Danger on Tiki Island (Cinematic Titanic Live)

Film Year:  1968
Genre:  Horror
Director:  Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero
Starring:  Kent Taylor, Beverly "Hills" Powers, John Ashley, Eva Darren
CT Number:  10

The Movie

Oh good.  Just what I wanted to see.  A horror movie starring the stripper who flashed Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

(If you're wondering how I knew this, I could play the "male card" and say "I know that set of knockers anywhere" but in reality I just thought the on-the-nose name "Beverly Hills" was interesting and looked up her IMDB.)

Initially titled Brides of Blood, this almost inaudible movie is pretty tough to follow since all the dialogue sounds like it was on a long lost recording that was recently unearthed, but seems to be about islanders and virgin sacrifice.  An almighty Caucasian falls in love with an island girl who is set to be sacrificed and mucks up her chance to be the next meal to the island's budget Swamp Thing.  Bizarrely enough nobody seems to give a shit that he just fucked up a sacred ritual, however it angers the beast who seeks to hunt down the sacrifice that was never sacrificed and its true nature is brought to light.

There's something almost cool about the way this movie presents itself.  There's some nice sets, visuals, and cinematography.  Even the lousy dub adds something of a mysterious allure to the film.  Too bad about the cheapness.  All the monsters are hilariously rubber and fakey, making this Tiki Island vacation more goofy than frightening.  But even if the monsters were believable, it's a wonder that there are anybody on this island at all.  Sacrifices seem to happen about every two hours, leaving me to wonder just why virgin girls are so plentiful on this island and why more of them aren't sleeping around to fix this (I volunteer for the sake of survival, if they need assistance).  And with the beast tearing through these girls at the rate it is, I'm surprised there is anybody left on the island at all.

The film's attempt at being "sexy" is one of the things it falls limp on as well.  The above mentioned "Beverly Hills" (real name Beverly Powers) plays a sexpot who is eager to sleep with just about any man she sees.  While it's true Madam Hills looks pretty swell in a nightie, her pouty oh-faces of lust for men grow so overbearing that they're comical, and her innuendos are so needless they can only be scripted.  Her death at the hands of the primary monster kind of makes me laugh a bit.  She was no virgin sacrifice, I can tell you that much.  It might have been funnier if he looked her over, went "nope!," and just walked away.

Tiki Island is a rough ride made by people who are trying to make the best of it.  They're given a lousy script and cheap Halloween costumes, but they take it very seriously.  It's admirable and unintentionally hilarious at the same time.

The Live Riff

I might have the polar opposite of most when it comes to Cinematic Titanic's Live shows in that I don't really enjoy them as much as the studio DVDs they initially made, but for the most part they're actually pretty good so I can't complain too much.  But Danger on Tiki Island is really the epitome if a certain "static" feeling I get while watching them.  This one just doesn't work for me.  The audio on the film is atrocious, leaving me to have a hell of a time paying attention to the movie through both the riffers and the audience.  It gives me a whirlwind of crazy washed out visuals with decent commentary with a lot of mumbling that's followed up on by the riffers that might have been funny if I had understood the set-up lines.  I really would have wanted to see a studio version of this show to see if it became any more coherent.

There are a few lines I like.  I like the riffs on Beverly Hills, as Trace gets one of the earliest laughs by pointing out how absurdly "porn star" her name sounds, and there are some swell shots at her libido, such as J. Elvis making the hilarious claim that "Mrs. Roeper wasn't nearly as horny as this woman."  But for the most part this one doesn't tickle my funny bone.  It's not that the movie is a slog either, because it isn't.  The film's only real fault in relation to the riffing is how rough of a shape it's in, but it could lend itself quite well.  And the Titans seem jazzed up by the movie too, because it's so visually bonkers.  Yet there are patches of minutes at a time where I just don't so much as giggle.

Most of the Titans are in a pop cultural mood, making references to aspects new and old, yet not a lot of them really seem to land.  As someone viewing this riff almost ten years after it was recorded a lot of it feels dated (though I admittedly didn't think it was very funny when it was new either).  It feels to me like this movie could stand to use riffs that are a bit more observational.  If I were to single out any of the Titans who seems to get this I'd have to give a shout out to Mary Jo Pehl.  Her observational lines made me laugh harder than anybody else in this episode, with winners like "I love a woman who wears white pumps into the jungle" and "Honey, you were just spreadeagled naked in the town square, I think you can dispense with the modesty."  Oddly enough the audience is mostly silent during what I think are some of her most killer lines, yet howling at jokes that don't really do much for me, so maybe it's just me.

Overall I'd have to say whether Live or studio, it's pretty plain to me that Tiki Island is one of the weakest Cinematic Titanic releases.  But there are fans of the Live Titans' work that go nuts for it, so bear in mind this is just one man's lowly opinion.  If you like the Live works, give it a shot.  You might be more impressed than I.

Average

The DVD

Initially released by Cinematic Titanic through their website, Danger on Tiki Island featured a solid video presentation, though through fault of the film's own soundtrack I can't overly praise the audio, though I think it's accurate of the show itself.  There was a special feature called Between the Riffs, which was a behind the scenes look at the Cinematic Titanic Live shows, and features interviews with all of the Titans.

The Live show was also re-released in Shout Factory's Cinematic Titanic:  The Complete Collection, featuring the same audio and video transfer.  The Between the Riffs documentary was ported over, though it's not featured on the Tiki Island disc (instead sharing a disc with War of the Insects and Rattlers).  Tiki Island shares a disc with the previous Live show, The Alien Factor.