Temptation Island (1980) by Regal Films is a cult classic. Whenever people ask me what my guilty pleasure of a Pinoy flick is, this one always comes out on top. And why not? It’s a campy, funny and altogether delightful movie about beauty queens stranded on a deserted island. Add to that the presence of three sexy men in the mix plus one loud-mouth gay pageant socialite & a dumb maid and voila! This Joey Gosiengfiao-directed film was such a joy to watch over and over again.

The original cast included Dina Bonnevie (as Dina Espinola), Jennifer Cortez (as Suzanne Reyes), Bambi Arambulo (as Bambi Belisario), Azenith Briones (as Azenith Tobias), Deborah Sun (as the maid Maria), Ricky Belmonte (as Ricardo), Alfie Anido (as Umberto), Domingo Sabado (as Umberto) and Jonas Sebastian (as Joshua, the pageant chaperone).

Memorable parts I can distinctly remember were a fantasy scene in the high sands where the ladies were shown licking a gigantic ice cream cone to cool off the heat and a cannibalistic sequence where they had to eat the flesh of a dead companion to survive.

Let me help you reminisce a bit about the original Temptation Island via this video:

video courtesy of purrfani

This year, Regal Entertainment has decided that it’s high time for a remake of Temptation Island and I sincerely hope that they come up with an equally entertaining version that can even eclipse the original.

So far, the names circulating in the grapevine to be part of the cast are Marian Rivera, Heart Evangelista, Lovi Poe and Solenn Heussaff (for the roles of the beauty queens), Pokwang (for the role of the maid), Jake Cuenca and Aljur Abrenica (for the roles of Alfredo and Umberto, respectively) and John Lapus (for the Joshua role). I’m still unsure as to who might play the Ricky Belmonte part, but Zoren Legaspi would be a good choice for the same.

Now if I had to do some matches for the 4 leading ladies, Marian should do Azenith. Heart should do Dina. Lovi should do Suzanne, with Solenn for Bambi. Wouldn’t that be just perfect?

If you were a teener during the 80s, you will definitely be familiar with Temptation Island. Otherwise, believe me when I say that this should be a very interesting remake if done right. 😉