Humongous

      When someone mentions slasher films from the 1980's, most people instantly think of Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger. But there's actually many slashers from 1980 to 1984 that made virtually no impact upon their initial release, but slowly found a fandom through repeated viewings on HBO and on video cassette. HUMONGOUS was one of those films that disappeared overnight in theaters, but was introduced to many, including myself, via HBO. It was released on video, but it was such a terrible copy you honestly couldn't make heads or tails of it. Thanks to SCORPION RELEASING, HUMONGOUS is finally available and watchable, and boy is it a world of difference.

     HUMONGOUS is actually a pretty decent slasher. I mean, what's not to love about a group of bad acting 80's kids stranded on creepy Dog Island where a lone woman was brutally raped and had a child out of rage and became a weird recluse on the island with all her dogs and gave birth to a horribly deformed boy who grew up to be a scary killer and hunts down the bad acting 80's kids one by one in time-honored slasher fashion?

     HUMONGOUS is presented uncut here- the opening rape scene has added footage, and it's even more disturbing that it was years ago. Yay! Disturbing rape scene aside, there's lots to savor in this flick. Mysterious islands are always fun, hell even Fantasy Island was a hoot. And deformed kids growing up to be murderous psychopaths is a staple of many a classic slasher of the era.

      This film follows the guide book and does it right. I lovingly lump this one in with FRIDAY THE 13TH, THE BURNING, APRIL FOOL'S DAY, JUST BEFORE DAWN, SLEEPAWAY CAMP, THE FINAL TERROR, and MADMAN- all slashers with a woodsy feel ya know, and I love every single one of 'em. Something about these woodsy slashers resonate with me, and thankfully enough people cared about this lost little slasher to bring it back to life so we can enjoy it the way it was meant to be seen. It truly looks smashing.