Humanoids from the Deep (1980) User Reviews (133)

A great if unintentional comedy

[Scoopy · 5/10 · 28 August 1999]

There's a little sleepy seaside burg debating whether to add a new cannery. Life is slow there, and the fishing is dying. It turns out that the reason the salmon are disappearing is that the owners of the cannery company have been doing some DNA experiments on salmon. They accidentally released genetically altered salmon into the ocean, and those altered salmon were eaten by predator fish. This special diet turns the predator fish into - you guessed it - Humanoids From The Deep. (Add echo chamber in your mind).

Now what do you think the loony humans do? Hint: remember that the monsters have been living on genetically altered salmon, and then they have nothing else to eat but the real salmon. The humans go ahead and hold the 93rd annual Salmon Festival! It's like advertising a tourist attraction for salmon-eating monsters. Then there is a silly subplot, added after the fact by the filmmakers. The monsters are super-evolved and need to propagate their species. They don't seem to have any females in their race. They are also humanoid (Well, sort of. They appear to be as human as Vic Morrow, but just barely). They therefore need to kill human males and mate with human females.

First they come upon a girl and her boyfriend camping on the beach. He is a ventriloquist, for no apparent reason. They maul the twerp, and the dummy's eyes continue to follow the action, even after the ventriloquist is dead. This apparently supernatural phenomenon is never explained. (Hey, it's a Corman movie). The monsters proceed to rape her. Later, another girl's boyfriend is feeling her up in the water, and this makes the humanoids really horny, so they kill another twerp, and rape another girl. In the movie's final scene, she is giving birth, and ...... I think you can probably figure it out.

The movie's climax comes at the Salmon Festival, a carnival where humans and humanoids alike meet to share a few memories. The humanoids show that, while they are not smarter than average humans, they are quite a bit smarter than carny folk, and smell a lot better as well. Dental care is about even.

The monsters rip off the bra of the Salmon Queen before chasing her through the midway. Before tracking down the Salmon Queen, however, the monsters stop to ride some of the midway rides (say, they are genetically advanced), and of course slaughter the humans on the rides. Then the monsters stop for some cotton candy. Not by salmon alone does man live. Then they head over to the midway to play some carny games. One of the monsters is really hacked off that he can't knock down the bowling pins and win an Eeyore for the Salmon Queen, especially since he has seen some other monsters with Eeyore's and even one with a Tigger! He really gets steamed when he realizes that those other monsters were audience plants, allowed to win by the carny barkers in order to sucker in the players. Of course, when he finds this out, he rips the carny geek limb from limb and resumes chasing the Salmon Queen, intending to take her by force if he cannot woo her with presents.

But, by jingo, we humans are not defenseless, you know. Our salmon queens can take care of themselves, thank you very much. This gal squares off and dukes it out with the big guy. The human spirit endures. So if you evil superintelligent movie humanoids are out there reading this review, listen up. You'll never take us. If you think you can just come here and rape our women, Mr. Johnny Monster, you've got another think coming. We've got mighty tough Salmon Queens and Van Damme and Bruce Willis, and no movie monster or asteroid is going to crush this race, nosireebob.

Humanoids from the Deep: Great 80's b-movie

[Platypuschow · 7/10 · 18 March 2019]

Going in I expected 80's cheesy schlock, what I got was an unexpectedly satisfying effort, though still undeniably cheesy.

It tells the story of a small fishing town that comes under attack from *Drumroll* humanoids from the deep, essentially the creature from the black lagoon looking fellows just darker and bloodier.

Full of gratuitous nudity, cheesy monster costumes and the tropes of the time I have to say they did an incredible job all things considered. Around this time the industry was saturated with b-movies like this and yet it manages to stand out from the rest due to a lot of competence behind the camera.

The practical effects are fantastic considering this is barely out of the 1970's, it's paced perfectly and the racial tension side story actually adds a lot to it. The needless animal deaths however I did not appreciate, that was overkill.

The cast are a host of vaguely familiar faces that you'll likely struggle to put a name to, they're a mixed bag ranging from great down to "Oh for the love of baby jeebus how did this person get the role?!!?!".

If you like your cheesy creature features this one is certainly recommended.

The Good:

Very impressive visuals

Well made little movie

The Bad:

Too much animal violence

Some questionable acting

Titty grabbing sleaze monsters...

