ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Upton is an American (non-werewolf) writer/editor in London. You can listen to her podcast at https://thecinemajunction.com. 

Her latest book is Japanese Cult Cinema: Best of the Second Golden Age. She writes for Horror & Sons and Drive-in Asylum. She has also appeared on the podcasts Japan on Film, Making Tarantino, Making Scorsese, The Rad Revivalhouse and contributes to Cinemaforce. For links to her work, please visit https://www.jennuptonwriter.com or follow her on Instagram @jennxlondon. 

April 20: Regional Horror — A regional horror movie. Here’s a list if you need an idea.

An ambitious regional horror movie that asks two good questions. “What if the little Zuni fetish warrior doll from Trilogy of Terror came from a tribe of hundreds more rampaging dolls?” And, “What if some survivors of a sunken ship got stranded on an island inhabited by the little blighters?” 

It doesn’t matter that the island is in the North Atlantic instead of a country in Africa. It’s entirely plausible that these industrious creatures could have built themselves a boat and explored the world, establishing tiny populations wherever they could find enough food. They even have their own religion. These are just some of the reasons I love this film. 

Other reasons include: 

1. Tiny wooden dolls with glowing eyes swinging on vines. 
2. Tiny wooden dolls with glowing eyes biting right through a castaway’s trousers to the soft, chewy center of the calf. 
3. Tiny wooden dolls praying to their wooden doll deity. 
4. Castaway getting his face melted off trying to drink from an acid pond. 
5. A body picked clean to the bones. 

Shot in Connecticut on a miniscule budget, the director cleverly shows the sinking of the 1920s pleasure cruiser and subsequent journey to the island in quick cuts during the opening credits. This leaves plenty of time for the characters to walk around in the woods, pick berries and argue with zeal. Yes, there’s a lot of walking in this movie. 

We even get a know-it-all character very similar to Harry Cooper in Night of the Living Dead. Then we have Ginger, Mary-Ann, Gilligan….Oh. Wait. To be honest, I can’t remember any of the castaways’ names in this movie. I was too blown away by the puppetry and special effects. The puppets are the stars. The filmmakers truly did make something out of nothing here. It’s a lot of fun. 

The attack scenes make this movie. The first attack starts at approximately 32 minutes into the film. The monsters wait until our group is fast asleep by the campfire. Cathy takes first watch. She notices a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness. Then another…and another…. until there are too many to count. A very effective sequence. By the time she calls for help, it’s too late. 

The monsters launch their hunting party into action. Needle-like fangs sink into shoulders, necks and asses. I watched this scene 3 times before writing this review and it gets better every time. My favorite shot features one creature swinging down on a vine while two others cross into the foreground in front of him. Excellent stuff.

The next day, the monsters push the castaways’ boat out to sea and execute a series of daylight attacks. They patter through the underbrush, scale trees and leap onto their prey until most of the humans are picked off. Along the way, the beasties lose a few of their own, but it never slows them down. 

They stop their hunting activities just long enough to pray to their totem god. Likely paying homage to their fallen comrades and giving thanks for their delicious bounty. 

The fact that we see some of their culture showcases the filmmakers’ enthusiasm. I was fascinated by this scene. I wanted to see more of their daily lives on the island. Do they live in little huts? Do they have hunting strategy meetings around a tiny wooden table? Answering all my questions would be giving too much of the mystery away and cost too much. 

In the end, two of the castaways escape the island when a rowboat with two men passes by. I was hoping for an aquatic attack but that would be too ambitious even for this film. 

One of the men asks, “What were those things?” We are given no answer. I’d like to think the tiny creatures made their way back to the other bodies and finished feasting. 

In later years, these valiant hunters would be revered in their tribe. When future generations of beast creatures tucked their offspring into their beds at night, they’d tell them about, “The Great Hunt.”  

Vinegar Syndrome released a restored Blu Ray version, or you can watch the full movie here. I’ve cued it to the first attack scene. I’m totally in love with these little guys. Enjoy!