Although I do not monitor which old films are scheduled to be re-released as DVD's, I occasionally see references to this, and I am often surprised at the titles that have been chosen. Many are films which I would not expect to succeed as a newly released DVD, whilst other titles contemporary with them which I would expect to be much more successful remain ignored. A case in point is Tanya's Island - I had heard a report that this was scheduled for release as a DVD early in 2005, but from my recollections of the film I thought this must have been a mistake. However a recent enquiry at one of our local stores has elicited the information that a DVD of this film is indeed expected to be in stock by the end of this month. This means that many people who see it on the shelves will consult IMDb to help them decide whether or not they want to buy a copy. My advice would be not to do so, at least until it has reached the video rental stores so they can preview it. As a film it had a number of interesting themes which held my attention during first viewing twenty years ago, but looking back on it afterwards I felt that these were not handled in any depth and were treated in a rather amateur fashion. The story is of a young girl who feels she has been mistreated by her artist boyfriend and experiences a romantic dream or reverie in which he, she and an ape are living on a very idealised island. The ape and the boyfriend compete for her attention in an extremely school-boyish manner which is comic rather than serious, but the point of the film is the psychological undertones when the man shows increasingly brutish characteristics whilst the brute begins to develop human ones. Whether one can learn anything important about female expectations, or subconscious male drives and urges, from this film would need to be addressed by someone more qualified than myself; however I would only recommend its purchase to somebody who has a serious academic interest in psychology, others may find it interesting to watch but no more.
11 Reviews
DD Winters
BandSAboutMovies4 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
D. D. Winters is, as you can tell, Vanity, the same singer who brought us "Nasty Girl" and starred in Action Jackson. But here, you can call her D. D. Winters.
And yes, that Alfred Sole who directed this is the same person who made perhaps the best American giallo, Alice Sweet Alice.
She's Tanya, a woman in love with Lobo (Richard Sargent), a violent artist. She dreams of a tropical island where she falls for Blue (Don McLeod in the suit made by Rick Baker, Rob Bottin and Steve Johnson, voiced by Donny Burns), who is a gorilla. Or maybe it's really happening. Or maybe it's all a dream. Or maybe it's art.
McLeod was also T. C. Quist in The Howling and often shows up in strange roles, like the gorilla in Trading Places - I wonder if it was the same suit - as well as the oldest living Conehead in Coneheads, Zamora the ape in Mom, Can I Keep Her?, a gorilla - typecasting? - in the Sheena TV series and a statue in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special. He was also the famous ape that destroyed luggage in the American Tourister commercial.
Writer Pierre Brousseau was the PR guy and music coordinator for Visiting Hours. He also wrote Après-ski, which also has Mariette Lévesque in it, who is in this.
Sole also made Pandemonium and then one more TV movie, Cheeseball Presents, before giving up on directing and being a production designer. I always loved seeing his name pop up on Disney Channel movies and in episodes of Veronica Mars and Castle. Sadly, he died a little over a year ago, but he left behind a few great movies and some at least strange ones like this.
There's nothing else like Tanya's Island.
And yes, that Alfred Sole who directed this is the same person who made perhaps the best American giallo, Alice Sweet Alice.
She's Tanya, a woman in love with Lobo (Richard Sargent), a violent artist. She dreams of a tropical island where she falls for Blue (Don McLeod in the suit made by Rick Baker, Rob Bottin and Steve Johnson, voiced by Donny Burns), who is a gorilla. Or maybe it's really happening. Or maybe it's all a dream. Or maybe it's art.
McLeod was also T. C. Quist in The Howling and often shows up in strange roles, like the gorilla in Trading Places - I wonder if it was the same suit - as well as the oldest living Conehead in Coneheads, Zamora the ape in Mom, Can I Keep Her?, a gorilla - typecasting? - in the Sheena TV series and a statue in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special. He was also the famous ape that destroyed luggage in the American Tourister commercial.
