Cinematography:
Alan GwizdowskiComposer:
Paul KochCast:
Michaela McManus, Neville Archambault, Jim Cummings, Ryan O'Flanagan, Chris Sheffield, Jeremy Holm, Willie C. Carpenter, Matilda Lawler, Matthew LawlerPlots(1)
Something terrifying is happening off the coast of Block Island. A strange force is thriving, influencing residents and wildlife alike. Birds are dropping out of the sky. Some people have been dropping too, into inexplicable emotional collapse. Harry Lynch (Chris Sheffield) has always been a bit of an outsider in town. Now, he watches in dread as his father (Neville Archambault) grows increasingly forgetful and confused. And angry. Very, very angry. His sister Audry (Michaela McManus), whose work in marine biology will soon prove invaluable, returns to town with her daughter and immediately sees what Harry sees. Her explorations into the increasingly grisly wildlife phenomena intersects with the triggers of her father’s actions, leading them all towards chilling revelations that no one is prepared for. Revelations that will affect her family in unimaginable ways. (Fantasia International Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (3)
This promising mystery with an interesting location unfortunately ends up making a worn-out X-Files point. Even the characters behave like those in the debut works of less attentive and less detail-oriented filmmakers. The names in the closing credits will bring you the realisation that this is a matter of friends and family getting together to make a movie. A weaker three stars.
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A nice little island mystery and a very good debut by the McManus brothers. An interesting premise about the mysterious mass deaths of birds and fish, spiced up with a pinch of conspiracy theories and paranoid blather, and a mentally broken protagonist, all leading to a nicely escalated climax through a few creepy horror scenes with a dad. I like this mysterious stuff set in remote places, and I also like what came out of this one. The ending is a bit too literal perhaps, but nicely put together.
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Unfortunately, The Block Island Sound is another drama playing at horror that is so dreadfully dull and uninteresting that it downright hurts to watch. The story takes place on an island where strange things start happening, but strange doesn't necessarily mean interesting. Fish and birds are dying massively and people don't know what to do. It's kind of mysterious and about two scenes are a slightly creepy, but it's more about family relationships, conspiracy theories, and all sorts of mumbo jumbo that ultimately annoyed me more than interested me. If at least Ctulhu or some other Lovecraftian monster came out of the sea, but in the end nothing happens, and proof of that is the body-count of one. When I looked at the timer thinking it would be over in ten minutes and learned that I still had forty-five minutes left, it was really hard no to go cook something or sleep instead. Anyone who likes slow cheap movies where nothing happens but has atmosphere will be satisfied. 4/10.
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