Saturday, May 21, 2011

Humongous(1982) should be on DVD

I sat down this afternoon and watched my DVD-R of a 1982 slasher horror film called Humongous. I've been on a mission of sorts over the last few years to buy campy 80's slasher horror movies on DVD and would definitely buy this Paul Lynch directed movie if it was on official DVD...but it isn't, yet. I've seen some internet speculation that Scorpion is planning to release Humongous on official R1 DVD in either late 2011(October) or the spring of 2012. I sure hope so. Slasher horror film fans who have not seen this movie should. Is it a work of art? Absolutely not but it is, I think, considerably better than most reviews I've seen for this film on the web. Director Paul Lynch gets quite a few things right with this movie: the hulking man monster who stalks(and kills) the group of stranded young people on "Dog Island" is never fully revealed in appearance until near the end of the film which definitely adds a great element of mystery to the character. The use of shadows is done quite well by the director as well and the audio rendering of "Humongous" is very effective: the hulking man beast emits variations of dog like growls and roars which definitely add to the "creep" factor of this antagonist. The man monster is played by Garry Robbins, a seven foot, five inch tall Canadian actor-stuntman and "tallest man in Canada" who would later return as one of the crazed, deformed and inbred hillbillies commonly referred to as "Sawtooth" in the 2003 horror film Wrong Turn. Admittedly the acting in Paul Lynch's Humongous is pedestrian and the film itself borrows heavily from the "Friday The 13th" films. Still, I think Humongous(1982) is worth an official DVD release. Slasher horror fans should give this one a look: I think they'll be glad they did.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Growth spurt: Gnaw-Food Of The Gods 2(1989)

I've always been a huge fan of horror movies which feature giant animals on the loose. There are so many of them out there I'm not going to even begin trying to list those that I like. I will give some limited props to 1989's Gnaw - Food Of The Gods Part 2, a film which, like the 1976 movie Food Of The Gods, takes a look at what happens when various animals consume an experimental chemical which causes unchecked growth. Like the '76 film, Gnaw-Food Of The Gods Part 2 employs rats, and lots of them, as the film's proverbial "bad guys". These rodents consume tomatoes that have been fertilized with a scientist's experimental growth concoction. The rats, after attacking a group of students engaged in trying to destroy the laboratory in which they have been caged, escape to the underground sewer system of a college campus where they proceed to grow as big as large canines and with a generally hostile disposition. The college dean predictably turns a blind eye to the rat problem on campus and a ceremony is held to christen a brand new athletic facility despite the infestation and menace of the enlarged and vicious rats. The rats crash the ceremony and all hell breaks loose. There is the expected gore and blood in this film, mostly from rats chewing off body parts of victims. The effects of these creatures is not what I would call great but they are serviceable and the film itself is campy and never takes itself too seriously. One of the scariest sequences in this film, for me was the young boy who experienced an unnatural growth spurt courtesy of this experimental drug, especially the ending(no spoilers).






The DVD I recently purchased of this movie is fairly basic, presented in a 1.33.1 full frame aspect ratio and with only scene selection option. Luckily I have a "16.9" widescreen viewing option on one of my televisions that I used to reduce the stretch effect from a 1.33.1 full frame image.To see this film for sale on R1 DVD at Amazon click the DVD cover art image above.

The films' trailer: