In this past year, we’ve seen a few horror flicks that try to bring out the dark side of otherwise pretty mundane things (very badly in most cases)—the most recent of which was Stay Alive and its attempt to bring a sinister edge to playing video games. We thought this was already scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of looking for something terrifying as it is, but then along came Isolation with its evil monster—a cow. No, we’re not joking. Given, the bovine in question is a hideous genetically altered mutant cow, but still…
A scientist (Marcel Iures, Goal!) has been conducting strange experiments on the cows in an isolated farm in rural Ireland. When things go horribly awry, the farm’s owner (John Lynch, Sliding Doors), the hired vet (Essie Davis, The Matrix Revolutions), and a pair of drifting young fugitives (Sean Harris, Creep and Ruth Negga, Breakfast on Pluto) become prey to a horrible freak of nature.
And we’re not just talking about the plot here, although the very idea itself is pretty ridiculous. What’s worse is that it’s not like Isolation even has the accidental campy charm of other such B-grade, crappy creature flicks like the stupidly fun Frankenfish. No, Isolation is one of those shows that actually attempt to be serious, but just comes off being plain bad. Even the goriness, which is fairly light, can’t save this one.
Giving credit where it’s due though, we have to hand it to writer-director Billy O’Brien (in his feature film debut)—he definitely knows how to set the mood enough to give a creepy vibe at the start of the show. But as things go on, there really isn’t anything that will keep you awake—let alone at the edge of your seat. The actors, oddly enough, give performances that are actually pretty decent. It’s just too bad that all that talent was wasted on this pointlessness.
All in all, Isolation is best left at bay.