Verdict
Summary
A bit of a riff on The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Island of the Fishmen is a schlocky Italian-made film from filmmaker Sergio Martino, but after watching it a few times over the years I find it mostly agreeable as long as I don’t rely too much on my logic or any kind of expectations that would offset the nominal thrills the movie offers.
Plot:
Some castaways wash ashore on an island inhabited by a mad scientist and a race of fishmen!
Review:
In the late 1800’s, several shipwrecked castaways wash ashore on a tropical island where their numbers quickly dwindle to just one after they’re attacked by humanoid sea creatures. The survivor is Claude de Ross (Claudio Cassinelli), and he soon gets the lay of the land: A beautiful woman lives on the island, and she seems to command not only the sea creatures, but everyone else on the island too. Her name is Amanda (Barbara Bach), and she is the daughter of a scientist named Ernest (Joseph Cotton) who swears that the sea creatures are the last remnant of the lost city of Atlantis, which resides in the sea just under the island. He’s able to back his theory up by showing Claude the ancient ruins, but the theory is tainted when the scientist reveals himself to be crossbreeding men with sea beasts! The sea beasts – or fishmen – are subservient to Amanda, who has a strange affinity over them, but when one of the scientists colleagues betrays everyone by trying to take over the island for himself, the fishmen turn against them, and with an impending volcanic eruption Amanda and Claude only have so much time to escape the island with their lives … and a priceless treasure from the sea that could prove Atlantis is real after all.
A bit of a riff on The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Island of the Fishmen is a schlocky Italian-made film from filmmaker Sergio Martino, but after watching it a few times over the years I find it mostly agreeable as long as I don’t rely too much on my logic or any kind of expectations that would offset the nominal thrills the movie offers. Bach was a very beautiful woman, and she looks great in this film, and frankly if she wasn’t in it then the movie would be a lot less interesting to watch. The creature effects are goofy looking, but I can appreciate that. The movie needs a really good musical score, which is sadly lacks.
Full Mon presents The Island of the Fishmen on Blu-ray in nice, crisp high definition, and they offer the 99-minute version, not the recut version that was renamed Screamers by its U.S. distributor in the early 1980’s. This version moves a little slower, but it’s the “complete” version, and fans of the film should take note that Full Moon did a good job of presenting the film here on disc. It doesn’t come with any bonus features, however. Let’s hope they release the hybrid sequel The Fishmen and Their Queen onto Blu-ray at some point as well.
