Humongous

Plot synopsis:
It is Labor Day weekend, 1946. Young, virginal Ida Parsons innocuously plays as her father hosts a raucous party. Amid the festivities, an older, drunken man named Tom Rice staggers outside and propositions Ida. When she refuses, he chases her into the woods and brutally rapes her; her dogs break out of their pen and they attack and fatally maul Ida's rapist.
The film flashes forward to 1982. Preppy brothers Eric and Nick are borrowing their father's yacht to take their girlfriends, Sandy and Donna, on a weekend outing along with their sister, Carla. At the outset of the trip. As the tensions rise between Nick and Eric, Donna and Sandy engage in girl-talk, and geeky Carla silently laments that she is the sole member of the cruise who came along without a significant other.
That night, fog settles in; Eric and Nick, hearing cries out on the water, discover and rescue a shipwrecked fisherman named Bert. Bert informs them that he wrecked offshore Dog Island, the home of lumber baroness Ida Parsons, who has used her family fortune to hole herself up on the island for the past thirty-five years; only making two annual voyages onto the mainland for necessary supplies, and never speaking to anyone during these trips. Recovering from the onset of hypothermia, Bert tells the quintet a campfire story about the savagery of the wild dogs which roam Ida's island, acting as her sentries. Wrecking their boat after Nick, in a panic, attempts to steer the boat back to the mainland.
Donna, Eric, Sandy, Nick, and Bert wash up on Dog Island; Bert has been seriously wounded, and Carla is nowhere to be found. Nick wanders off into the woods, and is subsequently killed by a hulking figure that breaks down the shed where Nick hides. The next morning, Sandy and Eric go off onto the island, hoping that Ida Parsons will help them get back to the mainland. Shortly after they leave the beach, Bert goes into shock, and Donna desperately tries to warm him by stripping to the waist and lying topless across his shirtless torso. Seconds later, the same figure which killed Nick sneaks up behind Donna and Bert, fatally hurling Donna against a rock wall and decapitating Bert.
At the center of the island, Sandy and Eric discover Ida's fortified cabin, as well as the fact that all of Ida's dogs have died long ago, their mutilated skeletons lying in their pens. In Ida's boathouse, the duo discover Carla alive hiding under a tarp; she apparently washed up at another point on the beach and made it to the compound in the middle of the night.
In the course of exploring Ida's compound, Eric, Sandy and Carla discover a dust-covered nursery full of antique toys, and a cobweb-covered crib; they also discover Ida Parson's diary, which contains insane, rambling passages about giving birth to a sick child, which she intends to keep sinless by secluding him from all the evils of the outside world. As they continue exploring the house, Sandy comes across Ida's skeletal corpse, positioned in repose in her bedroom. The group decides to collect supplies and head back to the shore to collect the rest of their party so they can formulate an escape from the island in Ida's old rowboat. While exploring the basement, they discover the corpses of Nick and Donna and flee to the beach in a panic.
Eric and Sandy deduce that Ida Parson's son was the one behind the murders, left insane by his life of solitude under the care of the imbalanced Ida; with nothing to do but learn from Ida and explore the wilderness, he's become immensely strong, a capable tracker and hunter, and is thoroughly convinced that all outsiders are a threat to him and his mother. With the death of Ida, he was left without any basis for reality, and ended up eating the dogs to survive.
Eric and Sandy go back to the house and get the matches that Sandy dropped earlier. Ida's son attacks, breaking down the door. Eric attempts to fight using a broken branch, but the mutant grapples with him and fatally breaks Eric's back; once it has killed Eric, it turns it attention to Sandy and chases her upstairs into his mother's bedroom, where Sandy wraps a blanket around her head and, playing Ida, convinces the mutant to leave his mother's bedroom. But when Sandy leaves the room, the mutant is there and pursues Sandy out of the house and to the boathouse. Sandy runs headlong into Carla at the boathouse and the mutant, close behind, grabs Carla and crushes her face and kills her. Sandy manages to lure the man into Ida's boathouse, which she sets on fire; Ida's son is severely burned in the blaze, but still manages to leap from the water and attack Sandy, chasing her up a hill where she yanks a sharp signpost from the ground and impales the mutant with it. As he dies, we finally see his burned and deformed face.
Traumatized by the death of her friends and the murder she has been forced to commit, Sandy sits alone on Ida's dock, strongly resembling a scarred and traumatized Ida.

Tags: cult, revenge, murder, violence

Review:
And there's an obvious Canadian feel to both films.The beginning of HUMONGOUS is brutal and sets up the familiar story-line of a gruesome incident which happened in the past that will affect a subsequent generation.
But like many have mentioned already, many scenes during the night are EXTREMELY dark and it's difficult at times to know exactly what's going on.
