Humanoids from the Deep

Typical example of the work of Roger Corman, who channels the sci-fi/environmental trend popular in the just-concluded decade into his early-1980s exploitation films.

The final result here is an appalling trash film where environmental (and racial) concerns necessarily play second fiddle given than any serious subject matter is nothing more than a thin pretext to display buxom damsels in distress being chased by sex-crazed amphibious monstrosities – then we get the stock biologist, a woman this time, explaining that “These creatures are driven to mate with man now“.

But fans of weird will still be satisfied, even considering that the rebellious nature inherent in exploitation cinema constitutes the sole fully realized facet of the film. In this regard, all the ingredients are present, from the intolerance of mainstream conventions (it’s no accident that the first victims include a little boy and some poor little dogs), to the “edifying” verbal give-and-take between the characters (lines like ‘Hey, honey, why do not you take it off, let’s see some skin!’ ‘Nothing comes off until I see it’), to the rubbery creatures’ improbable makeup.

Slipshod attention to detail, a profusion of chaotic action scenes (vehicles exploding for no plausible reason, incredibly embarrassing fight scenes, etc.), inconsistent screenplay where day turns to night and vice versa seemingly at random, and a tenuous relationship between cause and effect, to say the least. Even references to Lucio Fulci and Ridley Scott get thrown into the mix.