[p-stepien · 5/10 · 5 November 2012]

Roger Corman produces yet another classic piece of trash, having it helmed by Barbara Peeters (unsurprisingly her last movie ever directed). This time the black lagoon throwback delivers a story of sex-crazed mutant amphibians hell-bent on raping all the broads, whilst dispatching of any potential competition. Flailing long arms with razor-sharp talons disembowel and cause unwaning blood splattering, while girls show off their youthful graces while screaming in horror. To stop the onslaught a mild mannered elderly fisherman (or Fisherman to punctuate his hero status?) Jim Hill (Doug McClure) leads the stand-off with Indian Johnny Eagle (Anthony Pena) his brave Tonto. All in order to counterattack the science-initiated epidemic of killer trout-men with big bulging brains.

Unabashedly exploitational "Humanoids from the Deep" with a strong sexual innuendo (and several rape sequences) coupled with absolute adoration to gorrific entertainment, Corman produces another guilty pleasure - a movie so morally inept, script-horrific, but entirely enticing and engaging. Epitomising dumb fun, it is inexplicably entertaining offering a hearty laugh at the in-built stupidity, while also keeping the blood pumping through some well-defined tension. Albeit idiotic in base premise and execution the whole movie is done tongue and cheek, winking at the audience. A stand-out scene occurs during an absolutely hilarious attack on a ventriloquist and his girl, where the puppet rolls his eyes to get a glimpse at all the bloody action.

Mutated salmon raping women? Beautiful.

[t_brown_17 · 22 October 2000]

The fact alone that a woman directed this film makes it a curioso piece. It's indefensible trash that certainly works on a campy, visceral level. It also has the makings of some actual characters. Seriously, in the midst of the gratuitous nudity and bloodshed, I found the movie to be... No wait a minute. Let's get back to the gratuitous nudity and bloodshed. I watched this movie expecting to see these two, and it delivered. I knew going in that this was going to be B-movie material, and that's what I got. I was entertained. You can sit back and analyze this movie all ya' want. I'm just gonna enjoy it for what it is. And what an ending!

Not One For The Kids!!!

[Mindwarp · 6/10 · 19 November 1999]

In 1980 Roger Corman produced this surprisingly good B-movie. Genetically altered fish have gotten loose and into the ocean near a small coastal fishing village. These fish have now turned into monsters and are busy attacking the fishermen (to protect their territory) and raping the women (to advance their own species). Filled with lots of gore, violence, nudity and sex this is definetly a good example of the kind of over the top sex/horror movie that could still get an R rating back in 1980. If you love sleazy sex/horror films, with plenty of intentional laughs, pick this one up.

Hilarious Creature Feature

[boris_unanimate · 6/10 · 5 August 2019]

Humanoids From the Deep isn't a spectacular monster movie, nor is it a well-shot or well edited. However, the first few seconds of the theme and underwater images mesmerized me. I was well aware this is a B-movie that you can only enjoy if you take it for what it is - pure, unfiltered shlock. The best parts of this movie are the monster SFX and the gratuitous nudity. There's also a bunch of monster rape scenes, which are hilariously comical. I don't think this movie is garbage or utterly bad. Somewhere in there is a decent B-movie with a good story that got lost in a low budget and lazy directing. I haven't watched the 1996 TV remake, but it probably doesn't beat the shlock and fun of the original. Good fun.

Campy Crapola

[Gafke · 3/10 · 25 January 2004]

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.

Could not be made today

[acedj · 7/10 · 12 March 2020]

An ocean side fishing town is experiencing lower than normal numbers of fish in the waters. The fishermen are nervous and welcome the news of a cannery planning on opening. There is the one indigenous man that is the sole voice against the cannery. When the fishermen's guard dogs end up slaughtered, the whites think it is he that is responsible. They retaliate by killing his dog and fighting ensues. Soon however it becomes clear that there is something more nefarious at work, creatures that have mutated in the ocean are coming ashore at night and killing men and raping their women.

The is a Roger Corman movie, so everything is over the top, to say the least. There is a fair amount of nudity and it is of course exploitative. There is a fair amount of gore as well, as one would expect from any self-respecting 80's horror. This was, at the time of its release, a very good creature feature, but unfortunately the guy in a rubber suit trick does not hold up in a world where they can CGI anything one can imagine.

Why I say this could not be made today; First is the racial tone of the movie, where natives are still called Indians and treated like little more than second class citizens. Second is the exploitative nudity I mentioned before. Surely in this #metoo era this is a thing of the past.

