The Island of the Fishmen (1979) User Reviews (49)

A fantastic mess

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 16 March 2019]

Guillermo del Toro often refers to Lucio Fulci as a director who "gets high on his own supply." Me? I'd love to know whatever Sergio Martino started mainlining around 1979.

Starting with 1971's The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Martino cut a bloody path through the giallo genre, aided and abetted by the ultra adorable Edwige Fenech and the glaring eyes of Ivan Rassimov, amongst others. Just the titles of them make me excited: All the Colors of the Dark, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, The Case of the Scorpion's Tail, Torso (also known as The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence), The Suspicious Death of a Minor...these are the movies that I adore.

Sergio then started jumping genres, making movies for whatever trend was hot. Sex comedies? Try Sex with a Smile with Fenech, Barbara Bouchet and Marty Feldman. Cannibal films? Sergio made The Mountain of the Cannibal God. Nature on the loose, kinda like Jaws? Here's The Great Alligator. Post-apocalyptic film? 2019: After the Fall of New York does that.

But then, Sergio starts getting nuttier. His movies start to combine genres into things you had no idea you wanted to see. Comedy movies with tons of cameos from soccer players like L'allenatore Nel Pallone. Hands of Steel, which combines The Terminator, The Road Warrior and arm wrestling ala Over the Top into a truly baffling cocktail. Then there's American Tiger, a movie where a gymnast battles the forces of televangelist/warthog Donald Pleasance when he's not pulling a rickshaw or having sex in the shower with his jeans still on.

Whatever supply Sergio started getting high on around 1978 or so, I want some of it. And I want it now. Because he takes that same lunatic zeal into this movie, which combines movies about amphibians, Atlantis and cannibals into one confusing yet arresting mess. How did you do it, Sergio?

Originally released as Isle of the Fishmen in his native Italy, this movie was acquired in the U.S. by New World Pictures. Miller Drake was hired to create a new opening for the film, which features Cameron Mitchell and Mel Ferrer looking for Atlantean treasure on an island before getting messily killed by fishmen. Retitled Something Waits in the Dark, the movie didn't do well.

Then, Jim Wynorski (Chopping Mall, Sorceress) recut and reedited the movie as Screamers, including a new scene where a man is turned inside out. Nearly half an hour of the Italian version of the film was chopped out to make room for the American footage in both movies.

Let's get into it: In the year 1891, Lieutenant Claude de Ross (Claudio Cassinelli, Zeus from Hercules, Murder Rock) survives two shipwrecks in a row to wash up on an uncharted island in he Caribbean. Soon, we meet the fishmen who start killing off anyone who comes near them, like the convicts Claude survived with. They run into the jungle, only to meet our villain, Edmond Rackham (Richard Johnson, Dr. Menard from Zombi).

Rackham also has Professor Ernest Marvin (Joseph Cotten!) and his daughter Amanda (Barbara Bach, future wife of Ringo Starr) captive, using the Professor's scientific abilities to create more amphibious monsters that he can control. Turns out he's told the Professor that these transformed humans can help save the world by creating people who can live off the ocean's resources. Sure. Whatever.

The truth? They've found Atlantis and these creatures are being used to steal the treasures of that sunken continent. Also: Rackham has another army, all voodoo warriors and a priestess named Shakira who keeps reading from her prophecy of the island's destruction.

Of course all hell is about to break loose. How couldn't it? There are so many ingredients in this stew, it just had to boil over at some point.

This movie is completely ridiculous, which is shorthand for me saying that I loved it. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I came to this wanting to see underwater creatures kill people and I got that, plus voodoo, Atlantis and Barbara Back. Thanks Sergio!

Sergio Martino would come back to this story sixteen years later, making a sequel called The Fishmen and Their Queen. You better believe I'm tracking that down.

I have a soft spot for the fishmen

[christopher-underwood · 6/10 · 11 January 2007]

Colourful if nonsensical tale set upon an uncharted island where Richard Johnson turns in a decent performance as a mad baddie searching for the lost gold of Atlantis and Barbara Bach doesn't do very much at all. The whole thing looks like much of it was made up as they went along with little bits of excitement every now and again to keep it going. There are some decent bits, I particularly like the home made diving bell contraption that lowers them down to peek at Atlantis and I have a soft spot for the fishmen themselves. Clearly copied from the 'Creature From The Black Lagoon', they are nevertheless pretty distinctive with their big fish eyes and facial colouring and especially effective when seen six or so at a time.

