Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

Humanoids from the Deep: Directed by Barbara Peeters and written by Frank Arnold, Martin B Cohen and William MartinI had read about this early 80s movie many times in high school. There was an encyclopedia entirely about horror movies and I read and reread that a hundred million times. This movie came up a few times. I finally gave it a chance. Was it good? Not really in the traditional sense. It has the plot of Jaws without the hunting bits at the end. It seems more like Piranha. I wouldn't be surprised if Roger Corman reused script from that movie to make this. The title card for this read Monster(Humanoids from the Deep) in super tiny print. I think they might have been embarassed by that title. They shouldn't be. Embrace the schlock you are. You are a silly mutant fish man movie where the monsters take the women for their own procreating purposes and viciously murder the men in the process. The costumes are cumbersome and you can tell they are very cheap. They look like lumbering giant catfish people with stilt arms like early Freddy Krueger. They are not terrifying. The music says they are suppose to be but I'm not sure. This movie had some sleazy elements thrown for good effect. It was plainly obvious from watching it that this stuff was added after the fact to make the movie compete in the sleaze ball o rama that was horror in the early 80s. The practical gore effects were terrific though. Outside of those suits, the rest fit in well with the atmosphere of this movie. It is a very short film and it runs in guns blazing but still tries to maintain an air of mystery as to what might be happening. It works okay. This movie is a flash in the pan type of movie. It's not god awful. It happens in a flash and you forget about most of the movie except that it's about raping fish monsters. I give this movie a C.

Did Roger Corman sit in a room screaming, "Make me more amphibian monster movies NOW!" into the telephone? This time, Barbara Peeters got the call (Joe Dante turned this one down), although the final film was nothing like she wanted it to be and she tried - and failed - to get her name removed from the credits.Fishermen catch what looks like a monster. Then, the son of one of them is dragged under the waves by an unseen beast. Another fisherman fires a flare gun that sets the whole boat on fire, killing everyone..Jim Hill (Doug McClure, TV's The Virginian) and his wife Carol (Cindy Weintraub, The Prowler) see the boat blow up and then their dog gets eaten (and his remains thrown up on their porch). So yeah. Things are off to quite the start.Meanwhile, Jerry and Peggy (Lynn Schiller, Without Warning) are swimming and fooling around, but Jerry ends up torn apart and a fishman rapes the girl, causing the director to want to leave the picture. Seriously - they kept her name on the film. Time's up, Roger Corman.That scene is repeated with Billy (future ventriloquist David Strassman) and Becky, with yet another fish on female rape. All manner of folks are attacked, but Peggy somehow survives.Meanwhile, Canco is opening their new canning operation in town. It turns out that the monsters that are screwing everyone to death are the result of Canco using HGH on salmon that were in turn eaten by larger fish who then turned into humanoids. From the deep? Yes. Humanoids from the Deep.Luckily, Jim and Dr. Susan Drake are on the case. Their big plan? At the town's fish fest, when the beasts attack, they dump gasoline in the lake and set it on fire. So not only is there no safe zone for women, screw the environment, too. While all this is going on, Carol is attacked by two monsters but survives. Oh yeah! Vic Morrow is in this mess, too. And if you think Peggy is going to give birth to a fish baby, then you haven't been watching this film.Actress Ann Turkel chose to do this film - originally titled Beneath the Darkness - because: "It was an intelligent suspenseful science-fiction story with a basis in fact and no sex." She was enraged as well at what the final film ended up being.Well, if you're looking for a grimy, fishy film, this is it. It's certainly more entertaining than the last two Roger Corman fish films I suffered through.

Wow! Every once in a while a B-movie comes along which makes you sit up in your seat and take note, and this cheesy, low-budget monster movie is such a film. From the production company of legendary exploitation king Roger Corman, this is an exciting, sometimes funny monster rampage romp with plenty of gratuitous violence and nudity to keep things moving swiftly along. What more can you ask for? We'll, there's plenty more. For a start, the cast is populated by B-movie stalwarts, including wooden hero Doug McClure. This was sadly McClure's last venture into the creature features (after he'd spent years in Britain fighting papier-mache creations in the likes of THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT), but he goes out with a bang, shooting up and fighting loads of the abominable fish-men. He's supported by plenty of actresses who find themselves in peril, including a surprisingly resourceful Ann Turkel and Cindy Weintraub. Vic Morrow also hams it up as an unbelievably stupid cannery employee.The template of this film is typical of any monster movie; first off, we have isolated sporadic attacks, then an investigation, and finally an all out rampage with hundreds of people running and screaming from the beasts until they're finally defeated. This makes the film feel like an updated CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, and indeed it is: without the gore and nudity, this would fit in happily with the other monster larks of the 1950s. The first two thirds of the film show us these isolated attacks with glee. Almost every attack has a half-naked woman running away from these monsters, it's surprising how these women are so unlucky in getting their clothes ripped off! Corman cleverly decided to keep his monsters under wraps until the final third, but they don't disappoint when we finally do see them...in fact, they're excellent! This doesn't come as much of a surprise actually when you consider that Rob Bottin, who also created THE THING, was responsible for them. The seaweed-covered, slimy-looking monsters are absolutely excellent, and it's great how there's loads of them instead of the usual one or two.Obviously the best parts of the movie are the bits where the monsters are attacking people. The best scene for me is where they burst up from underneath a pier. They also get to die messily, with blood squirting everywhere. As this was a year after ALIEN, no film would be complete without a monster bursting from a woman's chest, and this is no exception! Thankfully the rape scenes are only shown briefly. This film doesn't skimp on the violence, either, and there's plenty of gooey gore flying about. The monsters bleed red blood for a change, and frequently get the opportunity to do so! People have half their faces ripped off, are crushed, snapped, have their chests torn open, blood splashing everywhere. The fun spirit of this film shines through at all times, making it a classic example of a monster movie which seems strangely old-fashioned despite all of the extremes. Definitely worth tracking down, as this is quite difficult to find these days.

Honestly this is nothing more than mutant sea monster raping women and killing people. The story is pretty much non-existent and the acting is also pretty bad. The characters have no real purpose, and a horrible cliché. I mean what the hell is with the puppet guy and how did he seduce the chic into having sex with him? I guess I could make a summary of what the characters are fighting for though, hmm....Let's see. Well I guess it's based around this small fishing village, where salmon is their main recourse and profit. There are two "main" groups of fisherman. One of which wants to experiment to make bigger salmon and the other group who is against the idea. There really is no clear "good guy" in the movie though. In conclusion, The film can bring a few good laughs on just how bad it is if you don't really think about and watch with some friends while having a few good beers.The verdict? A guilty pleasure, so bad it's entertaining and a bit silly. 4/10