Overall, if you can forgive the unspecial effects, this is a decent early 80's horror.

Could've Been Better

[gwnightscream · 4/10 · 12 June 2020]

This 1980 horror film is basically an updated "Creature from the Black Lagoon" featuring fishmen hybrids terrorizing a coastal town killing dogs and men, but trying to mate (more like rape) with the women. This could've been better because some parts are boring and disturbing, but there's some good, gory make-up effects by Rob Bottin. The late, Vic Morrow (Twilight Zone: The Movie) also appears. You could give this a try if you're into creature features.

Fun creature feature.

[Ky-D · 7/10 · 1 June 2005]

Hailing from the latter cusp of the Corman hey-day, this turns out to be one of the funner monster movies to come out of his studio.

Women begin disappearing in a small fishing community. The local sheriff is stuck on the case until a representative from a shady company (think 'Umbrella Corp') arrives and it is revealed that the company had conducted tests on combining human and amphibious DNA trying to create some kind of super soldier for the government. The creatures have, of course, gotten loose and are trying to procreate with the kid-napped girls. The fish-men must be stopped!

All the things that made Corman productions from the 70's and 80's great are intact. Pointless nudity, ample blood and gore, slimy monsters, and a healthy streak of dark humor. Also in place are both a socio-political message (in the form of a racism sub-plot) and an anti government/military theme.

Unfortunately, all the major down sides are maintained as well. The effects are cheesy, nuff said about that. Some of the actors are alright, but most of them really need some lessons and the direction, while solid, does nothing unique or inspired.

A good horror flick as far as sexploitation flicks go, and not too bad as a monster movie either.

7/10

Sick exploitation fodder

[barnabyrudge · 2/10 · 27 December 2002]

Imagine my excitement: having searched for this notorious exploitation item for years, I finally track it down whilst on vacation in San Francisco. I spend the rest of the vacation itching to get home to watch it. Then, when I finally get home I discover myself lumbered with possibly the worst, and easily the sickest of all the many JAWS rip offs that have ever been made. Even on an unintentionally funny level, it doesn't work. Rape and wanton carnage are not amusing matters.

The wafer thin plot is about some over sized fish monsters that rise from the ocean deep and bring mayhem to a West Coast fishing community. According to the scientist in the film (a miscast Ann Turkel who pronounces most of the scientific language incorrectly) they are evolving rapidly and need to mate with human women in order to take the next step in their evolutionary process. This is the excuse for some graphic rape sequences, involving naked women being mounted and abused by men in rubber suits. At the end, the monsters attack a seaside carnival, and seem to mysteriously forget their desire to rape and just start ripping off arms and legs and heads of anyone they can find, regardless of gender. The blood spurts out all over the place, but is totally the wrong shade of red to be convincing (it looks more like spare paint from London double decker buses!)

There is a sense of humour to this film, which prevents it from becoming too offensive, but isn't obvious enough to make it a fun experience. The acting is pretty bad, but I suppose if you're going to watch a Doug McClure film you expect that before it's even begun. The logic of the film is left generally untouched.... indeed it is hard to figure out how anyone could make such idiocy logical. This is a bad film and I'm saying that from the point of view of someone who was eager to see it. If you're just watching it because it's a rainy day and it's something you taped out of general curiosity, you'll probably enjoy it even less than me. Seriously: don't bother!

Truly nasty and exploitative Corman-highlight

[Coventry · 8/10 · 14 December 2004]

With some imagination, the best way to describe "Humanoids from the Deep" is calling it a nasty and perverted update of the "Creature from the Black Lagoon"-premise. That classic Jack Arnold featured oppressed sexual undertones while HftD is a downright outrageous and rancid flick. Not bad to see a woman directs a more or less anti-women movie…even though Corman hired someone else to shoot extra sleaze-footage. In many ways, it also feels like you're watching an Italian horror product! The style and atmosphere of this film are so silly, the violence is so explicit and the plot rips off several other genre classics. Don't be fooled, however, because this is an authentic Roger Corman production and definitely one of the most entertaining ones he ever was involved in. The plot handles about ecologically mutated fish that attack a little fish-town during the annual salmon-festival. The creatures, which evolve amazingly fast, kill the men and rape the women.