Island of the goggly eyes

[TheHrunting · 4/10 · 7 June 2011]

This ambitious film is set in the 19th century, gave a dab of action-adventure with mythology to boot, some shocks of horror and a nod to science fiction if that wasn't enough. "Island of Dr. Moreau" it wasn't entirely, though the initial premise is no doubt given nod to.

The zoom ins, dated synthesizers and blatantly overdubbed sound effects that usually came with campy Italian cinema can give these pictures charm like no other. However, the inconsistent creature effects and cringe worthy miniatures unabashedly shown in close-ups, instead of rolling in the fog or covering up with shadows, were just asking too much from a viewer's imagination. Most of these films have flaws from cheap production to speedy filmmaking, mirroring what was done in the '50s/'60s, but it's just a matter of how many you are willing to overlook (especially by '79). If really easy, this could be more up your alley. If not, take the detour.

The acting and even the English dubbing were of decent and serious caliber to moving this along without being one giant accidental farce; which leads me to believe the producers gave the green light with a tight cast but without realistically scaling back their overzealous production costs. The owner of the island was villainous though a charming and eccentric gentleman, his former Bond-girl (Barbara Bach of "The Spy Who Loved Me") wife was an exquisite treat to look at, and the guest of honor, that got there from a shipwreck, was a commanding and confident presence on screen.

"Island of the Fishmen," aka "Screamers," was not as mystifying as set out to be as an adult fantasy film. Applied to the goals the filmmakers had and their ability to realistically pull them off, the old idiom "less is more" usually works better in these cases, otherwise it's a challenge to step in with both feet and truly let yourself go minus the unintentional smirks. (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

Martino's minced Fishmen

[dargento · 25 January 2006]

I saw this film in a movie theater in Rochester, NY sometime in the mid 80s. I was fascinated by the tag line "You will see a man turned inside-out!" What I saw on the screen really didn't impress me too much, but, considering 15 minutes had been hacked out of it, I'm not surprised at how bad the finished product was.

In the years since then I've learned more and more about European filmmakers such as Martino, Argento, Fulci, Franco and others. In fact, I now have several Martino dvds and have been impressed by his talent. I hope to get my hands on a version of this movie that is truer to the director's vision. I'm sure it couldn't be too much worse than what I saw lo those many years ago.

Spaghetti Sci-fi??

[13Funbags · 3/10 · 7 September 2019]

When a movie has more than half of the actors dubbed in English(or 3 titles), you know it won't be too good. Why is it so hard to get the voice over people to sound like they understand what is going on? Why are there very obvious English mistakes when the voice has an American accent? Is it really that hard to make a movie? This movie could have been so much better.

... I Kind of Liked The SCREAMERS Version Better ...

[Steve_Nyland · 7/10 · 12 July 2006]

I finally got a chance to settle in and compare the two versions of this film currently going around -- First, the good old scummy, sleazy Embassy VHS print called SCREAMERS, and then a new fully restored Italian DVD by everyone's new favorite media company, No Shame of Italy.

The American adverts about "men turned inside out" is as everyone says, totally misleading, and indicative of a Roger Cormanized take on what otherwise would be a superior fantasy-adventure thriller for grown ups. The complete Italian version is a somewhat sprawling, well designed and deliberately paced take on "Island of Dr. Moreau", and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a sumptuous, handsome Euro Horror outing with a brain, good plotting, character development, location shooting, period costuming and sets, etc.

But I must admit that the 14 year old knucklehead weed puffer still lurking somewhere inside of me got a bigger kick out of the more lurid, sleazy and unkempt Roger Corman version, which has some nice over the top gore, a flashy but preposterous opening segment, and then the bulk of Martino's original film, albeit somewhat abridged to make room for Roger's idea of entertainment. The pacing was somewhat quicker, the shock sequences closer together, and you see just as much of Ms. Bach's fantastic form as you do in the extended Italian version.

