Humongous
Encyclopedia
Humongous is a 1982 horror film
(it has elements of splatter/slasher film
s), starring Janet Julian
and David Wallace
. The movie is directed by Paul Lynch
. There are two versions of the film, the American version which is rated R, and omits some violent scenes. The Canadian version is unrated and contains all of the footage removed from the US version.
weekend, 1946. Young, virginal Ida Parsons innocuously plays with her German Shepherds as her father hosts a raucous party inside their small island cabin. 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, hearing her muffled cries for help, break out of their pen and track her down in the woods, where they attack and fatally maul Ida's rapist. As Tom lies dying, Ida beats him to death with a log.
The credits, accompanied by somber piano music and the distant barking of dogs, roll over washed out, grainy photos depicting Ida's happy childhood. The photos track Ida from an eight-year-old girl up through her early teens, showing tender memories of her youth, from imaginary parties to group shots with her girlfriends. The final, ominous photo is the only one not to depict Ida smiling; apparently taken post-rape, it depicts her stone faced and covered in scars, staring dead-eyed into the camera.
After the credits, the movie picks up in 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, Nick demonstrates his intent to be the "alpha male" of the trip, insisting that he be the one to pilot the yacht and at one point pulling a gun on Eric to demonstrate his authority. As the tensions rise between Nick and Eric, Donna and Carla 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; now she only makes two annual voyages onto the mainland for necessary supplies, and has never spoken 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. The story, coupled with the cries of wild animals coming from the nearby island, startle Nick enough that he runs on top of the yacht and tries to speed back to the mainland; instead, he wrecks it, damaging the fuel line and causing it to explode.
Donna, Eric, Sandy, Nick, and Bert wash up on Dog Island; Bert has been seriously wounded, and Carla is nowhere to be found. Seeking to reclaim his macho status, 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. They figure something traumatic must've happened to Ida to cause her to write such things, and reach the conclusion that Ida's son has died, causing her to become delusional. As they continue exploring the house, Sandy comes across Ida's skeletal corpse, positioned in repose in her bedroom. The kids listen to something growling in the basement and become frightened, and decide 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. Even so, they go in the basement to see what they can use. But then they find the dead bodies of their friends, panic and run away back to the beach.
Eric and Sandy decide that the one who did it must be Ida Parson's son, 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—and has now turned to people.
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 mortally 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.
, however, the symptoms of this disorder usually develop in people over 30 - very few people are born with this sickness.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
(it has elements of splatter/slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
s), starring Janet Julian
Janet Julian
Janet Julian , also credited under her birth name Janet Louise Johnson, is an American actress who has starred in film and television.-Biography:...
and David Wallace
David Wallace (actor)
-Personal life:Wallace was born in Miami, Florida.Wallace is married to actress Lisa Trusel since 1987. They have 4 children: Ryan Elizabeth, Benjamin, Emma and Joseph.-Career:...
. The movie is directed by Paul Lynch
Paul Lynch (director)
Paul Lynch is a director and most recently that of the Sci Fi Pictures original film, Savage Planet. He is also the director of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes The First Duty, 11001001, The Naked Now, Unnatural Selection, and A Matter of Time.-External links:* – Canadians in the Movies*...
. There are two versions of the film, the American version which is rated R, and omits some violent scenes. The Canadian version is unrated and contains all of the footage removed from the US version.
Plot summary
It is Labor DayLabor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
weekend, 1946. Young, virginal Ida Parsons innocuously plays with her German Shepherds as her father hosts a raucous party inside their small island cabin. 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, hearing her muffled cries for help, break out of their pen and track her down in the woods, where they attack and fatally maul Ida's rapist. As Tom lies dying, Ida beats him to death with a log.
The credits, accompanied by somber piano music and the distant barking of dogs, roll over washed out, grainy photos depicting Ida's happy childhood. The photos track Ida from an eight-year-old girl up through her early teens, showing tender memories of her youth, from imaginary parties to group shots with her girlfriends. The final, ominous photo is the only one not to depict Ida smiling; apparently taken post-rape, it depicts her stone faced and covered in scars, staring dead-eyed into the camera.
After the credits, the movie picks up in 1982. Preppy
Preppy
Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, often considered a subculture...
brothers Eric and Nick are borrowing their father's yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
to take their girlfriends, Sandy and Donna, on a weekend outing along with their sister, Carla. At the outset of the trip, Nick demonstrates his intent to be the "alpha male" of the trip, insisting that he be the one to pilot the yacht and at one point pulling a gun on Eric to demonstrate his authority. As the tensions rise between Nick and Eric, Donna and Carla 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; now she only makes two annual voyages onto the mainland for necessary supplies, and has never spoken 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. The story, coupled with the cries of wild animals coming from the nearby island, startle Nick enough that he runs on top of the yacht and tries to speed back to the mainland; instead, he wrecks it, damaging the fuel line and causing it to explode.
Donna, Eric, Sandy, Nick, and Bert wash up on Dog Island; Bert has been seriously wounded, and Carla is nowhere to be found. Seeking to reclaim his macho status, 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. They figure something traumatic must've happened to Ida to cause her to write such things, and reach the conclusion that Ida's son has died, causing her to become delusional. As they continue exploring the house, Sandy comes across Ida's skeletal corpse, positioned in repose in her bedroom. The kids listen to something growling in the basement and become frightened, and decide 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. Even so, they go in the basement to see what they can use. But then they find the dead bodies of their friends, panic and run away back to the beach.
Eric and Sandy decide that the one who did it must be Ida Parson's son, 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—and has now turned to people.
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 mortally 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.
Cast
- Janet JulianJanet JulianJanet Julian , also credited under her birth name Janet Louise Johnson, is an American actress who has starred in film and television.-Biography:...
... Sandy Ralston - David WallaceDavid Wallace (actor)-Personal life:Wallace was born in Miami, Florida.Wallace is married to actress Lisa Trusel since 1987. They have 4 children: Ryan Elizabeth, Benjamin, Emma and Joseph.-Career:...
... Eric Simmons - John WildmanJohn Wildman (actor)-Acting career:He is best known for his roles in the 1985 film My American Cousin and its sequel American Boyfriends, and the TV series The Campbells. He won a Genie Award for Best Actor for his performance in My American Cousin.-External links:...
... Nick Simmons - Janit Baldwin ... Carla Simmons
- Joy BoushelJoy BoushelJoy Boushel is an actress who appeared in a handful of movies and TV shows.Boushel's acting career has consisted of Cursed , Look Who's Talking , Keeping Track , The Fly , Thrillkill , Humongous , Quest for Fire , and Terror Train .-External links:...
... Donna Blake - Layne Coleman ... Bert Defoe (as Lane Coleman)
- Shay Garner ... Ida Parsons (as Shea Garner)
- Page FletcherPage FletcherCharles Page Fletcher is a Canadian actor who has starred in films and on television. He is best known for his role on the 1980s hit HBO TV series The Hitchhiker as the main title character from 1984–1990.-Biography:...
... Tom Rice - John McFadyen ... Ed Parsons
- Garry Robbins ... Ida's son
Production notes
According to Ida's diary, her son was born deformed because he was afflicted by acromegalyAcromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, however, the symptoms of this disorder usually develop in people over 30 - very few people are born with this sickness.