"Humanoids from the Deep" is an unbelievably entertaining gorefest! The monster-suits are some of the most efficient ever and they look truly despicable. The gratuitous nudity is – of course – a very redundant element but Corman surely knows that it sells. As mentioned before, this film rips off quite a few genre hits and cleverly uses eerie ideas (and music) from "Jaws" and "Alien". The make-up effects are simply disgusting … and that's a positive comment. Especially the grotesque finale, set during the yearly festival, contains some sickness every self-respecting horror fan should see. Even though the film could have used a little more humor to put it the wholesome into perspective a little, this surely is fundamental viewing for all fans of trash film-making. For some incomprehensible reason, Corman also put his money in made-for-TV remake during the 90's. That film might be fairly gore as well, but it entirely lacks the campy, light-headed fun of this original. Make sure you watch the right version!

No fat or ugly "chicks" were harmed during filming ..............

[merklekranz · 7/10 · 27 September 2010]

Sea creatures with incredibly good taste in women attack and ruin a perfectly good salmon festival. This well done monster movie follows the usual formula, strange animal killings, followed by several jump out of your seat false alarms, and finally the men in rubber suits attack. Amazingly, the humanoids are somewhat convincing. Unfortunately the hero, Doug McClure, is far less impressive. His performance can only be described as borderline boring. Vic Morrow makes a fine villain, and the nubile beauties who become fish fodder are quite attractive. It should be noted that no fat or ugly "chicks" were harmed during filming of "Humanoids From the Deep" - MERK

Something very Fishy is going on in Noyo

[sol1218 · 5/10 · 15 August 2005]

**SPOILERS** With the town of Noyo suffering from an economic downturn the only hope the residents have is for a fish cannery to be built there by the Canco Corp.

There's two major problems facing the citizens of Noyo and that's that the fish haven't been biting for months and the local Native American Indians are against the Canco Cannery being built on their ancient and ancestral homeland. Their now planning to have a class-action suit filed charging Canco of violating their fishing rights that would hold up construction for at least two years.

As the fight goes on between the Native Americans led by the determined and energetic Tommy Eagle, Anthony Penya,against the local townspeople let by the hot headed and boorish Hank Slattery, Vic Morrow, another factor in this dispute comes into the mix; the mysterious Humanoids from the deep. The Humnoids make their unwanted appearance in the movie by upending fisherman Deke Jensen's, Hoke Howell, boat and killing him and everyone on board. Out of the water and on dry land Humanoids then go on a rampage in and along the Noyo docks killing every dog, belonging to the fishermen, in sight.

With Johnny Eagel's dog being the only canine left alive Slattery accuses Johnny of committing these despicable and vicious killings. Later Johnny finds his dog dead obviously killed by Slattery and his goons. It looks like a major civil war is about to break out in Noyo with Slattery and a couple of his faithful followers about to set Johnny Eagle's home on fire and possibly kill him together with locals Jim Hill and his wife Carol,Doug McClure & Cindy Weintraub. It's then when the Humanoids makes themselves heard and seen by coming out in force from the sea to do their dirty, or fishy, work. We then have this free for all with the Humanoids and Jim's brother Tommy, Breck Costin, coming to Johnny Eagel's pad and ended up killed by the Fish-men.

This is another one of those experiment gone wrong with man, or in this case lady doctor Susan Drake (Ann Turkel), attempting to defy nature and create a better and more numerous Salmon population but instead creating a hoard of deadly sea Humanoids. The Fish-men are out to increase their numbers by attacking and raping young women and having them create, by being impregnated, a new race of sea-men that before you know it would conquer the world.

Ridicules looking sea monsters who are on the make with the young ladies of Noyo but the young ladies want to make it as fast as they can away from these Humanoids.Looking like their wearing over-sized rubber suits and batches of seaweed wrapped around their bodies the Humanoids seem to go into some kind of funky dance number at the end of the movie. When they all submerge and attack hundreds of people at a local off-shore carnival.

Hilarious final with the Humanoids slogging all over the place trying their best to be scary and with the people at this shindig purposely slowing down to make it look like the plodding Humanoids are able to catch up with and kill them. With the Humanoids defeated and driven from Noyo were given the biggest surprise in the movie. The knowledge that even though driven out of town the Humanoids still left their mark on humanity for future generations to suffer through.

Great Fun

[Michael_Elliott · 12 March 2008]

.Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

*** (out of 4)

Ultra low-budget but highly insane monster movie takes place in a fishing community where the fishermen start to notice that all the fish are missing. Soon the people are finding their dogs slaughters and before long people are missing. Fisherman Jim Hill (Doug McClure) begins to investigate with a scientist (Ann Turkel) and soon their worst fears are confirmed when they discover mutant fish creates that aren't just killing people but also trying to mate with women.

HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP came during a period where Roger Corman's studio was making an outrageous amount of movies that were pretty much throwbacks to the type of films that he made during the 1950s. CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA and MONSTER FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR are just two type of films but this one here is a terrific mixture of that old-fashion monster movie but of course it's brought up-to-date with some outlandish violence and of course all sorts of beautiful women naked.

If you hitting play on your disc player in hopes of seeing some sort of high art then you're going to be extremely disappointing because this isn't a well-made movie. There's also no question that on a technical level there are all sorts of flaws due to the budget but for the most part I thought Barbara Peeters handles the material quite well and succeeds at delivering fans what type of exploitation they'd want. The performances are good and the actors are entertaining enough to keep you glued to the story. McClure, Turkel and Vic Morrow are all fun.

Of course, it's the monsters that steal the show. The overgrown seaweed with the large brains and sharp teeth just look fabulous and they add to the fun. Being a Corman production we also get some rather memorable deaths including a man getting his head ripped off (but be sure you're watching the uncut version). The nudity is also on full display as Corman hired some good looking women to get naked and run around. So is HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP a classic? You bet it is. In regards to the chain of 80s monster movies it's certainly one of the very best.

Great 80's exploitation horror film.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 18 November 2004]

A large canning company wants to open a factory and create new jobs in the small fishing town of Noyo. Hank Slattery (Vic Morrorw) wants the cannery at any cost, even if that means murder. Johnny Eagle (Anthony Penya), is a native Indian who is trying to save his land from ecological devastation by opposing the cannery. Jim Hill (Doug McClure) and his wife Carol (Cindy Weintraub) are for the cannery because it'll be good for the town, and Jim in general is just one hell of a decent guy, you know the sort. Susan Drake (Ann Turkel) is a scientist working for the company, she's been trying to accelerate the growth of the local salmon. Recently the salmon have disappeared from the local waters, and some of the fisherman's dogs have been brutally killed. While messing around in the sea Peggy Larson (Lynn Theel) and Jerry Potter (Meegan King) are attacked by amphibious mutant reptilian monsters. Jerry has his face torn off while Peggy is dragged away, stripped and raped by one of the monsters. After raping another woman on a beach and killing her boyfriend the monsters attack Johnny just after his house is blown to pieces by Hank. Jim's brother Tommy (Breck Costin) and his girlfriend Linda (Denise Galik) are with him. Linda drives off in a pick-up truck to find help and is attacked and forced off a bridge by a couple of the monsters, her truck blows up, Linda is cooked. Back at Johnny's leveled house he saves Tommy from a couple of the monsters. Since it's his brother Jim seems to take charge. Susan decides to be honest with Jim and Johnny and tells them that they have created a serum called DNA-5, and this causes salmon to develop into an adult much quicker. She then confesses that three thousand of these genetically altered salmon escaped into the sea, and that a land capable fish like a coelacanth might have eaten the salmon and evolved generations in a matter of days or weeks. They speculate that they see man as a potential threat and they are raping girls to further their 'incredible evolution'. They must warn the town who are currently enjoying the 'salmon festival' taking place that night, that is until the mutant fish monsters turn up and start to kill and rape everyone in sight. Directed by Barbara Peters this is classic exploitation. The monsters designed and created by Rob Bottin look a bit dodgy when the camera stays on them for too long, but I'd rather have a guy in a rubber suit than CGI. Make up effects are good as well, but there isn't much blood or gore, a few bullet wounds, a ripped off head, some blood spurting slashed opened wounds and the gross looking ending scene. The monster rapes are a little distasteful, but highly memorable. The script credited to Frank Arnold, Martin Cohen and Frederick James has it's problems like the ending which feels rushed, almost unfinished. But is quite pacey and keeps things moving along nicely. Generally well made and should provide some entertainment for horror and exploitation fans like myself. It's short at just over 70 minutes and is certainly worth a watch, I'll recommend it.

Corman Cult Classic

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 5 February 2013]

Scientific experiments backfire and produce horrific mutations: half-man, half-fish which terrorize a small fishing village by killing the men and raping the women.

Apparently this film was offered to Joe Dante, who turned it down, and this opened the door for Barbara Peeters. I would rather it had been done by Dante, of course, but Peeters was a Corman veteran (making such films as "Eat My Dust!" with Ron Howard). This was to be her last feature film, and she subsequently worked in television and did commercials.

