Let's talk about a few of the meritorious aspects of this film, the title of which already promises disappointment and disaster. Its biggest draw was arguably the female lead, whose claim to fame was not being a "Playboy Playmate," but being part of a scandal that took the nation by storm – congressmen's wives are not the kind expected to misbehave. Those who recall this affair might get some degree of satisfaction with seeing what the hubbub was about, and Ms. Jenrette does a credible job with her acting, at times even being allowed to chew up the scenery. (How impressive that she also had a hand in a reggae song on the soundtrack; as another pointed out, the choice of reggae was refreshing.)David Broadnax came up short in the screen charisma department, although his rugged, handsome good looks (reminded me of Fred Williamson) were welcome with the dashing role he played; at first I thought he might have carried the day from the zombie menace in the same vein as the famously African-American lead of Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. (Mr. Broadnax was reportedly not a healthy man, unfortunately having only fifteen years of life left from the time of this role.) That was before I got the notion that we were not going to be in for a swarm of zombies, as the title gave the impression, a fact that did not sit well with many of the reviewers here, horror fans with a one-track mind. (I was disappointed as well, but not to the point of giving up on the movie.)Low-budget horror fans ought to be used to being taken in by misleading titles, a phenomenon not always the fault of dishonest filmmakers, but the distributors who are not above meddling with changes. Yet the title is not totally off-kilter; we are on an island, and the many killings that take place would be called a massacre. Regardless of the identity of the apparent "swamp thing" who went around committing the murders, it's not as though the film does not boast a zombie, That would be during the voodoo sequence, which succeeded in achieving a nice dosage of creeps; the mud-caked resurrected zombie was an interesting throwback to Val Lewton's I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE – not the kind of cinematic zombie that fans prefer to see in their brain-eaters.I thought the pairing of two "hunks," the white and black heroes, was an innovative concept; often in movies, there is no confusion about who the real hero is. I also liked the suspense that was created up until around the point when the tour bus had been vandalized, and when the bus driver went out to make that abortive phone call for help; as he came upon a couple of disturbing developments, some genuine tension was created. We knew we would be in for it afterwards, in typical horror film fashion, with the absurd ways by which many of the victims were done in.Some of the acting was -- as may be expected -- uneven, but the older villain by the film's conclusion got very high marks, as well as the female who turned out to be in cahoots with the skullduggery. When led at gunpoint by one of our heroes, the actress especially shined.Many of the gripes that other reviewers have pointed out are justified; the film had potential, but turned out rather dull and senseless in many areas. The biggest letdown for me was the genre-switching plot twist at the finale, which made a mockery of the film's horror foundation, like something out of "Scooby Doo."The missed opportunities are a pity. A group of tourists stranded {especially at night) in a foreign and threatening locale can be such a welcome premise, when done correctly. A horror film that got it right was 2007's ROGUE, where a tour boat breaks down in the Australian outback.One of the disadvantages of forums where anyone is allowed to comment is that so many people can be so wrong. Let's try to keep in mind that Troma the production company is a far cry from Troma, the distributor. (In order to keep afloat, Troma concentrated its firepower during its later operational phase with the latter role.) Thus, the familiar product that Troma is known for, the grossly comical efforts such as THE TOXIC AVENGER, have nothing to do with independently produced films that have little call in the marketplace, and thereby are forced to slum their wares with a little outfit such as Troma. One reviewer, to give a glaring example, pointed to BLOOD SUCKING FREAKS and MOTHER'S DAY as two typical Troma films. Those films were made by creators having nothing to do with Troma, at a time before Troma even came into substantive being.

Zombie Island Massacre (1984) * (out of 4) Incredibly poor ultra low budget flick about a group on vacation who head to an island with voodoo rituals and of course they start getting knocked off one by one. The film features a Playboy Playmate who kindly gets naked three times during the opening moments and this here is clearly the highlight. The violence is obviously fake and the gore is kept very small and what we do see looks fake as well. The film borrows heavily from the 'Ten Little Indians' storyline but none of it ever makes too much sense. The score is from Harry Manfredini who also did the score for Friday the 13th. The score here rips that one off so you F13 nuts might want to check the film out to see how the two compare. The rest stay away.

'Voodoo Island Massacre' was the title it should have had.This was a cheap exploitation version of Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Indians.' Without the previous crimes.It was pitifully obvious that it was going to be a 'one by one they all fall' movie.Horror? Some. Not enough.Action? Ditto.Was it worth it? Weeeeeelllllllll......? Check it out ONLY if you have spare time and nothing better to watch.And Rita DID look great naked.

kinda boring slasher flick rips off the score of Friday The 13 and the acting is decent still this is a bland and kinda dull time .where are the zombies is what i was wondering the ending feels abrupt and there are a few decent kills and some cool characters but we have to listen to too much boring dialog and a very talky script this is quite a passable time that has some cool production values but the directing kinda weak and poor make up effects also help to sink this in fact i wouldn't even consider this a troma film because it's all played seriously and no laughs and that kinda hurts it too i was begging for a little humor nut i got none worth your time part of the 3 films i got rent at your own risk *1/2 out of 5 lots of voodoo though still not worth your time