Humongous

A group of youths shipwrecked on an ominous isle in the Great Lakes

In northern Lake Michigan two conflicting brothers take their girlfriends and sister on a trip in their father’s yacht to St. Martin Island, but wind up in the fog on “Dog Island.” The mysterious isle is the home of a reclusive lumber baroness and guarded by a pack of German shepherds. Will they make it out alive?

“Humongous” (1982) is an artistic horror flick with slasher elements obviously influenced by Joe D’Amato’s “Anthropophagus” from a couple of years earlier, along with bits from “The Shuttered Room” (1967), “A Bay of Blood” (1971) and “Friday the 13th, Part 2” (1981). Disregarding the lousy title, this is pretty much in the same league and is arguably the most arty with a quality score that recalls Pink Floyd’s eerie material from the 70s, like “Dogs” and “Us and Them,” mixed with a little of Carmine & Francis Coppola’s score from “Apocalypse Now” (1979).

Director Paul Lynch’s previous film was “Prom Night” (1980), but this is superior. The nighttime sequences needed to be better lit, which everyone complains about, but this isn’t a problem if you view a quality version, like the Blu-ray. While the midsection takes its time and critics understandably object to it as slow-moving, the flick makes up for it one way or another, particularly the creepy ambiance.

Shapely redhead Joy Boushel is a highlight on the female front as Donna and the director doesn’t fail to capture her beauty on camera in a (mostly) tasteful manner. While Janit Baldwin plays the nerdy little sister, she was actually 28 during shooting and older than the two brothers by 5-7 years. She also was attractive in a unique, winsome way as observed in “Gator Bait” (1973) and the Columbo episode “Swan Song” (1974). Janet Julian as Sandy is the main protagonist, but she’s the least of the three IMHO.

There’s a little Scooby-Doo influence, just without Scooby and the cartoonish amusement, which can be seen in the parallels of Eric representing Fred, Sandy as Daphne and Carla as Velma with Nick doing an angst-version of Shaggy. Donna and Bert could be viewed as guest stars.

The movie runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot at Sparrow Lake, Ontario, which is about a 55-minute drive north of Toronto, as well as Georgetown, which is just west of Toronto.

GRADE: B