Allegedly, when Peeters turned in her film, Corman (the producer) did not find it exploitative enough and asked Oscar-nominated director Jimmy T. Murakami (who was working with Corman on "Battle Beyond the Stars" at the time) to shoot some additional footage of the humanoids attacking random (naked) women. The additional scenes are mixed in decently enough (you cannot tell they were not original unless you are looking for them), but add nothing of substance to the film. If the nudity helped sell the film, then it was another Corman brilliant move. But did it?

And it actually changes the subplot to some degree -- rather than just humanoids attacking a small fishing village in Washington, we now have them trying to breed with human women. This is more or less glossed over in the film as shot by Peeters.

Some questions are raised about the scientific realism of the picture. One might be surprised to learn that a marine scientist does not know how to pronounce "coelacanth". And there is the fundamental flaw that they presume evolution pushes species towards a more human state. That is certainly not true. We could also wonder why all the humanoids are apparently male, or why they would be attracted to humans, or how such a union could produce offspring... but at this point we should just stop thinking and realize the writers obviously did not care about basing the story in any kind of fact (and that is okay).

Where the film deserves credit is in its gamble to show the humanoids in full view and often. Generally, the rule is to reveal the creature only at the last moment, because the audience might laugh if they see the zippers. Or you can go the other way -- like "Octaman" -- and just expose the creature as soon as possible and just keep showing it. Here there is a bit of a compromise, though leaning in the "Octaman" direction. Luckily, these are some darn fine costumes and make for a good creature feature.

Lastly, the film has taken on a new life of its own not for what it is but for who was involved. This is far from Corman's best work (it is hard to top the days of Vincent Price and the Poe Films). But we now have the benefit of hindsight to see that the no-names on this film went on to be hugely successful, far overshadowing both Peeters and Corman. Composer James Horner ("Titanic") did the score, makeup artist Rob Bottin ("The Thing") made the suits, Mark Goldblatt ("Terminator") was an editor, and Gale Anne Hurd (also "Terminator") worked as a Production Assistant. It is no coincidence that James Cameron ("Terminator", "Titanic") was also a Corman vet. These connections alone make the film of great historical value, even if we can quibble on its critical merit.

But really, it is just a whole lot of mindless fun with blood, guts, and a one-man Indian tribe.

tasteless, even for a Corman picture

[Quinoa1984 · 4/10 · 29 July 2017]

You know your movie is in trouble when even the creature-on-girl stuff is sloppy.

Roger Corman always prided himself (at least up until a certain point in his career, and this is still his New World Pictures era when there was.... well, it was before Carnosaur and Sharktopus, let's put it that way) on having cheesy B-movie fun with things but also having some level of quality or interest in *something* else that could be there for the audience. That isn't there in Humanoids from the Deep.

This is where he tries, whether this was his call or incidental from the writers I don't know, to put in some liberal-type element into the story with the Native American Indian who's land is being screwed with and... who cares? A lot of this movie feels like wasted potential in that it has a who-gives-a-s*** plot, but then the creature effects (or, I should say, the three creature suits, one of them only being completed by Rob Bottin) are pretty good and when the climax happens there's some creative editing to make it seem like there are more when, of course, there aren't, with some decent gore (although it's almost ruined by the repeated 5-second loop of screaming sound effects which I wouldn't notice except it's repeated 100 times in ten minutes). Also, James Horner's score is fine and does its job as a serious thriller score.

But there's a reason this feels lazy on multiple fronts; the movie is a Frankenstein monster of editing, where, as Corman admits without compunction on the Shout Factory DVD interview, that he and the editors took the movie away from Barbara Peters because, as Corman put it, there wasn't enough rape that she shot (the kinder version is that she didn't shoot enough sex and violence, which also had a different title, whether she knew this would be changed from "Beneath the Darkness" to this one who knows). So on the one hand there's a passable-to-just-okay-and... no, there's not much logic to it on one hand (plus the performances are by actors who are barely B level, more like C), and on the other a sleazy bag of exploitation movie tricks that Corman and his assistant directors and editors pull to make it more tantalizing. Not to mention, of course, the fact that these mutated salmon-mansters do in fact inseminate the women which has, naturally, a payoff at the very, very end which, surprisingly, feels tacked on when all is said and done.

