Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Barbara Peters

Writers:

Frank Arnold (story) and
Martin B. Cohen (story) ...

Release Date:

May 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

From The Caverns Of The Deep... It Strikes!

Plot:

Scientific experiments backfire and produce horrific mutations: halfman, halffish which terrorize a...

Plot Keywords:

Fishing Village | Fishing | Carnival | Mass Murder | Female Degradation

Cast

Doug McClure	...	Jim Hill
Ann Turkel	...	Dr. Susan Drake
Vic Morrow	...	Hank Slattery
Cindy Weintraub	...	Carol Hill
Anthony Pena	...	Johnny Eagle (as Anthony Penya)
Denise Galik	...	Linda Beale
Lynn Theel	...	Peggy Larson
Meegan King	...	Jerry Potter
Breck Costin	...	Tommy Hill
Hoke Howell	...	Deke Jensen
Don Maxwell	...	Dickie Moore
David Strassman	...	Billy
Greg Travis	...	Mike Michaels, Radio Announcer
Linda Shayne	...	Sandy, Miss Salmon
Lisa Glaser	...	Becky

Also Known As:

Humanoids of the Deep
Monster
Monster (Humanoids from the Deep) (UK)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Norway:(Banned) (1980-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Fort Bragg, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

As the film was being finished up, producer Roger Corman felt that the picture needed more sex, and ordered scenes shot that showed the "humanoids" attacking - and, of course, ripping the clothes off of - nubile young women. Director 'Barbara Peeters' refused to shoot the scenes, protesting that they were inserted purely to show gratuitous nudity. Corman fired her and hired another director to shoot the additional footage.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the first boat sequence, the winch is supposedly under a lot of strain but all of the lines are loose. They would be tight if the winch motor was working to attempt to pull in the net.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Serial Killing 4 Dummys (2004)

Campy Crapola

This movie seems to pick up where "Creature From The Black Lagoon" left off. We all know that the Gill Man wanted some hot, steamy Amazonian sex with the pretty girl in the white bathing suit...but no way were they going to show that happening back in the 50s! Well, along came 1980 and the Gill Man is either high-fiving his amphibious descendants, or he's rolling over in his watery grave.

A bunch of salmon (yes, salmon!) exposed to pollution, mutate into some pretty cool looking monsters and go on a rape and murder spree in a small Pacific Northwest fishing village. There's also a subplot concerning Native Americans protesting the pollution of their waters, but it seems like an afterthought, as no one could really stretch a story about horny monsters out for an hour and a half. Young, sexually active women in bikinis beware! The monsters are determined to procreate, and do so in a couple of nasty, icky rape scenes. There's also an infamously gross-out climax (no pun intended) in which a rape victim gives birth to a monstrous fish baby. And she didn't reach for a coat hangar earlier because why?

Yeesh, now I know why Lovecraft hated fish so much. These guys are nasty! The rubber costumes are great, giving us icky slimy fishmen with giant exposed brains, nasty little piranha teeth and incredibly elongated arms. There's lots of bare, jiggling breasts and really stupid people getting their guts clawed out, so if you like naked girls and gore, don't miss this one.