I still don't have much of an idea about what the specific story concerns though: there are a number of plot twists and incidental characters that were somewhat hard to keep track of. A local voodoo subplot didn't help much, and it's funny how everything culminates in just another fistfight between the noble castaway prisoner and the mad scientist ... Perhaps a few more viewings are in order. I will say this: Fans of the movie should avail themselves of one of these PAL imports and take a look at what is actually a movie rather than just another murky old home video -- the widescreen shot compositions once again reveal that Martino had an eye for filling his screen with interesting stuff. Nobody gets their heads ripped off like in the SCREAMERS print, but it's still interesting stuff, and once again proof that while his standards may have been pretty much confined to the area around the gutter, Roger Corman new good trashy fun when he had it made for him, and side by side these are actually better movies than they had to be.

7/10

Castaways on deserted island Italian creature feature

[Wuchakk · 5/10 · 16 November 2019]

Survivors of an ill-fated French vessel (Claudio Cassinelli, et al.) end up on a nameless Caribbean isle run by a self-appointed despot (Richard Johnson) who supports the dubious experiments of a sickly professor (Joseph Cotton). Barbara Bach is on hand as the latter's daughter.

"Screamers" (1981) is the recut American version of the Italian "Island of the Fishmen" (1979), which adds an unnecessary and irrelevant 12-minute prologue to beef up the horror, as well other negligible changes. People usually say "Screamers" is the superior version, but I've never seen the original to compare the two.

In any case, this is an adventure/horror that mixes "Mysterious Island" (1961) and "The Island of Dr. Moreau" (1977) with the amphibian monsters of "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (1954) & "Humanoids from the Deep" (1980) yet with the Italian style (and cast) of "The Great Alligator" (1979). Whilst this is the least of these, it's not far off. If you're in the mood for deserted island adventure mixed with horror you can't go wrong.

Regrettably, except for Bach's face and the blonde in the prologue, there's little feminine appeal. The creators needed to study the wise usage of Beth Rogan in "Mysterious Island" (1961) and Dana Gillespie in "The People that Time Forgot" (1977).

The film runs about 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Sardinia & Nuoro, Italy, with interiors done in Rome. The fog-laden night prologue was shot in Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Los Angeles; the volcanic shots were done in Maui, Hawaii.

GRADE: C+

Screamers is a fun, cheesy adventure movie.

[Whovian · 7/10 · 28 December 1998]

Although the video box for many copies of this film claims it is about people turned inside out, this is a total lie. In fact, apart from the opening segment, the film isn't even a horror movie. With its sunken treasure, legions of fish people, and mad scientists, it's a lot more like a Doug McClure adventure movie. Obviously, this film is no work of art, but it's kind of fun to watch... Just be warned that the beginning is quite gory.

How misleading

[neon_chaos · 1/10 · 11 July 2006]

I watched this movie only because I was under the impression that I was going to be treated to a cheesy horror flick. I mean, look at the tag line: "They're men turned inside out! And worse... they're still alive!" Does that not scream cheesy horror movie to you? And the then there's the title itself-- "Screamers." What a perfectly apt title for a horror movie, I thought! Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that the real title was, properly translated, "The Island of the Fishmen."

So, about an hour into watching this I realized that this was not a cheesy horror movie at all-- it was a cheesy "adventure" story about slimy fish-men from Atlantis. "Men turned inside out"? No. There was nothing of the sort. I was grossly disappointed.

Damn you, misleading taglines! I want those 81 minutes of my life back!

Don't Judge A Film By It's Cover

[choppyno · 7/10 · 4 August 2005]

This movie surprised me. The box is misleading, the tagline is misleading and the costumes and tone of the film are misleading. The movie is quite gory, well-acted and beautifully shot. The special-effects are top-notch and seem to be ahead of their time, until you realize this movie came out in 1979, not in 1963 like it's tone would suggest. It is a unique take on the Dr. Moreau story, and one of the better versions filmed. The first fifteen minutes are the highlight and the most shocking, but the film doesn't ever really fall apart. Definitely worth-seeing if you are a fan of dramatic costume/horror classics and gore-fests.

