Five kids and a drifter they help out end up stranded on an island after the stoner of the bunch accidentally blows up dad's boat. It appears the old man's disappointment will end up being the least of their worries as this island is inhabited by a giant retarded man-child who likes to kill. Director Paul Lynch and screenwriter William Gray followed their successful PROM NIGHT (1980) with this drab by-the-numbers horror film. The screenplay is pretty rudimentary and even rips off the previous year's Friday THE 13th PART 2 with the Final Girl doing the "I'm pretending to be your mommy" routine toward the killer. Another offense is the lack of creative deaths as our killer just throws people around. But even if there were great FX, I don't think we could see them as one of the film's biggest problems (and this is no fault of the filmmakers, actually) is the transfer on Embassy's VHS is incredibly dark. There are scenes where you can't even tell what is happening. We never get a clear view of the killer either so for all I know it could be Richard Kiel in a loincloth. The last 20 minutes or so have some nice bits in a dilapidated house on the island. Too bad I couldn't see 50% of them.