I could go into why a lot of the human story stuff doesn't work or lacks logic - chiefly why, after that opening where several people DIE IN A FIRE on a boat and no one investigates this (or the multiple dead dogs, which gets a shrug from the would-be excuses for Stephen King characters, as in they'd be in King stories if he lacked talent) - but I don't see the point. You may take to this schlock, but I didn't find enough to keep me really engaged past a certain point, despite the last twenty minutes trying to throw as much as it can at you. It certainly does try as far as lots of blood and gore and breasts (and some of those breasts, I'll readily admit, look splendid). But even at 79 minutes this is pushing it.

Perfect low budget entertainment

[Tsathoggua · 6/10 · 22 December 2001]

Humanoids From The Deep was one of the first "more gory" horror-films that I´ve seen in my early youth and this is why I remember it as one of my favourite horror-films ever. Well, in fact there´s no high quality standard in this Corman-production and the direction tries to catch the viewer´s attention with some (quiet evil)gore effects and nude girls being chased by funny-looking, costume wearing men. You just have to remind the plot of Jaws to know what´s going on here but nevertheless, Humanoids From The Deep is one of the films that people call "Good Clean Fun". Just take a look. 6 out of 10

Humanoids From The Deep

[adafrog · 2/10 · 13 August 2005]

This would have been a wonderful B monster movie. It has the cool monsters, the camera moving through kelp, the silly teenagers, and the 'concerned townspeople.' It even has the subplot of the typical oppressed individual wanting to protect his land/house/insert item here. However, a problem would be that at least half way through the flick, we still don't know where they've come from. Not that I care too much, but when it's in the tagline that they are failed experiments, wouldn't you expect to see more of that? Just pointing it out. And, the most grievous problem is that as noted in the 'trivia' section, the producer added more sex scenes because he wanted to make it 'more sexy'. And while, yes, gratuitous nudity is common in these sorts of flicks, the kind they added here is just offensive. The first real sex scene is of one of the monsters raping the woman. I can ignore a lot of things, but this isn't one of them.

Utter classic...despite how bad it is

[The_Celluloid_Sage · 6/10 · 6 April 2020]

From the possible king of B-Movie sleaze (though he only produced this title) comes a fun filled, schlocky sleaze-fest of campy bad acting fun. It's hard to believe that this eighties piece of exploitative trash was directed by a woman. Until you understand that Roger Corman got a second director in to film the more sleazy sections. And of course, it wouldn't be a Corman movie if he then didn't add even more sleaze in post-production (which can be seen on the Blu-ray deleted scenes section). A classic of the era if ever there was one.

Everybody's favourite B-movie hack Doug McClure appears here as Jim Hill. Now, if you know your seventies and eighties trash, you should realise long before the action starts that this is going to be gold. Gold in a truly terribly bad way. Anyway, the residents of this unmemorable little fishing village are gearing up for the annual salmon festival (yes, you read that correctly) and there is also a silly little sub-plot regarding some locals (led by the underrated Vic Morrow) who are wanting to remove a local who is opposed to the new cannery that is to be built.

But strange things are afoot in the rivers and waterways. Strange gooey, rubbery things. Dr. Susan Drake (Ann Turkel) arrives at the local town hall to give a speech on how her and her crew of scientist colleagues have been modifying the salmon to gain a bigger and greater yield! Yup folks, the old dastardly scientific experiments are at play again. Teens doing dumb things, adults living in a world of their own, experiments, what could go wrong?

Well this being an eighties Corman flick, pretty much everything. Boyfriends are spliced and diced, nubile teenage girls are ravaged often (maybe it's salmon breeding season) and generally the town starts to go to hell when the creatures make an appearance while the festival is in full swing. A couple of the creatures even take a liking to McClure's wife. This is a film that is in no way to be taken seriously at all. The effects are terrible and the acting is even worse.

If you're a fan of seventies and eighties schlock horror stuff then this won't disappoint, and will provide numerous unintentional laughs. Good old exploitative, rubbery, slimy and gooey fun all round.

The Sage's Rating: 6/10

This certainly ain't Disney!!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 1 April 2012]

An oceanside town is beset with marauding sea monsters. While this MIGHT sound like a typical schlock horror film from the late 50s or 60s, it's not--and this isn't just because it came out in 1980. This is because the film is VERY bloody and violent and has ample nudity tossed in to boot! And, it turns out the monsters don't just want to kill people--they want to rape all the hot women in town in order to reproduce!! According to IMDb, once the film was completed, the producer wanted MUCH more sex--and the director refused to do this. So, another director was hired to film additional sexy scenes! It certainly won't be mistaken for "Beach Blanket Bingo", "The Horror of Party Beach" or a Disney flick!