Oh Argh! SKIP IT

[snausworldlove · 1/10 · 11 April 2006]

OK by the time you read this I MIGHT have stopped crying. This movie was so horrible as to be quite vexing. The creatures are kinda cute, but the only really good thing about the movie was the growing attachment among the prisoners and their guard after getting marooned on this daffy island. Even seeing Barbara Bach with her hair all riffled was no payoff for buying this sterling bit of poop. She goes about with a whispery I've-never-used-my-voice-before breathiness that just don't wash when one is screaming bloody murder. (Hey the leading man was cute too but I'm still not assuaged.) This is a cry-into-your-beer ripoff of the good ole Island of Dr. Moreau. Poor Richard Johnson, who was surely born for better things, is just unrelievedly bad as the bad guy. I mean, HOW bad can a BAD guy BE? (Ask Richard Johnson). Joseph Cotten tries hard not to look embarrassed as he staggers through his cameo appearance. In the name of all that's holy, don't rent this darned bomb.

Barbara Bach has never been more beautiful!

[gein · 8/10 · 28 January 2000]

Screamers is an Italian fantasy film (L'Isola degli Uomini Pesce) bought by Roger Corman and released through his New World Pictures. Of course Corman has to carve his initials on it by having one of his lackeys (Dan T. Miller) direct some additional gore footage before he has it released in the states.

L'Isola degli Uomini Pesce is a very entertaining retelling of the Island of Dr. Moreau. It is 1891 and Claudio Cassinelli is shipwrecked on a mysterious island with a few newly escaped convicts. Claudio comes across the stellar Barbara Bach and Richard Johnson. Johnson plays the dastardly Edmund Rackham: a man who is able to manipulate scientist Joseph Cotton into turning the local native population into amphibious deep-sea diving creatures, (they look like a cross between the Black Lagoon creature and one of The Humanoids From the Deep), by convincing Cotton that the mutations are being created for the highest of scientific and humanitarian motives.

Having discovered the lost city of Atlantis, Rackham is using the amphibious creatures to loot its treasures. Sexy Barbara Bach plays Cotton's daughter who has a psychic link with these mutations. In one memorable scene, Bach takes a midnight swim with these mutants wearing only a thin white cotton dress that leaves little to the imagination. Claudio discovers one of the convicts he has befriended has been turned into a gill-creature and then all Hell breaks loose.

Filmed at the same time and in the same location as Zombi 2, Richard Johnson didn't even have to change suits between films. The house where the experiments take place is the same house Johnson uses to conduct experiments in Zombi 2. Talk about economic filmmaking!

The additional footage features a few bloody beheadings, (way to go Roger!), and a laughably bad Cameron Mitchell doing his best pirate imitation. All that's missing is the parrot.

Spanish title: Le Continent Des Hommes Poissons

Some Cheezy Fish With Your Popcorn?

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 5 February 2013]

Previously, my respect for the brothers Martino--director Sergio and producer Luciano--had been a result of the quartet of excellent giallo films that the pair had come out with from 1971-'72: "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail," "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh," "All the Colors of the Dark" and (hang on for one of the greatest titles in cinema history!) "Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key," those last three starring the so-called Queen of Giallo, Edwige Fenech, girlfriend of Luciano at the time, the lucky bastid! (I still have not seen the Martinos' 1973 giallo entitled "Torso," which is supposed to be excellent.) But, as most of their fans know, the brothers often ventured outside of the realm of giallo, and with some surprisingly good results, if their 1979 effort, "Island of the Fishmen," is any example. Originally released under the Italian title "L'isola degli uomini pesce" (and later, with additional gore footage shot here in the States, as "Screamers"), the film turns out to be a pleasingly old-fashioned, Saturday matinée-style monster bash, with a hissable villain in black, a hunky good guy dressed in white, a beautiful damsel in distress, a mad scientist, jungle natives, bug-eyed creatures and an explosive climax. What kid--or kid at heart--could ask for more?

In the film, a prison ship sinks in what the viewer infers to be the Caribbean, in the year 1891. Only Lt. Claude de Ross (charismatically played by Claudio Cassinelli) and a half dozen or so convicts manage to survive, their lifeboat washing ashore on a mysterious, volcanic island. The men are quickly done in by various island perils (poison water, staked pitfalls and, most especially, some lumbering, bipedal, amphibious creatures!), until only the lieutenant and two others remain to encounter the island's HUMAN inhabitants: Edmond Rackham, who is exploiting the island creatures in furtherance of his own schemes (deliciously well played by Richard Johnson, who had starred in the scariest movie ever made, "The Haunting," back in '63, as well as Lucio Fulci's cult item "Zombie" that same year); a beautiful young woman who the viewer automatically assumes is his wife, Amanda (Barbara Bach, apparently game for some physical stunts here); a half-mad biologist (the great Joseph Cotten, here cashing a paycheck for perhaps three minutes of overacted screen time); and a whole gaggle of voodoo-practicing natives, who carry out Rackham's every wish. And before long, treasure hunting, the lost continent of Atlantis, and a volcanic blowup (has there EVER been a volcano shown in a film that failed to eventually blow up?) are all conflated into this truly wild and crazy tropical stew....