As annoying as the dark scenes were, I believe this was done deliberately, not because the film is a low budget movie and they couldn't afford lighting but because that's what the director wanted.
In a movie theater, after watching scenes that happen mostly in the dark, a quick shot of a bright image creates tension and actually hurts the eyes.
The monster's appearances during those brief scenes of brightness must have been startling in a dark theater.The acting is mostly serviceable but the last three survivors, Janit Baldwin (the girl with the glasses), David Wallace (the blond guy) and Janet Julian (the last girl) are much better than your average slasher actor.
As a real horror film, it's definitely more successful than Lynch's other horror opus, PROM NIGHT, and a good portion of other slashers made in the same period and those made today, like I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, which was obviously inspired by this film..
It's predictable, to be sure, but directed with more skill than you'd expect, with a score that reminded me (in a good way) of Italian horror movies of the period, and a cute, fairly smart heroine in Janet Julian.
Eric (David Wallace), Nick (John Wildman), Donna (Joy Boushel), Carla (Janit Baldwin), and Sandy (Janet Julian) are in deep, dangerous waters when they come across Bert (Lane Coleman) stranded on a lifeboat.
When Nick goes looking for her and doesn't return, the gang begin to realise that there is something far more sinister than a group of mutts or an elderly lady lurking in the dense forest that surrounds them...As where PROM NIGHT owed more than a touch of inspiration to HALLOWEEN, Lynch's second effort looks as if it's more influenced by backwoods slashers such as THE BURNING or FRIDAY THE 13th.
It's certainly no masterpiece,not even of the slasher genre,but it's quite interesting and better than quite a few of the other,similar films released around that time.It opens with a brutal rape,and it almost gets the movie off on the wrong foot as although not that graphic it's hard to watch.
As has often been said before,the film is too dark,but some of the photography is pretty good,which makes one wonder if the darkness was a deliberate experiment which didn't quite come off.This movie was obviously {well,in the versions I've seen} heavily cut,during the killings we cut away just before we think we'll going to see something nasty.
The climactic scenes are pretty exciting though and even though you still don't get much of a look at the monster,this is actually quite effective.There's a underlying element of sadness to Humongous which is provided by the film's back story,and it's perhaps this which most sticks in the mind.
A prologue of "Humongous" is set in 1946.It shows a rich guy throwing a party on the island,in which his daughter was raped by her drunken boyfriend,who is then eaten by dogs.Nearly thirty years later some unlucky teens are trapped on an island with a 7-foot humongous creature with a taste for human blood.Unjustly trashed by almost everybody "Humongous" is actually one of the best Canadian horror films I have ever seen.I enjoyed it much better than slightly overrated "Prom Night".Sure,the film is dimly-lit and we don't really see the creature at all,but there is enough suspense to keep slasher fans entertained."Humongous" is not as gory as "Antropophagus" or "The Slayer",but if you enjoy watching murky slasher flicks from early 80's give it a chance.9 out of 10..
you'll always have some dumb kids who just happen to be too nosy for their own good stumble on a DESERTED island (gee, how original *sigh*) and drink too much and start doing stuff they shouldn't.I think I'd have had more pity for the monster if he wasn't put in such dreary lighting conditions (how do you expect to be scared by something you can't see that well?!?!) The only thing I did enjoy from this film was the ending, because that meant it was over.
a killer on an island; dark scenes at night; not bad, but definitely derivative.
He tells them about the island they are near, where a crazy old lady lives with lots of dogs.The psycho brother decides he wants to try driving the boat at night, though they had anchored already.
As this guy's a bit degenerated from the beginning, no one even his own brother don't even try to stop him and could they know what's out there  waiting) (Like Prom night the lighting is not so good but that's the pleasure.
Several decades later, a group of teens arrive on the island, but fall victim to a humongous, deformed mutant; the result of the rape.
Unfortunately, despite this one having many of the raw ingredients necessary for a hugely enjoyable slice of trashy 80s horror, it screws matters up with mundane direction, very dark photography, virtually no decent gore, and a creature that is hidden away in the shadows for most of the film.Humongous begins with a promising pre-credits sequence set in the 1940s, in which a young woman is raped on Labour Day by a drunken party-goer, who immediately gets his comeuppance when a dog rips him to shreds.The action then moves to the present day (ie., the early 80s), and sees five teenagers—Eric (David Wallace), his girlfriend Sandy (Janet Julian), nerdy sister Carla (Janit Baldwin), hot-headed brother Nick (John Wildman), and Nick's slutty squeeze Donna (Joy Boushel)—taking a trip on a lake in a motor cruiser.After becoming lost in a bank of fog, the group happens across a man named Bert stranded in a lifeboat, who warns them that they are approaching some dangerous rocks.
