Lights. Camera. Action. Hey what happen to the lights? "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. Purposely done for that reason or not, it could have been executed much better. Especially if it was catered for the fact of hiding the monster (as there was a main focus on the heavy-breathing POV shots leering on its victims and the constant wailing that was pulled off rather effectively), which wouldn't bother me but it was simply hard to care at times when you just can't see what's 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"). While simple in its long build-up, it tried to be deep in its context (especially the whole Scooby gang doing some investigating) and Lynch was obviously trying for moody suspense than anything really exploitative (despite the opening rape scene). Maybe that's more so a budget restraint as its cheaply projected, but the atmospherics (the island setting) worked despite not always managing to sustained tension due to pitch black confusion. An unhinged electronic score keeps that brooding tone, which definitely can get under your skin. 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. A lot of the scenes which were hard to make out on VHS, are clear as day, which enhances the viewing experience.
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"). While simple in its long build-up, it tried to be deep in its context (especially the whole Scooby gang doing some investigating) and Lynch was obviously trying for moody suspense than anything really exploitative (despite the opening rape scene). Maybe that's more so a budget restraint as its cheaply projected, but the atmospherics (the island setting) worked despite not always managing to sustained tension due to pitch black confusion. An unhinged electronic score keeps that brooding tone, which definitely can get under your skin. 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. A lot of the scenes which were hard to make out on VHS, are clear as day, which enhances the viewing experience.