"Island of the Fishmen" features surprisingly solid acting from its three leads, endearingly cheezy monster effects (the fishmen look like something out of an old "Outer Limits" episode; for example, the monsters in the 12/23/63 episode entitled "Tourist Attraction") and a fairly thrilling windup, as the titular monsters go on a murderous frenzy when the island tears itself to bits. Sergio's direction is imaginative and stylish, as his giallo fans might have expected, and the music by Luciano Michelini is by turns lovely and gripping. I don't want to oversell the film, which in essence is a somewhat hokey schlockfest, but darn it, for those of us who love their BEMs (bug-eyed monsters) and their matinée material of this ilk, the picture should prove a nicely winning diversion. Think Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" crossed with H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and you might start to get an idea of the pulpy fun in store. Further good news regarding the film is that its current DVD incarnation, from an outfit apparently called Mya, is a nice one, with a very decent print on display and proper framing of the film's CinemaScope image. Sadly, no subtitles have been provided, but a very adequate job of dubbing does serve to compensate. Break out the popcorn, sit down with your 8-year-old nephew, and enjoy!

And I was so looking forward to seeing a man turned inside out.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 24 July 2014]

I first read about Sergio Martino's Island of the Fishmen in Chas Balun's '80s book Horror Holocaust, where it went by the alternative title of Screamers. Since Balun's book was all about the splatter, I immediately added the film to my mental list of must see gore movies, but have only recently been able to track down a copy of the film (via YouTube). Unfortunately, what I had forgotten was that Screamers, released by Roger Corman's New World company, was a re-edited version of Martino's movie, with extra footage added to make it more marketable to the US market, and that the original version, which I had found, was virtually blood-free!

The untampered Island of The Fishmen is a formulaic Jules Verne-style adventure in which a small group of castaways are washed up on an uncharted island where the owner Edmond Rackham (Richard Johnson) has creating half-man/half-fish mutants in an effort to retrieve a valuable lost treasure from the submerged ruins of Atlantis. There is lots of dreary talking and plenty of unremarkable action, but graphic violence is limited to a man having his face clawed and another falling into a trap full of spikes, making it far from the gloriously gory epic I had long hoped it would be. The film doesn't even make the most of the presence of Bond beauty Barbara Bach, who remains fully clothed throughout (unless you count her strip down to Victorian underwear, which practically covers her entire body anyway!).

Shot in the same tropical locations as Lucio Fulci's Zombie, and with atmospheric cinematography from Giancarlo Ferrando, Martino's film has the look and feel of many a classic Italian gorefest, but remains a remarkably dry affair, and while the fishmen themselves are entertaining thanks to their ridiculous design and expressionless faces, the film as a whole is a rather tedious affair. I guess I'll just have to satisfy my yearning for excessively gory fish-man horror with repeat viewings of Corman's Humanoids Of The Deep (1980)—at least until I can get my hands on a copy of 'Screamers'.

surprisingly not awful

[moonisgod · 5/10 · 2 July 2000]

Screamers was supposed to be about men turned inside-out. So said the box. But it turned out to be about fish-men, which was pretty good anyway. Decent effects for a cheesy movie. And it was very very cheesy. Not shocking horror cheesy, but pure mad scientist-movie cheesy. It's about escaped convicts who land on an island of fish men run by the scientist and his obligatory beautiful daughter. The fish-men costumes are laughable and the storyline has some flimsy turns, but it's actually not a movie that makes you feel sorry for renting it. Good if you're in the mood for simple cheese.

