don't see it!!! Don't see it! If you do see, prepare for a very unhappy ending.
there is a time and place for an ending like that. the reason it was no good is simple: if i read a short story that ended like this, i would say, "Good tale! kind of pointless, but OK, a story of horror/evil of mankind." if i read a novel that had a sympathetic character like that die so meaninglessly i would be angry. now if they die for a thematic reason, that is one thing. but ed/nicks death is meaningless. it does not take a 2 hour setup to show that life is cruel or bad.
if i am watching an independent film, i am less prone to demand some sort of meaning or payoff. nihilism, the cruelty of people, stupid religions, etc are all good themes. but not in this movie.
this movie has no payoff. the ending is a turnoff. if i am watching a tales of the crypt movie i know to expect. but part of the tale telling of tales of the crypt is that a skeleton with bad jokes tells you a horror tale. so if it is graphic or if it is unjust, you knew that.
a good storyteller would not take that long to weave such a nothing little tale. this would be also OK as a twilight zone episode. only 30 minutes, and sometimes twilight zone got dark. i paid 3.99 and i want my money back.
if ed had been a willing sacrifice, it could have been cool. but what is the point of an island full of evil crazies who entrap and kill one man for their own needs? even if those crazed pagans had to kill him, their smugness and joy at his death was annoying. yes, there are people like that. yes, some tribal groups do that. yes, people in America used to love lynchings. does not mean i want to see it.
this movie was emotional smut. and that is no good. i like real real smut sometimes. but some people don't. so if you try and sell a movie that is actually dirty pictures with naked people, but convince people who don't like that to see it, don't be surprised if they get upset.
i kept thinking: somehow, someway, he either won't die, or there will be a meaning to his death.
watching this movie was like watching a lynching of an innocent man. who wants to watch that? Don't see it!!!