Bert's info, however, is not entirely correct: the old woman, who turns out to be the rape victim from the prologue, has recently died, and her dogs have been devoured by her hideously deformed son, who is on the loose on the island and still very hungry!The rest of the film sees the teens, and an injured Bert, being hunted and killed one-by-one by the ravenous monster; it's all par for the course, with the expected false scares, sudden deaths, the discovery of the creature's lair, and a scene blatantly cribbed from Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) in which final survivor Sandy tries to confuse the killer by masquerading as his mother.Although director Paul Lynch seems content to to deliver a by-the numbers product, the film does boast two marvellously tacky scenes that I feel are worthy of note: Donna the slut tries to warm up a shivering Bert by taking off her top and pressing her breasts against him; and Sandy falls backwards onto a mouldy corpse, which somehow becomes attached to her.
Then, comes the stupid plot about a group of stupid teenagers who destroy their own boat and become stranded on a deserted island only to be killed off by the monster.
I watched the movie enough times to get a good look at the grotesque monster, but couldn't.
In the current time, a group of teens head off to the island where this woman's story has become somewhat of a myth and once there they come under attack by a deformed monster.HUMONGOUS isn't the greatest horror film you're ever going to see but there's quite a bit to like here.
Director Paul Lynch was coming off the Canadian slasher PROM NIGHT when he did this picture and it's quite interesting to see how this pretty much avoids the various trappings that you'd expect from a horror film of this era.
The film contained some pretty good atmosphere and especially once we get to the island and the teens are wondering around in the dark.The performances are pretty good from the entire cast and they certainly make you like and care for the people.
Big,scary and ugly.all this takes place on an island.The only drawback on this film is lighting,because mostly shot in the dark,which does add an ominous aura.The acting is decent and the music is scary too,direction is great,Paul Lynch,Also also the director of Prom Night!Which was equally affective as this film.I liked this movie one of the one,s that will make you think can this really happen,like Friday The 13th.It,s a shame they stopped making movie,s like these,80,s is the best of the genre,and this was made in 1982.If your up to watch a tongue in cheek with light,s out horror movie this is one of them.
I liked the ambiguous title, and it has a great premise (a group of teens get stranded on a foggy island with a giant, retarded killer -- well, it's a great premise if you're someone like me), but the movie, itself, is kind of dull, and parts of it are so damn dark you can barely tell what's going on.
The best part is before the group even reaches Dog Island (so named for the roving hounds that bark and howl all over the shores and provide occasional food for the giant), when they're all just sitting in the boat a few yards from the shore, listening to the yips and howls of unseen dogs out in the foggy darkness.Lowlight:  The most likable character (and the best actor) of the bunch -- the cute, plucky smart-aleck kid sister with glasses played by Janit Baldwin -- is picked up by her face (I think) and mangled beyond recognition (possibly) and cruelly thrown aside so that the pretty, but poor-acting and unexciting, main heroine-girlfriend-model can save the day..
There's barely a story, basically the movie uses the typical killer stalking teenage victims slasher formula, except the teens are being killed on an island, and the killer, some kind of bigfoot-type creature that is part human, is hardly ever seen, and more than half the movie was shot so dark its hard to tell most of the time what the hell's going on.
"Humongous" turned out to be quite a frustrating experience since most of the film occurs within the dark (poorly lit exteriors within confinements or simply the night time sequences), which it was that pitch-black (even after adjusting the brightness on my TV) that made it hard to make out what was really going on.
Gladly they revert to using fire in the climatic scenes to brighten things up.Director Paul Lynch (who directed the 80s slasher "Prom Night") cooks up a raw, primitive if choppy as hell island backwoods survival deformed killer fable which has an engrossing back-story penned by William Gray (The Changeling "1980", Prom Night "1980" and "An Eye for An Eye").
The performances are acceptable enough (Janet Julian is rather good and Joy Boushel adds the spunk); rowdy teenagers and stupid actions.Fair if somewhat vanilla, but disappointing technical handling is what harms it.P.s. I recently watched the DVD version of the film and the print is great.
After the success of 1980's Prom Night, screenplay writer William Gray and director Paul Lynch teamed up once more to output another film in the genre, albeit lesser known, that could've counted as another hit for Canada if audiences could tell what was going on for more than 50% of it.The film opens in 1946 at a cocktail party – Ida Parsons is chased into the woods and raped by a drunken patron.
Fast forward 36 years into the 1980's - three siblings and a couple of friends head out on a boat trip only to experience trouble later that evening when they rescue a stranded sailor who warns them about Dog Island – a reclusive locale that houses a lonely old woman and her dogs.
