Although there is a small but dedicated section of horror fans who adore Italian horror films, the career of trash director Al Passeri (aka Massimiliano Cerchi) is one yet to be fully explored. Whilst his cheap but gory B-films make him the 'Bruno Mattei' of the 1990s and 2000s, the fact that most of his work is as yet unreleased outside of Italy means that he has an obscure status. CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS is one of his earlier works, a low budget and insane riff on THE THING, set on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. It looks like CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS is going to be typical fare from the start, what with plenty of cheesecake as the bikini-clad unknowns strip their tops off at every opportunity, but soon the tone becomes darker and the viewer is lost amid a welter of cheap-but-cool effects, extreme bad taste and all kinds of gooey sexual situations.
Most aspects of the film are amateurish, but this is to be expected for the dedicated B-fan. Performances are abominable, the dubbing is also on the crude standard for the genre. The camera-work too is pretty dodgy, with weird eye-view floor shots from invisible creatures (???), lots of cheap music to complement the cheap action and flimsy-looking sets. But where this film excels is in the gross-out shocks and the special effects.
Beginning with a girl spewing up live bugs and beetles, the film continues as characters turn into fish-monsters and kill each other, with lots of goo and gunk splattering all over the set. Watch out for the weirdest, sickest sex scene in history (the guy's face rips back to reveal a nasty monster inside) which rivals similar moments in SOCIETY but on a much lower budget. Other favourite moments include the wicked stop-motion monster in the cargo hold (briefly seen, but a nice surprise, especially in the '90s) and the bit where the guy with the glasses goes on an overacting spree, smashing up the lab, all shot in loving slow-motion. It's great, it really is. Fans of the crude, of the sick, of the cheap, definitely give this one a shot; it's a real surprise.
Most aspects of the film are amateurish, but this is to be expected for the dedicated B-fan. Performances are abominable, the dubbing is also on the crude standard for the genre. The camera-work too is pretty dodgy, with weird eye-view floor shots from invisible creatures (???), lots of cheap music to complement the cheap action and flimsy-looking sets. But where this film excels is in the gross-out shocks and the special effects.
Beginning with a girl spewing up live bugs and beetles, the film continues as characters turn into fish-monsters and kill each other, with lots of goo and gunk splattering all over the set. Watch out for the weirdest, sickest sex scene in history (the guy's face rips back to reveal a nasty monster inside) which rivals similar moments in SOCIETY but on a much lower budget. Other favourite moments include the wicked stop-motion monster in the cargo hold (briefly seen, but a nice surprise, especially in the '90s) and the bit where the guy with the glasses goes on an overacting spree, smashing up the lab, all shot in loving slow-motion. It's great, it really is. Fans of the crude, of the sick, of the cheap, definitely give this one a shot; it's a real surprise.