Humongous (1982) review

HUMONGOUS 1982

Janet Julian (Sandy Ralston), David Wallace (Eric Simmons), John Wildman (Nick Simmons), Janit Baldwin (Carla Simmons), Joy Boushel (Donna Blake), Lane Coleman (Bert Defoe), Shay Garner (Ida Parsons), Page Fletcher (Tom Rice),  Garry Robbins (Monster)

Directed by Paul Lynch

The Short Version: Much better than Lynch's petite PROM NIGHT (1979), his HUMONGOUS horror film feels like an unacknowledged remake of Joe D'Amato's ANTHROPOPHAGOUS (1980); and with a similar sounding title to boot. If you've seen FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981) and the excellent proto-slasher, TOWER OF EVIL (1972), you may experience some deja vu there, too. An immense portion of this Canadian small fry slasher's running time is gobbled up with lengthy scenes of people walking around while the prodigious psychopath makes infrequent appearances. The presentation on the Scorpion Releasing DVD allows you to finally see what's actually going on; and, in its uncut version, yields some surprisingly potent moments. Still, in the annals of the genre, HUMONGOUS remains little more than half-pint horror.

In 1946 Ida Parsons is raped by her boyfriend while attending her father's party at their island lodge. One of her dogs gets out of its cage and mortally wounds the attacker. Ida finishes him off, but she is left both emotionally scarred and pregnant. Decades later, a group of friends set sail aboard a yacht for a weekend getaway. After a careless accident destroys the vessel, the passengers end up stranded on the fog-enshrouded Dog Island. It's sole inhabitant rumored to be the reclusive Ida Parsons, the young adults attempt to find help but ultimately stumble upon a horrific secret in the form of a 7ft disfigured maniac.

After PROM NIGHT (1980), Paul Lynch wanted to direct another horror movie; the result was HUMONGOUS, a less than impressive sophomore outing to a film that was even less remarkable save for the participation of Jaime Lee Curtis. According to Lynch, while waiting for HUMONGOUS to begin filming, he came close to helming a thriller with Charlton Heston and his son. Preferring to wait it out for his own horror project to begin shooting, Lynch passed on the Heston offer, claiming it had no story and reminded him--of all things--ALIEN (1979). That film, MOTHER LODE (1982), ended up being directed by Charlton Heston himself, and was the closest the iconic Tough Guy came to producing a horror picture.

Beginning on a powerfully bleak note, the HUMONGOUS pacing quickly becomes sluggish, taking a long time to get to the island where the cast are given quite the workout; walking from one location to the next. More walking ensues as the cast takes what seems like forever to find the clues that piece together the backstory of who was, and is, on this God-forsaken atoll. Meanwhile, the monster infrequently stalks, but never slashes, these island intruders; this seven-foot freakshow prefers to use his hands--killing dogs and humans alike.

Garry Robbins, who plays the colossal killer, would act in a similar capacity in 2003s excellent backwoods slasher throwback, WRONG TURN (2003). We never get a clear look at him; and the one time we do, it's after he's been consumed by fire, leaving his face resembling a burnt grilled cheese sandwich. Some of his scenes are greatly enhanced by Brian R.R. Hebb's often moody cinematography... especially since you can now see what's going on during the night-time sequences. The photography is arguably the film's greatest asset.

The young adults in this one are all fairly resourceful with only one of them being massively obnoxious. Nowadays, virtually the entire cast in these movies are insufferable. The final girl (played by American actress Janet Julian), like a handful of others at the time, breaks tradition by having sex. Unfortunately, her character isn't all that interesting. Joy Boushel, who buys the farm a little past the halfway mark, delivers a perkier performance. Still, genre fans don't watch these types of movies for character development, they watch them for the horror and gore; and HUMONGOUS is lukewarm in those departments as well.

Paige Fletcher, who plays the rapist in the opening sequence, went on to become THE HITCHHIKER, the popular 80s adult thriller series that ran for six seasons between 1983-1991.

One other thing the film does well is it's history of Ida Parsons via a series of photographs over the opening credits; and again in a scrapbook found in her house on Dog Island. What is lacking is a flashback, or some dialog linking Ida's love for her dogs to her deformed, enraged son who has killed and eaten them all. It's there, if ambiguous. The overall presentation of the killer offspring is little more than your average backwoods slasher.

 
One film that HUMONGOUS seems to channel--whether intentional or not--is Joe D'Amato's ANTHROPOPHAGUS (1980). In that one, vacationers are stranded on a Greek Isle and run afoul of a giant cannibal played by George Eastman; who has killed and devoured everyone save for an old woman. D'Amato's movie is superior in building tension, but both films have pacing problems;the one's in HUMONGOUS are particularly enormous.

Lynch's obscure entry in the slasher canon hasn't had a great reputation with either fans or critics due mainly to the aforementioned, painfully dark photography as presented on its videocassette release in the 1980s. When it played on HBO the version aired was much clearer. This current release from Kino/Scorpion is a vast improvement on the film's previous home video releases (as you can see from the screencaps). Combined with the easier-on-the-eyes picture quality and a complete version (from a tape master), the experience of viewing HUMONGOUS is far more satisfying for the few attributes it maintains.

This review is representative of the Kino Lorber/Scorpion Releasing DVD. Specs and Extras: 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen; Katarina's Nightmare Theater Mode; audio commentary with director Lynch, writer William Gray, horror historian Nathaniel Thompson, moderated by Katarina Waters; R-rated opening scene; original trailer; additional trailers; running time: 01:33:55

Blastfighter (1984) review

 

BLASTFIGHTER 1984 aka FORCE OF VENGEANCE

Michael Sopkiw (Tiger Sharp), George Eastman (Tom), Valentina Forte (Connie), Ottaviano Dell'Acqua (Matt), Michele Soavi (Pete)

Directed by Lamberto Bava (as John Old, Jr.)

