A then unknown pre-Prince Vanity stars in this outrageously campy, sexy and compelling "Beauty and the Beast"-type allegorical oddity as Tanya, a naive, but gorgeous and hence quite desirable aspiring young actress who has a nightmare that both she and her possessive, overbearing, sadistic older painter boyfriend Lobo (excellently played to vile perfection by Richard Sargent) are living together on a peaceful and tropical isolated island. Tanya befriends a gentle, turquoise-eyed huge gorilla whom she names Blue (persuasively portrayed by Don McCloud in an amazingly credible costume). The ensuing platonic relationship raises the bitter and jealous ire of Lobo, who degenerates into complete base savagery as he competes with Blue to be the sole object of Tanya's affection. Well directed by Alfred Sole (who also gave us the terrific, vehemently anti-Catholic horror knockout "Alice, Sweet Alice"), with exquisitely lush cinematography by Mark Irwin, a lovely, lulling and melodic score by Jean Musy, a provocative subtext which incisively explores the fine line distinguishing man from beast, a strikingly authentic ape suit that was designed by Rick Baker and Rob Bottin, and ample shots of the delectable Vanity prancing about in her birthday suit, this offbeat low-budget outing overall rates as an intriguing curio.
Review of Tanya's Island
