Paradise is a blatant rip-off of The Blue Lagoon. Only this time, instead of two youngsters discovering love on a desert isle, it’s two youngsters discovering love in a desert. As with The Blue Lagoon, the only reason the film exists is as a showcase for its young leading lady to go au natural. Both films are pretty terrible, but I have to give this one a slight edge, if only because I’m a big Phoebe Cates fan.
A nefarious sheik named The Jackal (Tuvia Tavi) spies the young Sarah (Cates) in a traveling caravan and decides he must have her for his harem. He and his soldiers raid the hapless travelers, killing everyone but Sarah and a young Christian pilgrim named David (Willie Aames), who escape to the desert on camelback. After wandering through the sand for a few days, they come to the idyllic shoreline where they build a home together. Eventually, the pair hit puberty and let nature take its course.
Written and directed by Stuart (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3) Gillard, Paradise is a mess. The first act is decent, but the wheels fall off quickly once Aames and Cates start playing Ken and Barbie in the Coconut Dream House. To make matters worse, the comic relief chimpanzee will get on your nerves real fast. The scene where it starts masturbating is rather dire, although with Cates walking around nude so much, I can’t say I blame him.
It’s kind of funny seeing Aames playing such a holier-than-thou Christian since he would eventually go on to become Bibleman. Cates, who also got nude in Fast Times at Ridgemont High from the same year, is the only real reason to watch it. Her shower in an underground waterfall is appropriately steamy, although I’m sure you could just watch that clip on Mr. Skin or something and spare yourself from sitting through the rest of this inane garbage.
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