Behold the Insane Fantasy Island Trailer

For a certain generation, when you hear Fantasy Island you immediately conjure up images of ABC’s hit show from the late 70s through 1984, and specifically, of Hervé Villechaize’s Tattoo and Ricardo Montalbán’s Mr. Roarke offering visitors to their remote Pacific idyll whatever fantasy they could possibly imagine. The catch was that those fantasies rarely turned out the way visitors expected them too. That Fantasy Island might be a part of the pop-culture pantheon, but what we have now, with Blumhouse Productions’ Fantasy Island, is a whole different kettle of fish.

The first trailer for Jeff Wadlow (he Truth or Dare)’s reboot takes the same premise but gives it a nasty modern spin. A bit like visitors to Westworld lived out their brutish fantasies to the eternal detriment of the theme park’s robot hosts, some of the folks heading off to Fantasy Island have dastardly deeds in mind. The new Mr. Roarke, the “ambassador to your deepest desires,” is played the always welcome Michael Peña. Mr. Roarke tailors the fantasies specifically to what each guest wants, which include some serious military action, revenge, and the usual gluttonous desires that lots of people dream about—especially while in “paradise.”

Paradise this is not. Considering this film comes from the folks who brought you Get Out and Halloween, you can be sure all these fantasies quickly become nightmares. Just look at what Blumhouse did for The Invisible Man. The first trailer is as freaky as the original Fantasy Island was coconut-scented camp.

Here’s the official synopsis for Fantasy Island:

In Blumhouse’s new spin on Fantasy Island, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island’s mystery in order to escape with their lives.

Fantasy Island was written by Wadlow along with Chris Roach and Jillian Jacobs. Joining Peña are Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Jimmy O. Yang, Ryan Hansen, and Michael Rooker. It hits theaters on Valentine’s Day, 2020.

Featured image: The theatrical poster for ‘Fantasy Island.’ Courtesy Sony Pictures