Much better than the current average rating of 4/10 on IMDb suggests

[GSeditor · 7/10 · 25 April 2011]

This is a very enjoyable lost island adventure movie. A group of men are shipwrecked on an island ruled by a white "master" accompanied by an attractive white woman (Barbara Bach), inhabited by voodoo-practicing natives as well as some CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON type "fish men". The plot is silly (as in most movies of this type), the acting and the lines are cheesy in most cases, but it is a v-e-r-y polished-looking effort. The scene of Barbara Bach secretly leaving her manor at dawn (or dusk), crossing a shallow lake, and feeding the fish men a potion on the seashore is especially very poetic looking. The undersea footage of the ruins of Atlantis is also very impressive. One minor defect: the voodoo subplot seems to go nowhere. Surely, there are elements of THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU in the plot, but I think the idea to make this movie was kicked off by previous year's WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS from Britain. By the way, I think the "man whose inside turned outside" tag-line in the movie's US publicity refers to the scene of a man in the lab tank who is slowly being mutated towards a fish man.

Fun Monster Flick

[Michael_Elliott · 24 June 2016]

Screamers (1980)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Lieutenant de Ross (Claudio Cassinelli) is leading some convicts through a rough sea when they end up washing up on a mysterious island. The island has a volcano but that's not what the men needs to be afraid of. No, it's the half-man, half-fish monsters that are ripping at each of them.

Sergio Martino's ISLAND OF THE FISHERMEN was a tad bit too boring for American artists so producer Roger Corman bought the film, cut it down and then added about twelve minutes worth of new footage at the start of the picture. This new footage features a lot of gory deaths and it certainly gets the picture off to a good start. The American version, known as SCREAMERS, became a huge hit at the drive-in thanks to its promotional trailer but it should be noted that an earlier version played theaters under a different title and didn't do much business.

You've gotta love Corman.

As far as SCREAMERS goes it's a pretty good little film. It certainly seems HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP borrowed a little from the Martino film but that film is basically just CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON meets THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. I think the added scenes actually help a lot and especially if you're a gore fan because there are a couple bloody and graphic decapitations. The original stuff in Martino's version is certainly mildly entertaining but the lack of gore, violence and nudity makes it easy to see why Corman wanted to spice it up.

The film features a terrific cast with Cassinelli making for a very good lead and we've also got Barbara Bach, Richard Johnson and Joseph Cotten. The American version also features Cameron Mitchell and Mel Ferrer in small scenes.

SCREAMERS certainly isn't a masterpiece but the cast, the added gore effects and the rather fun monsters make it worth seeing.

Man that video cover made this look like it would be good.

[Aaron1375 · 5/10 · 30 May 2009]

Yes, the video cover of this movie made me want to watch this film as a child. It was called "Screamers" on this particular cover with the tagline "Men turned inside out!". It even featured this warped looking skeleton on the cover as well that made all sorts of cool gory images run through my mind. Perhaps some sort of movie about some strange virus that caused a person's flesh to burn off, maybe a movie about undead zombies that are more bloody looking than what you usually get, a science experiment gone incredibly wrong and now strange men with the flesh dripping off their bones go on the rampage. Yes, all these thoughts ran through my mind, one that did not was fish guys on some island with virtually no gore and all bore. This movie is really more like the Island of Dr. Moreau than anything else and quite frankly that movie bored me too, it is way to much scientist and not enough killing for my tastes. These films are to much figure stuff out and not enough blood for my tastes. Yes I know, I have strange tastes, but I can not help it, I like my horror movies either really bloody or fast moving and exciting this movie is really neither.

Nice variation of the Dr. Moreau novel

[udar55 · 7/10 · 22 June 2008]

Lt. Claude (Claudio Cassinelli) and several prisoners from his sunken ship wash ashore on an island owned by Edmond Rackham (Richard Johnson). Following a few random prisoner deaths, Rackham takes in Claude and his two remaining prisoners. Luckily for everyone, Barbara Bach just happens to be on the island too! Unluckily, there are some crazy fishmen who like to kill people.

This Italian produced exploiter seems to have it all - a touch of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON mixed with DR. MOREAU with a dash of WHITE ZOMBIE voodoo and Atlantis stuff. Despite some wonky looking fishmen costumes, the film does benefit from some beautiful location photography and a nice twist about halfway through. All of the actors are good and Joseph Cotton even pops up as a old biologist. Director Sergio Martino handles himself well enough as there is action ever 10 minutes or so. That can't be said for his belated follow-up THE FISHMEN AND THEIR QUEEN (1995), easily one of the wackiest and most off-base sequels since HIGHLANDER II.