Writer Pierre Brousseau was the PR guy and music coordinator for Visiting Hours. He also wrote Après-ski, which also has Mariette Lévesque in it, who is in this.
Sole also made Pandemonium and then one more TV movie, Cheeseball Presents, before giving up on directing and being a production designer. I always loved seeing his name pop up on Disney Channel movies and in episodes of Veronica Mars and Castle. Sadly, he died a little over a year ago, but he left behind a few great movies and some at least strange ones like this.
There's nothing else like Tanya's Island.
a beautiful but weak look inside a woman
sksjr6 October 2002
The subject is timeless and difficult to express, as so many have tried throughout history. Tanya is torn between her own strength and weakness. On the one hand, she needs to be independent, making her own decisions. On the other, she needs to feel secure and not threatened by her choices. She wants to be a creative helper in her boyfriend's painting, and doesn't want to be excluded, shunned or dominated. When he treats her badly, she explores a different relationship, something more beastly. Initially, the beast is exactly what she wants. As things change, she finds he's as much of a beast as her boyfriend is. I don't think she found what she wanted, but, to everybody's disappointment, she did find she can change her mind.
The forum is renewed from the likes of "King Kong" and "Beauty and the Beast", but depicts a darker side with surreal graphic violence. Her obvious beauty and the simplistic tropical setting set the positive tone very well. Choppy, cluttered, and confused filming sets the negative tone equally well. The unrealistic dream is reinforced by the notable absence of all Robinson Crusoe hardships. Only interpersonal conflicts exist. Between Tanya and each of the males, conflicts are materialized with sexual situations. Conflicts between the males are even more adolescent, with the full spectrum of chest beating, coconut throwing, sling shots and trapping each other in cages. The only winner is the viewer, and only if they don't object to the B-movie feel.
I found it hilariously entertaining, yet disturbing. It makes me reconsider my concept of what being a woman is.
The forum is renewed from the likes of "King Kong" and "Beauty and the Beast", but depicts a darker side with surreal graphic violence. Her obvious beauty and the simplistic tropical setting set the positive tone very well. Choppy, cluttered, and confused filming sets the negative tone equally well. The unrealistic dream is reinforced by the notable absence of all Robinson Crusoe hardships. Only interpersonal conflicts exist. Between Tanya and each of the males, conflicts are materialized with sexual situations. Conflicts between the males are even more adolescent, with the full spectrum of chest beating, coconut throwing, sling shots and trapping each other in cages. The only winner is the viewer, and only if they don't object to the B-movie feel.
I found it hilariously entertaining, yet disturbing. It makes me reconsider my concept of what being a woman is.
Vanity plus Guy in a Cheap Gorilla Suit=Oscar Material
Gargantua73 August 2008
D.D. Winters (a.k.a. 'Vanity') was highly nude from time to time in this odd little film. There were two other actors, one playing her abusive boyfriend and the other is a kind, sensitive emotionally available guy in a gorilla suit. The carachter was supposed to be an actual gorilla, but the cheap production values kill any suspension of disbelief. Tanya is stranded on the island with her thuggish boyfriend, but the gorilla has special qualities that win her heart and drag the body into near-bestiality.
The last performance of Mae West was as a guest on the Mr. Ed show. She used her patented come-ons to the talking horse, plying him with seductive patter. That too, was odd. That episode and this film would make a fun double feature for a very select audience.
The last performance of Mae West was as a guest on the Mr. Ed show. She used her patented come-ons to the talking horse, plying him with seductive patter. That too, was odd. That episode and this film would make a fun double feature for a very select audience.
