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.

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.

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.

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.