Fishmen, Joseph Cotten and the lost city of Atlantis?

[JasparLamarCrabb · 4/10 · 16 February 2010]

aka ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN...It's exactly what the title tells you...an island inhabited by fishmen. Shipwrecked doctor Claudio Cassinelli and crew land on the island, they're either picked off by the fishmen or roped into working for treasure hunting lunatic Richard Johnson. Cassinelli discovers that Johnson, who believes he's found the lost city of Atlantis, has been keeping disgraced scientist Joseph Cotten and his daughter Barbara Bach hostage for 15 years so the fishmen can uncover a treasure trove beneath the sea. Cotten, of course, is a complete madman. Bach and Cassinelli have great chemistry. This insanity was directed by Sergio Martino and is not, surprisingly, without merit. It's fast paced, reasonably well acted and the fishmen look pretty convincing (though it's unlikely anyone could prove that these things DON'T look like actual fishmen). There's an excellent music score by Luciano Michelini.

Enjoyable adventure/horror hybrid

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 7 November 2020]

Getting shipwrecked after a vicious storm, a group of soldiers finds themselves stranded on a strange island full of vicious traps and a mysterious owner who invites them to stay until they can recuperate and leave, but upon learning the true nature of what's in store for them must try to escape the island and a race of fish-creatures.

This was a highly serviceable and enjoyable creature feature. Among it's better features is the fun mixture of genres this one manages to feature throughout here, mixing elements together in a rather frenetic matter that still retains a nice watchability to it. Focusing on an adventure-film scenario in the first part where the group exploring the island and coming across the series of pitfalls and traps around the island, this comes across as a fine way of introducing the characters before getting to the horror elements found in the second half as the introduction of the killer fish-people slowly make their way into the storyline. Even with them introduced, the film doesn't stop there with the controlling-host storyline keeping everyone in line under his iron-fisted rule while even managing to bring together a slave-like voodoo cult and other elements into this scenario that carries on the adventure-based setup with the discovery of the underwater civilization and quest for removing everything contained inside. It's a strong and generally enjoyable set up with all the different elements coming into play within the film. Likewise, the film also gets a lot to like with the inclusion of all the action on display. With the adventure scenario offering some fun in the various traps that wipe out most of the crew or the confrontations with the voodoo guards on the island, there's a lot to like here before getting to the final half where it manages to utilize the adventure-film scenario for even more action where it falls into the sense of spectacle that's not usually shown in the genre. With the finale mixing a wholesale destruction of the island with several attempts to flee the area held up by the obstructions caused by the fish-creatures rebelling against the controller or his attempts to remain so makes for a highly enjoyable series of scenes where the stunt-work and special effects work is impressive and enjoyable as everything going on at once allows for some exciting times. With plenty of good looks at the creatures and their cheesy look which is all added together to bring about a fun time, this is a pretty fine set of positives to hold this one up overall. There are some minor issues to be had here. One of the biggest elements holding this one back is a highly underwhelming pace that tends to focus more on those outside elements than what true genre fans would be willing to accept. The creatures, though introduced quite early in the storyline, are never a true threat in the sense of hunting the humans down and killing them one-by-one.like what most would assume this story would devolve into. Rather, the focus here is on spelling out the ulterior motives of the island owner and his purpose for having them there which goes along with the burgeoning romantic relationship with the daughter that really slows the pacing down to a crawl for those expecting non-stop thrills involving creatures hunting people on a strange island. With the use of the adventure formula in the later half that keeps them off-screen for long periods of time without featuring much to raise up the intensity. As well, there's something to be said for how some of the film's cheapness is on display, from the obvious miniature work for the sets used during the destruction scenes or the goofy look of the fish-creatures that are used, it does lower this one slightly.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

Just Miss It

[charlieoso · 3/10 · 7 September 2018]

Two things I knew about Barbara Bach before I saw this movie were she was my favourite Bond Girl during the Roger Moore-era as Agent XXX Major Anya Amasova in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME and is married to a certain drummer from a certain little band called The Beatles in Ringo Starr. I am glad she will not be remembered for her wooden performance is this silly late 70 sci-fi yarn.