While the night fog renders the coastline invisible and a disagreement between two of the siblings to complicate matters further, the ship runs aground and the troupe of younglings experience first-hard the terrors of Dog Island.This early Slasher is plagued with various issues throughout the film's duration; quite possibly the most glaring would be the quality.
had potential to be a pretty good horror flick but fails because of a lackluster script and it is kinda dull and you never do see the monsters because it is so damn dark and has a weak finale well it is worth catching on cable but do not pay for it ** out of 5 almost a *1/2if not for the decent acting.
To make a long story short, the friends crash their boat on the island, where they are stalked by a humongous monster.
The plot = In 1946 a woman is raped during a Labour Day party and gets pregnant, then fast forward 36 years later, a group of teens become stranded on Dog Island, where they witness something far worse than the killer attack dogs.I actually weren't that keen on this movie on first viewing, and then I viewed it a few more times and well let's just say that this movie has kind of grown on me over the years, this movie is actually very enjoyable.
and plus the gang starts to investigate the Island and split up and look for clues, which does hold my interest as the dig deeper and deeper into the islands secrets.But the biggest flaw in this movie is the terrible lighting, most of the suspenseful scenes way too dark to see what's happening and Some suspense is killed because the viewer knows more than the characters.
If you are more into modern slasher films, you are definitely not going to like this movie.
Next thing we know, it's 36 years later and a group of good-looking teenagers crash their boat on the island where the woman once lived.
"Humongous" is a really awesome 1982 horror film, the cast like Janet Julian(Sandy), Page Fletcher(Tom), and David Wallace(Eric) is really superb.The film starts out on Labor Day weekend in 1946 on an island owned by the Parsons family who are having a party.
Ida looks up in a blank stare.It is 36 years later, Eric Simmons is going boating with his brother Nick, sister Carla, and 2 female friends Sandy and Donna.
Carla runs really fast out the door, she runs to the beach and sees Bert's head floating in the water.Later that night, Eric and Sandy learn more and find out who it is that killed the dogs, and Nick, Donna, and Bert.
The boat house goes up in flames.Sandy is the only survivor of the island, she sits on the dock with the same face that Ida Parsons made 36 years ago.This film is really great, the only bad thing was that the movie was too dark, literally.
The horrible rape of a wealthy woman trying to resist a drunken male killed by her pet dog sets in motion the later plot where a group of college kids become stranded on a seemingly deserted island thanks to the troubled Nick(John Wildman)who is incredibly jealous of his more responsible, likable brother Eric(David Wallace)who seems to get the most attention of the lovely ladies than he does.
Some scenes, such as the monster's chasing Nick into a desecrated boat-house, are incomprehensible..you just wish someone with excellent skill at providing decent lighting(such as perhaps Dean Cundy)could've worked in the film because the plot is quite interesting.
This 1982 horror film begins with a young woman getting raped by a guy who then gets eaten by her dogs.
Director Paul Lynch also brought us the Canadian cutter Prom Night and here, he starts the action off with a bang: on Labor Day weekend 1946, a drunk (Page Fletcher, the title character from HBO's The Hitchhiker) rapes Ida Parsons at a party her rich father is throwing.
She is saved by her dogs, who attack the man before she smashes his brains out with a rock.36 years later, preppy bros Eric (David Wallace, Mazes and Monsters, Mortuary) and Nick are taking their father's yacht on a weekend getaway with their girlfriends, Sandy (Janet Julian, who was TV's Nancy Drew when Pamela Sue Martin left the series) and Donna (Joy Boushel, Terror Train) and their sister, Carla (Janit Baldwin, Gatorbait, Phantom of the Paradise).After a day of staring at girl's asses while feeling up other asses (this movie has more nudity in the first 11 minutes than nearly every movie that will come out this year), fog comes in and teh boys save a shipwrecked fisherman named Bert.
Stranded there they have to wait for help but it seems they are on the Parson island where some deformed monster stalks looking for food...This Canadian production was directed by Paul Lynch who is also credited with the title design & one has to say Humongous isn't an overly impressive film with which to spend ninety minutes of your life but by slasher standards it's not the worst example out there.
Gray seems to spend a lot of the time on the killers back-story & the teens working out the mystery, the problem is any seasoned slasher fan will be way ahead of both Gray & his character's.
Then it just became boooooring.This is a slasher movie where the killer had not one good kill!
Director Paul Lynch followed up his well known 1980 slasher movie "Prom Night" with this effective rural monster flick.
"Humongous" is a decent enough slasher film with some good points.**SPOILERS**Preparing for a sailing trip, Sandy Ralston, (Janet Julian) Eric Simmons, (David Wallace) his brother Nick, (John Wildman) and sister Carla, (Janit Baldwin) and Nick's girlfriend Donna Blake, (Joy Bushel) get together and sail off.