, the script was poor, and the background music was horrendous. But, since it was a teen horror movie, that is to be expected. I was at least expecting some great CGI effects.

Wow! Here is a movie that makes CGI look BAD!!! Now THAT'S special!!! Spoiler (Can you spoil a rotten movie?) Oh, and get this...they kill the piñata guy, who is basically a lava demon with...get this....FIRE! A fiery monster is vulnerable to fire! Ya gotta give them points for originality on that one! I gave this movie a one because they won't let me go any lower!

Hate this movie (may contain spoilers)

[marian_melgs03 · 13 September 2004]

***may contain spoilers***

Demon Island is the story of college students on a scavenger hunt (see the film to discover what the hunt is about) in a remote island. Things turned horribly wrong when a pair discovered an ancient pinata and cracked it. In doing so they unleashed a terrible demon bent on killing humans in the most inhumane ways possible.

Sounds interesting? Not!

A pinata? Come on! The movie could be better if they turned it into a parody of horror flicks in the tradition of "Scary Movie" or teen flicks like "Not Another Teen Movie". A demon entrapped in a pinata is not the way to go. The acting is horrible, the effects are downright ugly, and the ending is not really my type of ending to a true horror movie.

If you like Nicholas Brendon (is that right?) or Jaime Pressly (correct me if I'm wrong), don't watch this movie - you'll only be disappointed. There's also some other familiar faces (like the guy who plays Harvey in Sabrina the Teenage witch, and the other guy who was killed while digging his secret stash). I don't know what possessed them to do this stupid movie in the first place. What are those filmmakers think they're doing? Great films could be made with low budgets, so why settle in such a dumb script?

The pinata was destroyed. Why not destroy the film as well?

Clever!

[[e-mail] · 9/10 · 16 March 2003]

This movie was excellent. If you like B movies, this is the one for you. It's about this pinita that kills a bunch of college students one by one on an island while they are having a scavanger hunt for the most panties. Each kill is very unique i.e. a guy gets his gonads ripped off, it was great. The directors Scott and David Hillenbrand really know what their doing. They make great B movies, who else would think of a killer piniata at a pantie scavanger hunt. I give it 9/10 stars.

Decent enough but somewhat flawed

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 23 July 2012]

Heading to a small, abandoned island for a traditional game, two groups of college students unwittingly summon a cursed, demonic piñata that begins a rampage of terror on the groups, forcing them to band together to stop it.

An enjoyably cheesy affair, this one has some rather good parts to it that goes along rather well with its few intentionally creepy moments. The opening history of the being is pure cheese, as are the CGI-heavy sequences of it morphing into various designs and body types, which are just so goofy and clumsy that it's impossible not to be somewhat entertained at what's presented during these scenes. There's also the film's rather convoluted back-story for the participants of the expedition, who are given way more than is necessary for these kinds of films and don't really need one considering what's happening during the horror scenes, which are quite fun and kinetic. The piñata eye-view of the scenes adds some excitement, the stalking is great as the island paradise location is supposedly abandoned and that allows for the kills to come off infinitely better than expected. A cheese-fest through-and-through, but still entertaining.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and drug use

So amazingly bad!!!!!

[thomeichiro · 1/10 · 8 October 2005]

I saw this movie last night on AMC, and it might have been the worst movie I have ever seen. Why was it bad? 1. Script: seems as if it might have been written by 3rd graders 2. Acting: hmmmm.....a burger king commercial is more believable 3. Special Effects: the "demon" looks like it was done as a Jr. high computer graphics project 4. Set: I think they used the set from Gilligans island 5. Minority characters killed off: oh of course they don't make it (has a black man ever made it through a horror film when surrounded by white people?). OK -that's really not a problem with the movie, but still...you just knew he would be killed off quickly.

I guess the question is why did I watch it....well it was so amazingly bad I just could not turn it off. All I could think is who let this thing be made.