The Short Version: Another Italian mishmash, this one combining elements of DELIVERANCE, THE DEER HUNTER, DEATH WISH and FIRST BLOOD. The script and direction are unusually good when dealing with the leads, but less so once the action takes over during the last half. The transition from exposition to violence isn't seamless and the film fails to fully exploit the moody and magnificent exteriors captured by Gianlorenzo Battaglia's camera. Still, compared with other Italian exploitationers of this era, Bava's revenge thriller is a BLAST.

After serving eight years in prison for killing the man that murdered his wife, Jake 'Tiger' Sharp, a former Atlanta, GA cop, has the opportunity to assassinate the lawyer that put him away. Given a special riot gun that can do just about anything, Tiger instead decides to put killing behind him and heads for the quiet of the wilderness. The solace is short-lived when his daughter he hasn't seen in years shows up and tries to have a father-daughter relationship again. However, local cretins won't allow Tiger to live peacefully and he's forced to fight back.

Italians were aces at culturally appropriating intrinsically American film styles like the Western; and they attempt to do the same thing for Southern Gothics with a movie bearing a title that sounds like one of their cheap SciFi knockoffs. If ever a film's title seemed misplaced in categorizing its content it's BLASTFIGHTER. Compared to other Euro-clones of this era, Bava Jr's US-lensed actioner is surprisingly polished when compared to works of his colleagues. If only they could've gotten somebody to write dialog that sounded like things that Americans would say.

The dubbed dialog offers many opportunities for unintended laughs via the dubbers going way overboard in attempting southern accents. Luca and Massimo De Rita's script is strong but undone by the villainous caricatures. What could've been a serious, dramatic exploitation picture, ends up a comic book; nothing wrong with that, of course; only Bava manages some powerful, visceral moments that yield to standard action cliches wrought by exaggerated hillbilly portrayals of all your finer Drive-in mountain man movies.

Michael Sopkiw's character is well defined and given plenty of time to brood and simmer before cutting him loose in the explosion-filled finale. Not only is he a man who lost eight years of his life over avenging his wife's death, he simply wishes to be left alone. Retreating to Atlanta, Georgia where the crime took place (probably not the best idea), he is quickly accosted by rampaging rednecks with nothing better to do with their time.

During this section of the film, we learn Sopkiw's character has great affection for animals, even going so far as to keep a fawn as a pet. The foreshadowing is obvious as to the fate of said fawn. Things are further complicated when his daughter enters the picture, hoping to have the relationship with her father denied her during her early years. Watch for an abundance of product placement during these early scenes! These portions of the film are rich in exposition; and it would've been extremely beneficial had the incidents leading up to the finale been granted a few more additional minutes. 

For instance, Jake Sharp's prison dilemma is mostly glossed over, giving the viewer a 'Cliff's Notes' version. The man that killed his wife is the gay lover of the attorney that put him away. Exploring this avenue further--one that plays like a mini-giallo--would've given Jake's conflict with human violence more poignancy in the later scenes. Still, Lamberto Bava has fashioned some commendable work here.

Bava's movie combines a number of elements from various movies such as FIRST BLOOD (1982); much like Stallone's iconic John Rambo, Sopkiw's Jake Sharp just wants to be left the hell alone. The finale is reminiscent of the classic 80s actioner as well. Sopkiw's dress at the end recalls Charles Bronson's attire in DEATH WISH 2 (1981). Other scenes evoke THE DEER HUNTER (1978), and especially DELIVERANCE (1972); probably the film's second biggest influence. Bava and crew shot some of the film in the same locales as the Boorman classic and even hired that film's young banjo player, Billy Redden.

That great ape, George Eastman, is co-starring once again; this time playing a quasi-bad guy. He hated the movie (as evidenced during his scathing interview), but gets to play a conflicted character this time out, as opposed to his usual cartoon villain. Torn between his friend (Sopkiw's Jake Sharp) and his psychotic brother, he knows that eventually he will have to bury one or the other. Eastman may disregard these movies he made, but he does well with this role; a highlight of his exploitation career.

Gianlorenzo Battaglia's photography is one of the film's strongest assets. Bava may not capitalize on using the environment to further a sense of dread, but Battaglia's camera gives us some haunting shots and sprawling vistas of nature. 

Code Red's bluray is another stunner, and comes equipped with an array of interviews. Unfortunately, the person in charge of subtitles once more crams too many of them onscreen at once... and again the last interview (with DP Battaglia) the font size decreases. Eastman's interview is the most eye-opening one on the disc; mainly because he nonchalantly trashes not only the film but Bava as well. Both uncomfortable and funny at the same time, Eastman seems bewildered that anyone would be interested in these movies.

Fabio Frizzi's score is unmistakably Italian and feels terribly out of place considering the southern setting. 'Evening Star' is a catchy country tune you hear a few times during the picture. Written by the Gibbs of Bee Gees fame, the song was originally orated by Kenny Rogers and released in June of 1984. Instead of licensing Kenny's version some singer named Tommie Baby covers it; and it's a nice version as well.

If you're a fan of the films BLASTFIGHTER homages, or hixploitation in general, you'll most likely enjoy Bava's action-packed interpretation. Distinctly Italian, it never completely feels like a genuine Southern Fried Gothic, but a good assimilation crammed full of this genres brand of southern (in)hospitality.

This review is representative of the Code Red bluray. Specs and Extras: New HD master; 1080p 1.78:1; audio commentary with Michael Sopkiw; interviews with Michael Sopkiw, George Eastman, Lamberto Bava and DP Giolorenzo Battaglia; running time: 01:29:34