So is it worth watching? Well, in one way it certainly does. Despite this being a cheapo film, the special effects for the monster attacks are amazing--especially for 1980. The victims look as if they really were attacked by monsters--with heads torn in half and other giant bloody wounds that actually look very realistic. As for the monsters, unfortunately, they are not quite so realistic--and are a bit more like the crappy old monster film sorts of creatures than you might be expecting. It's obvious that they spent money in some places and made some significant cutbacks in others. Also, the acting isn't bad--and the film sports a few B-list actors with significant film credits behind them (Doug McClure and Vic Morrow). As for the rest of the film, it's probably not most folks' cup of tea--and is certainly NOT a film to show grandma or the kids!! These are very, very horny monsters and the movie is a bit like a horror film merged with soft-core porn. Now if you are into this sort of thing, it's reasonably well made but also beware that it is NOT a 'nice' horror film. Certain unwritten rules are clearly violated when the film begins--as a little kid is killed and soon lots of dogs are torn to pieces! Also, the nudity isn't exactly very sexy--so if you are looking for a lot of skin, you should look further. Overall, a semi-competent film that is entertaining in a very low-brow way. Not terrible but not especially good either.

Gill-men kill men... and rape women!

[BA_Harrison · 9/10 · 16 April 2007]

Check this out for a storyline: hideous fish-men rise from the ocean depths in order to mate with human females and thus speed up their rapid evolution (which has already been kick-started by them eating genetically mutated salmon). Now if that doesn't sound like B-movie monster heaven, then I don't know what does.

After fisherman Jim Hill (ageing action 'hunk', Doug McClure), native-American Johnny Eagle (Anthony Pena), and scientist Susan Drake (Ann Turkel), discover the randy web-footed mutants in a nearby network of caves, they must race to the fishing town of Noyo to warn the locals of the danger that awaits them.

A wonderfully silly and scary portion of fishy fun, Humanoids From The Deep is a must-see for all fans of rubbery creature features. Packed with numerous dubious delights, which include the raping of buxom babes by the seaweed-covered critters, loads of gruesome gory killings, the obligatory shower scene, and a terrific ending in which the beasts gatecrash a party with bloody results, the film entertains from the very start right up to its OTT splattery ending.

Produced by horror legend Roger Corman, HFTD manages to deliver its preposterous plot with just the right mixture of seriousness and knowing silliness (watch the ventriloquist scene for the loopiest moment, when the dummy's eyes flick back and forth as its owner is killed!). Ace make-up FX man Rob Bottin's work is top-notch—the monsters may be men in suits, but they are still effectively disgusting looking things, equipped with razor sharp fangs, weird extended fore-arms and obscenely bulging craniums—and the seasoned leads (including Vic Morrow as town bad-guy Hank Slattery) give credible performances. The big breasted girls in the movie are also great, gamely shedding their clothes at every chance and enthusiastically bouncing in front of the camera!

Unabashedly misogynistic, and very, very silly, 'Humanoids' is a gem of 80s horror and a real treat for fans of trash cinema—do yourself a favour and fish this one out soon!

Schlocky fun

[mrosesteed · 7/10 · 22 April 2019]

This movie had everything: gratuitous violence, gratuitous female nudity, raping and murdering fish men played by actors in monster suits, and a host of other schlock horror genre tropes. A borderline pastiche of more iconic films, including Jaws, Alien, and Creature from the Black Lagoon, Humanoids from the Deep recovers quickly from an awkward start and resolves into a cheap but entertaining exploitation movie that does not take itself too seriously.

The Shape of Rape

[Eclectic-Boogaloo · 3/10 · 21 April 2018]

I watched this movie without reading the description. So I must say that if you have any question as to whether you should see this or not, read the IMDB description. That's literally what this movie is. There's nothing more to it than that.

Early on there are some intriguing sociological and environmental story threads that are ultimately dropped in favor of nudity, rape, and murder.

The basic primal premise of this is well executed both on the page and on-screen... and the final product is just as ugly and detestable as the humanoid creatures featured in the film. And now that i'm on the subject of the creatures I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that they were pretty neat looking for the period and budget range the movie was made in. And the action was pretty decent too, especially in the third act.

I would only recommend this if you're a Roger Corman fan/completist, and are not in the company of children, easily offended woman, your parents, or anybody with taste.