Let's be realistic.

Absolutely brilliant

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

"Pagan Island" qualifies as a low-budget, black & white, tropical exploitation schlocker about a modern-day Robinson Crusoe type seaman who washes up on a sun-drenched island inhabited by attractive, scantily-clad dames in their twenties. The gals are basically the same ages and are all slim and sexy. Schlockmeister Barry Mahon produced and directed this lame, one-dimensional, exotic, outdoor adventure. This straight-faced travesty of sex comedy contains some grim, realistic moments that appear out of place. Our hero guns down four unarmed black guys. Some of the lensing, particularly in the Miami Seaquarium in Key Biscayne, Florida,looks terrific, but nothing else in the shallow script redeems this harmless film. The most unusual thing is the tragic ending to an otherwise frivolous plot. William Stanton (Eddie Drew of "Them!") manages to survive the sinking of tanker ship and his inflatable life raft beaches him on an island of bare-breasted babes who wear leis over their bared breasts. They live alone on the island. Initially, they treat Stanton like royalty as if he were checking in to five-star motel. They have a room ready for him, a meal prepared for him, and they even stage an evening dance where they ply him with jungle juice. Actually, these gals have other ideas that involve punishing the evil white man. They hang him up by his heels to roast in the sun. Good riddance summarizes their attitude toward Stanton. Things change suddenly when a canoe of blacks land on the island. The gals fear the blacks because these obsidian invaders have come to kidnap them. Stanton convinces a girl that likes him to cut him down. She gives him his snub-nosed revolver and our hero kills the invaders. Eventually, Stanton and his girlfriend, gorgeous Princess Nani Maka (one-time only actress Nani Maka) who is to be sacrificed to sea god take the plunge. They find a buried treasure and they are about to swim away to safety when a couch latches onto our heroine and she dies. Stanton frees her from the couch and they reach his life raft. Actually, "Pagan Island" opens as a ship picks up our hero and heroine in a life raft and Stanton tells his tall tale to two seamen. The tale comes full circle and Stanton's girlfriend is consigned to the deep. The acting, except for Stanton, is terribly wooden. Director Barry Mahon favors long takes and single set-ups. He also loves to show the curve of breasts that his nubile actresses show under their leis. These ladies are the worst actresses in the world. They appear to be reading their forgettable, broken English dialogue off cue cards. Okay, some of the dialogue in the context will make you smirk. One gal tells two others: "White man say I built like small brick house." The seduction scene is amusing and everything about "Pagan Island" is completely cheesy. Indeed, this movie belongs in the 'it-is-so-bad-it-is-good' category.

The reason I rented this DVD from NetFlix was because it was directed by Barry Mahon--one of the worst directors of the 1960s. I must be a masochist because I recently have watched a bunch of grade-z movies by Mahon, Al Adamson, Ray Dennis Steckler, Ted Mikels and many other horrible film directors of the era. Believe it or not, many of the films these folks made make the Ed Wood films look amazingly good! Surprisingly, PAGAN ISLAND was not that bad a film, though it became obvious the real reason this film was made was to get away with showing sexy women's breasts back in 1961. That's because the film was set on a Polynesian island (even though the women looked very European in descent). But, to get by local censors, Mahon had the ladies wear leis over their boobs. Of course they occasionally "accidentally" showed a boobie here and there--though it was also funny watching some of the more prudish ladies holding the leis across their chests! As far as the plot goes, it's about a guy who is shipwrecked and happens upon an island entirely inhabited by bare-chested women all under age 25. While they explained that the men are on another island, I don't know why there are no kids or oldsters--one of those mysteries in life you'll just need to accept, otherwise you'll stay up all night.At first, the man is taken prisoner as the women have long believed that white men are bad. But, when he gets free and saves the ladies, he's given anything...ANYTHING he wants. I think you are supposed to use your imagination here, as the guy does seem amazingly chaste. He also seems really stupid, as he can have any woman on the island except for one who is to be sacrificed to their god--so naturally you can guess which one he wants! If you really care about what happens next, give it a look--but it certainly isn't a "must-see".Overall, watchable and with decent acting from the male lead and a few of the women. Oddly, the queen (one of the important roles) seemed to have the most difficulty reading her lines. For Mr. Mahon, this is one of his better and more watchable films.

This is a movie you can come up with a number of alternate titles, including "Welcome to Island Anthrax!" "Did you say she was going to be the bride of the sea -gull?-" and "Man, you worship one pig-ugly god!"As you will surmise from the other reviews here, sailor Eddie Dew gets shipwrecked on an island which unfortunately has no listing on Expedia. Supposedly the all-female inhabitants are Polynesian, but both their skin color, figures and hair styles will make you think of early '60s co-ed cuties from someplace like USC - which indeed, the "actresses" probably were.Almost immediately one of the girls show him to "his" hut (and he didn't even have to make reservations!). When the queen tells him that there is going to a festival tonight I am thinking: this guy's luck just doesn't quit.However, the purpose of the festival seems to be to get their guest drunk, so they can hog tie him and prep him for execution the next night. Bummer. But what's this? Five other guys, apparently from the Negroes in Diapers Tribe (there's no other way to describe them), are paddling this way. The populace is terrified, so the queen lets prospective sacrificee Nani Maka cut Eddie down so he can grab his .38 and, in a bit of John Wayne marksmanship, drop all five at thirty paces without having to use the 'spare' bullet. He's a hero, and gets to have the run of the women there with the exception of the aforementioned Nani. Most guys would be content with that, but Eddie? Nooooo! So the Sea Gull - er, Sea God, is going to be angry. You have to wonder, why is it so many gods don't do -anything- except get angry?One also wonders about these girls; if they didn't like Eddie because he was white, and don't like these black guys either, well who do they deign to couple with?A lot of the reviews have laid into the girl who plays the queen, Trine Hovelsrud, some of whom didn't think much of her looks. Okay, she reads her lines off a cue card in a monotone, but with a name like that English was probably not her first language. And I disagree about her looks. She had a pretty Queen Next Door face, an appealing bob (there had to be a hair salon somewhere that we don't see) and the best legs on the island.This, and "Fiend of Dope Island," make a peerless double bill for late Saturday night trash viewing and fodder for your internal Crow T. Robot. Rent them.

Edward Dew is shipwrecked on an island populated by topless beauties that pray and sacrifice to a big fish-like sea god. They first want to kill Dew because the "white man is bad." Soon; however, Dew changes their minds by an act of heroism and promises to not make advances toward the one girl promised to the sea god for sacrifice. Naturally, Dew, with a bevy of bra-less beauties abounding, chooses the one girl he can't have and that plot strand begins a quick resolution to his and her problem. Sounds fishy, but true! Pagan Island is one of those so-bad-it's-good movies that really surprised me. The acting is God awful, the action almost non-existent, and the dialog does not get any more inane then in this one. The girls are primarily "white" so it is somewhat odd that such a fuss is made at Dew as he could easily be most of the girls' brother. The top non-acting award must go to Trine Hovelsrud(she is just brimming with Polynesian flair right? Yeah you bet!)as the queen of the island with the worst dialog. She made me wince a time or two, but have no fear as most male viewers will never give their full attention as they are probably trying to see what hangs and sways under all the leis that the girls wear. Maybe that is why I am a little lenient on this film, but it was funny and therefore entertaining, and as an added bonus very short. As for the sea god, the statue looks ridiculous - I wouldn't want to blow the big surprise at the end. I really was surprised with the sea god at the end. The director, producers, and all accountable really went all out with it.