An unusual and interesting oddity
Woodyanders24 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
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.
man vs ape for the pretty girl
acmilanno26 May 2000
A strange film in content and delivery. Tanya who is dangerously attached to her abusive artist boyfriend, Lobo, has an extended dream, in which she and her belligerent beau live on a deserted island paradise (cue gratuitous nudity over the opening credits). Tanya befriends an ape, Lobo gets jealous, and the trio fight in a manner which comes close to slapstick. The comic violence combines with sexual symbolism to create an unnerving mix. Perhaps the weakness of the film is Tanya herself, who provides a feast for the eyes, but leaves the mind a bit empty. She seems to spend the whole film both confused and amused by the whole situation. If the film is about Tanya's sexual naievity, then this theme is not developed sufficiently. For its weaknesses, this film is certainly a unique and interesting creation, worth seeing
Potentially interesting but flawed film
lazarillo12 December 2007
Depending on your point of view this movie is either an interesting Freudian exploration of the "beauty and the beast" myth, or it is a particularly pretentious example of what Robin Bougie of "Cinema Sewer" magazine hilariously dubbed the "bigfoot-rape" film. Evidence of the former would be that this was directed by Alfred Sole who directed the cult horror classic "Alice, Sweet Alice". This isn't a patch on that one,of course, but it's better than a lot of Soles other equally bizarre, post-"Alice" projects (like the off-the-wall slasher spoof "Pandemonium"). Evidence of the latter, however, would be that this movie stars D.D. Winters, a singer/actress who couldn't really sing and DEFINITELY couldn't act. She would later become Prince's protegee under the name of "Vanity" and then eventually a born-again Christian (and I'm not sure which is worse).
This movie is about sexy and oft-naked woman and her husband who go off to live on an island for reasons that eluded me. The only other being on the island is a ape man/bigfoot type creature who the girl nicknames "Blue". The girl feels a strange affection, even perhaps an attraction, to the creature, which makes her husband increasingly jealous. He becomes determined to capture this monster and put it in a cage. The Freudian metaphor here is pretty obvious--the monster represents the wild, uncivilized side of the man, and he fears the woman's attraction to it and wants to repress both it and her. This intriguing idea is pretty seriously fumbled though by some truly horrid acting and a clichéd, cop-out ending usually used by filmmakers when they have totally run out of ideas.
This movie greatly resembles the notorious Walerian Borozyx film "The Beast". It is also a arty, metaphoric exploration of bestiality (albeit a little less graphic than the Borozyx film). But while "The Beast" also starred a sexy but talentless actress (Sirpa Lane) as the object of the bestial affections, Borzyx had the good sense not to give her any lines. Winters has many lines in this movie and is unbelievably annoying when she's not having sex or getting naked. More importantly, however, "The Beast" had a strong ending that tied everything together, while this one . . .well, I won't spoil it--I'll just let it spoil itself. This is a potentially interesting but flawed film.
This movie is about sexy and oft-naked woman and her husband who go off to live on an island for reasons that eluded me. The only other being on the island is a ape man/bigfoot type creature who the girl nicknames "Blue". The girl feels a strange affection, even perhaps an attraction, to the creature, which makes her husband increasingly jealous. He becomes determined to capture this monster and put it in a cage. The Freudian metaphor here is pretty obvious--the monster represents the wild, uncivilized side of the man, and he fears the woman's attraction to it and wants to repress both it and her. This intriguing idea is pretty seriously fumbled though by some truly horrid acting and a clichéd, cop-out ending usually used by filmmakers when they have totally run out of ideas.
This movie greatly resembles the notorious Walerian Borozyx film "The Beast". It is also a arty, metaphoric exploration of bestiality (albeit a little less graphic than the Borozyx film). But while "The Beast" also starred a sexy but talentless actress (Sirpa Lane) as the object of the bestial affections, Borzyx had the good sense not to give her any lines. Winters has many lines in this movie and is unbelievably annoying when she's not having sex or getting naked. More importantly, however, "The Beast" had a strong ending that tied everything together, while this one . . .well, I won't spoil it--I'll just let it spoil itself. This is a potentially interesting but flawed film.
Blue Lobo.
morrison-dylan-fan12 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
After recently viewing the wonderfully off-beat Un succes commercial (1970-also reviewed) I decided to look for a Canadian flick from the 80's to watch. Looking at my un-played pile from the decade, I spotted one I had picked up after reading lazarillo and Woodyanders reviews,leading to me meeting Tanya.
