Arriving in theaters this weekend is Blumhouse's feature film remake Fantasy Island (2020), a modernized take on the popular television series that ran for seven seasons throughout the late ’70s and early ’80s, in which people were offered the opportunity to live out their deepest, and sometimes darkest, desires.
At the helm of the new Fantasy Island is Jeff Wadlow, who previously collaborated with Blumhouse on 2018’s Truth or Dare, and the story follows an enigmatic host by the name of Mr. Roarke (played by Michael Peña), who welcomes guests to the mysterious island so they can fulfill their desires, but each request comes with a hefty price attached to it.
Co-starring in Fantasy Island is Lucy Hale (who also starred in Wadlow's Truth or Dare) as Melanie, a woman whose fantasy involves getting revenge on a bully from her past. Fantasy Island (2020) also stars Austin Stowell, Maggie Q, Portia Doubleday, Ryan Hansen, Jimmy O. Yang, and Michael Rooker.
At the recent press day for the film, Daily Dead spoke to Hale about what drew her to this film and the character of Melanie in particular, and the challenges of humanizing and finding herself in the role of Melanie to justify her actions in the film.
Hale also discussed her longstanding love of the horror genre and the exhilarating feeling of being scared, which is another reason why she took the trip to Fantasy Island (2020).
Look for more on Fantasy Island (2020) this week, right here on Daily Dead!
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Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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