There was a time when Adult Swim was must see viewing for me. I’d burn DVD-Rs of the late-night block so I could rewatch episodes when I was wide awake. I could also loan them out to friends who had to work on a Monday morning. The outrageous plots of the animated shows worked for me. Sure the animation was rough, but that didn’t matter to me. I don’t have to be given Disney level artistry to feel entertained. The animated Isla Monstro has that same feeling of those shows and includes the voice of Dana Snyder (Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force). The film is features freakish characters, a crazy location and ultimately dripping in weirdness.
Duke the Daunting (James Schrader) takes the stage on a cruise ship ready to dazzle the crowd with his magic tricks. However the tricks begin to unravel. Worse than the boos is the arrival of management who grab Duke. Turns out he was never hired to be the magician. They thought he’d be thrown off for his previous attempt hold a position on the boat. Duke is desperate to work since one of his previous jobs was drug dealing. Turns out he owes his Scarface loving connection a lot of money and payback is around the corner. Before he can figure out his next career path, Duke finds himself overboard from the cruise ship. Nobody seems to care about rescuing him. Luckily instead of being shark bait, Duke washes up on an island. But it’s not just any remote tropical island. This was the home of Fort Montana. The secret military facility was in the process of making freakish gene mutated super soldiers. Duke finds himself met by the sluggy Sam (Half Baked‘s Harland Williams). He takes him to meet the other mutants that live on the abandoned base. This includes the not quite as mutated as the others Diana (Arrow‘s Juliana Harkavy), the creatures from the not as black lagoon Reggie (Buffy The Vampire Slayer‘s James Marsters), a floating eyeball known as Dr. Oculus (Pinky and The Brain‘s Maurice LaMarche) and more. In order to get a sense of what went on, Duke watches a vintage army film hosted by Vincent Price that explains the mysterious island base. This leads Duke to come up with an amazing idea: turn the base into a resort for tourists who want to stay one a “secret” island full of mutants. In order to get the word out, his new pals make a series of Tik Tok videos that lure in a pack of influencers. The bad part is that this also alerts the US military to the fact that the base is still active after 40 years. How is Duke going to get out of debt if the military is spoiling his guests’ experiences?
I like that Isla Monstro has the same feel of the early episodes of the Adult Swim series Sealab 2021. The characters don’t move too much on the screen. They’re like paper puppets. Not being overly animated works since a majority of the laughs come from dialogue. There is a bit of visual strangeness during a love scene between two mutants. That moment even has a love theme that points out things that would be telling if I mentioned them. The best character design is Duke since looks like a down on his luck Steven Universe who had to sell his star t-shirt. The pacing of the dialogue and plot moves at a proper clip. Isla Monstro reminds us to avoid converted resorts for your vacation needs.
The Video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The 1080p image looks great for the animated images. The Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo. You’ll be able to hear Dana Snyder’s voice cleanly. The movie is subtitled.
Filmmaker Commentary includes Steven Shea, James Schrader and Rob Reider. They get into how they tried to make everything on the island be from the ’80s beyond the VHS store.
How We Made An Indie Animated Feature Supercut (48:54) has Steven Shea showing off his office. This was a weekly series that explained how he made the film with only 12 people (minus the voice cast). He started the film during the pandemic. He taught himself animation while stuck at home. He originally developed TV shows. Isla Monstro was originally a series, but had no bites. James Schrader was his college roomie. He is the face of Dr. Squatch soap. He explains how to make a movie on shoestring. Take his advice and make your own movie.
Deleted Scenes includes 5 moments that didn’t make it including the original ending.
Gag Reel (14:38) has an animated version of the cast flubs in the sound booth.
Comic-Con Panel (50:58) has Steven Share, James Schrader, Juliana Harkavy, Andrew Gower, Gigi Edgley, Matt Zunich, Atif Meyers, and composer Rob Reider. James and Steven talk about the weirdness of making an animation film.
Nightmare Weekend Panel (51:31) is from Cleveland. This is a Galaxycon production. Steven Shea talks with the moderator. Turns out Steven does stuff for Galaxycon and did a documentary called Surviving Supercon.
Teaser (0:54) is a commercial for the “resort.”
Trailer (1:53) has Duke wake up on the island.
The Love Theme From Isla Monstro Sing-A-Long Music Video (2:36) makes it look like MTV aired it. This is from the love scene. Don’t watch this until you’ve seen the movie.
Abyssmal Entertainment presents Isla Monstro (Collector’s Edition). Directed by Steven Shea. Screenplay by James Schrader & Steven Shea. Starring the voices of James Schrader, Juliana Harkavy, Harland Williams, James Marsters, Spencer Grammer, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Dana Snyder, LeeAnna Vamp, Will Friedle, J. LaRose & Barry Bostwick. Running Time: 96 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: June 30, 2026.