View on the film:
Splashing credits on the screen as waves wash over a naked Vanity against Jean Musy's dark synch score, director Alfred Sole & future Scream (1996) cinematographer Mark Irwin place on the island a gloriously bonkers atmosphere of sleazy Canuxploitation flesh and a downer freeze frame,with New Age Freudian (!) babbling, amped up by Pierre Brousseau's screenplay hilarious stumbling dialogue attempting a sincere psychoanalysts of Tanya and the beast within man, leading to a fantastic,utterly strange twist ending.
Swinging from a blood-socked Tanya, (played by a charmingly rubbish Vanity, whose awkward, flat line delivery adds to the weird delights) and Lobo (played by a delightfully gruff Richard Sargent) to a jungle containing a Rick Baker and Rob Bottin designed frisky gorilla, Sole happily piles the weird atmosphere high, thanks to sliding from one extreme of Psychotronic in Lobo's turn into a screeching savage, to the other,in the sight of the howling gorilla called Blue, shaking the cage with a lust to get his hands on Tanya's islands.
View on the film:
Splashing credits on the screen as waves wash over a naked Vanity against Jean Musy's dark synch score, director Alfred Sole & future Scream (1996) cinematographer Mark Irwin place on the island a gloriously bonkers atmosphere of sleazy Canuxploitation flesh and a downer freeze frame,with New Age Freudian (!) babbling, amped up by Pierre Brousseau's screenplay hilarious stumbling dialogue attempting a sincere psychoanalysts of Tanya and the beast within man, leading to a fantastic,utterly strange twist ending.
Swinging from a blood-socked Tanya, (played by a charmingly rubbish Vanity, whose awkward, flat line delivery adds to the weird delights) and Lobo (played by a delightfully gruff Richard Sargent) to a jungle containing a Rick Baker and Rob Bottin designed frisky gorilla, Sole happily piles the weird atmosphere high, thanks to sliding from one extreme of Psychotronic in Lobo's turn into a screeching savage, to the other,in the sight of the howling gorilla called Blue, shaking the cage with a lust to get his hands on Tanya's islands.
!!! Show Us Your Monkey !!!
theNomadz29 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Tanya and her (surely old enough to be her father) lover Lobo live a free life on a tropical island,until Tanya meets an ape like creature Blue (which has a great for its day creature make up,from fx guru Rick Baker surely based on Jack Palances features).All is fine until Lobo gets jealous of his woman spending so much time with the beast,He captures it.Only for Tanya to release it in disgust.Leaving Lobo ("No Damned Animal Can Beat Me") to protect his camp site and partner from the angry beast.
The plot comes across like Beauty and Beast crossed with the Blue Lagoon,and contains a few sex scenes which could push it into the realm of adult cinema.My fave part is seeing Lobo at the camp turn more beast like while Blue becomes human like.The ending for me is the films flaw,having the beast rape Tanya with a purely crude looking blue tint effect on the picture.
I'm sure fans of traditional make-up FX will enjoy this most and maybe the beast rape will entertain exploitation fans enough to please them.I gave this one a [6 out of 10] sure it has its flaws but entertaining all the same.
The plot comes across like Beauty and Beast crossed with the Blue Lagoon,and contains a few sex scenes which could push it into the realm of adult cinema.My fave part is seeing Lobo at the camp turn more beast like while Blue becomes human like.The ending for me is the films flaw,having the beast rape Tanya with a purely crude looking blue tint effect on the picture.
I'm sure fans of traditional make-up FX will enjoy this most and maybe the beast rape will entertain exploitation fans enough to please them.I gave this one a [6 out of 10] sure it has its flaws but entertaining all the same.
Epidermal 'Beauty and the Beast'
lor_1 January 2023
My review was written in May 1981 after a Times Square screening:
"Tanya's Island" is the latest screen version of the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale, only this time done as a skin flick. Director Alfred Sole avoids hardcore porn footage, but frequent nudity and violent sex scenes strain the limits of pic' R rating.
Elliptical script penned by producer Pierre Brousseau gives the film an unfinished quality -many scenes end tentatively with fadeouts and pic becomes tedious with inclusion of lengthy connective scenes wherein cast merely wanders around. Fantasy story is bookended by scenes in Toronto where Tanya (model and actress D. D. Winters) is a tv commercials model involved with an artist. Picture unfolds as her dream/nightmare, set on a remote, idyllic island.
Island episodes have Tanya making love or quarreling with the artist Lobo (Richard Sargent) while exploring the jungle and befriending a massive but empathetic ape there, which she names Blue (Don McCleod) because of its unusual blue eyes. Lobo and Blue become locked in a repetitive contest with Tanya as the prize, ending in the ape imitating man's violent behavior and raping her.
Plotline is thinnest excuse for Sole to show off Winters' undraped form. Plentiful nudity will satisfy voyeurs, but the acting scenes are crude and laughable. Plodding pace makes film most suitable for drive-ins, where uneventful segments will find patrons visiting the concession stand. The ape makeup by Rick Baker and Rob Bottin is expert and convincing, but their creation has little to do. Island scenery, filmed in Puerto Rico, makes a pretty backdrop for the lovely charms of Winters. Sole gives a nod to his forebears by opening and closing the film with footage from "Mighty Joe Young".
Elliptical script penned by producer Pierre Brousseau gives the film an unfinished quality -many scenes end tentatively with fadeouts and pic becomes tedious with inclusion of lengthy connective scenes wherein cast merely wanders around. Fantasy story is bookended by scenes in Toronto where Tanya (model and actress D. D. Winters) is a tv commercials model involved with an artist. Picture unfolds as her dream/nightmare, set on a remote, idyllic island.
Island episodes have Tanya making love or quarreling with the artist Lobo (Richard Sargent) while exploring the jungle and befriending a massive but empathetic ape there, which she names Blue (Don McCleod) because of its unusual blue eyes. Lobo and Blue become locked in a repetitive contest with Tanya as the prize, ending in the ape imitating man's violent behavior and raping her.
Plotline is thinnest excuse for Sole to show off Winters' undraped form. Plentiful nudity will satisfy voyeurs, but the acting scenes are crude and laughable. Plodding pace makes film most suitable for drive-ins, where uneventful segments will find patrons visiting the concession stand. The ape makeup by Rick Baker and Rob Bottin is expert and convincing, but their creation has little to do. Island scenery, filmed in Puerto Rico, makes a pretty backdrop for the lovely charms of Winters. Sole gives a nod to his forebears by opening and closing the film with footage from "Mighty Joe Young".
A Freudian masterpiece
caspian19781 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
It is easy to consider Tanya's Island softcore exploitation. Although flawed with strange content and an odd style of delivery in telling a story, this shlock of a B-movie attempts to differ itself from other Beauty and the Beast rip offs of its time like Beast and Mistress of the Apes. It is hard to ponder the possibility that this movie is nothing more that exploitation. It is not. The movie panders to that audience in its opening credits. To say nothing else, Tanya's island made its money and was considered a success in the goal it set out to accomplish. However, by the weird chance of Alfred Sole wanting to direct something other than Euro-like-trash, he unknowingly told a hidden story about sexual naivety and the weakness of women. It is obvious that this movie depicts the struggle between man and beast with the characters of Lobo and Blue. Then again, the underlining subject of Tanya being naive is beyond as obvious as her being the object of desire. We are introduced to Tanya as she is running. Towards what and from whom are never answered as we later see her as an ornament / actress and later a headache to an aggressive artist / boyfriend. Not quite innocent, Tanya is more ignorant and lost as a character as she wonders around an island like a child. What is the movie telling us about her character that is not negative? In the end, whether a dream or a reflection, Tanya is seen staring back at herself on screen while the Beast watches back. It is my opinion that both the island and the Beast are metaphors for being lost. Hence the reason Tanya spends most of her time on camera running away or running towards something.
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