A ship carrying prisoners is destroyed after it comes face to face with a troupe of...fishmen. A medical officer played by Claudio Cassinelli (who looks like an Italian Stacy Keach) and four prisoners wash ashore on a mysterious island. Even if Keach was in this one I don't think he could have saved this one. Anyways, they meet a hubby and wife who rule the island and seem to be trying to use the fishmen for their own personal scheme. Also starring Richard Johnson (who does quite well in the villainous role, a plus to the movie) and old veteran Joseph Cotten who plays Professor Ernest Marvin.

The effects in this one are super cheesy and in turn makes this either unintentionally funny or just bad. I think if they played this movie like another horror/sci-fi of this era and turned to humor like HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP it may have been better. Not suggesting this should be littered with the nudity that was contained in that film, but just making fun of some of the material. This movie is played about as straight as you can play it and it is quite unconvincing. Everyone involved with this one gets a mulligan in my opinion.

missing footage?

[PeterBradford · 8/10 · 23 May 2009]

I saw this movie on television as SCREAMERS and loved it. I heard an interesting story about this film. When Roger Corman released it to drive-ins in the summer of 1981, his trailer department sent out an advance trailer which was not actually footage from the film. It was allegedly footage of a naked woman being chased around a laboratory set by a monster. During the film's opening at drive-in's, irate customers complained the did not see the movie they paid to see. Theater owners called Corman and said their customers felt ripped off. So Corman had to run off copies of the footage, and send the positive film to theater owners to splice into the film themselves. Since the footage was never part of the film negative, it has not appeared in any video, DVD or television broadcast. Has anyone ever seen this footage? Anyone who saw this film at a drive-in in the summer of 1981 remember this?

It's okay, I guess.

[I_Ailurophile · 6/10 · 28 August 2022]

The nice thing about movies like this is that it's easy to just turn off one's brain and enjoy the romp, however much we can. It's unquestionably better that way, more or less a requirement, because it's also very easy to criticize the feature from top to bottom and lose the forest for the trees. This way, one can safely ignore the fact of 'Screamers' being a re-edited version of another re-edited version of Italian horror flick 'Island of the fishmen'; which rendition one is actually watching is of no real consequence. One could point out all the issues one likes - the film doesn't care. It's only here to have a fun-scary time (definitely not scary-scary). Mileage will vary from one viewer to the next, but if nothing else, I've seen worse.

I'll say this much for it: the visuals are pretty great. The filming locations are gorgeous, and the production design and art direction aren't truly any less so. The blood and gore effects are splendid; the hair and makeup work, and costume design (even including the fishmen, in my opinion) are quite fetching. The stunts look good. I also appreciate the original score of Luciano Michelini, and the additional themes of Sandy Berman; the music is commendably invigorating, even if sometimes melodramatic. The cast generally are fine; most notable are Barbara Bach, the token female character in this flick - and above all Richard Johnson, who turns in a performance more solid and earnest than the picture required.

With all that said, if one were to meaningfully assess it as a work of cinema, then 'Screamers,' also known as 'Island of the fishmen,' also known as I don't care, is plagued with troubles. The pacing is laborious; even at only 90 minutes or so, plot development is lagging, and it's difficult to extract entertainment therefrom. The English dubbing is less than perfect. And the writing is altogether just kind of bland: from characters, to dialogue, to the story at large, I don't believe there's one element that we haven't seen before; there's clear inspiration from very recognizable past titles. Whether one wishes to pin the responsibility on the screenwriters or on director Sergio Martino, some individual scenes are just rather unconvincing; some feel outright forced. I also struggle to take the movie seriously with each utterance of the name of Johnson's character Rackham, as I'm reminded of the defanged expletive "rackum frackum."

There are, genuinely, some good ideas here. I just don't know how much they matter in the grand scheme of things, not least as the sense of adventure and horror is prioritized. Make no mistake, that priority is very deliberate and keeping in line with most any real point of reference. To be fair, too, anyone who stumbles upon any given version of this surely knows full well what they're getting into. Nonetheless, the result is invariably the same. 'Screamers' is a suitable good time, and it's reasonably well made as it is provided you don't think too hard about it. There are many much better ways to spend your time, but certainly far worse, too. Don't ever go out of your way to watch this, but if you happen to come across it, it's a passable way to spend an hour and a half.

Starts out in very brutal fashion, then becomes kind of mundane...

[Aaron1375 · 5/10 · 18 December 2019]

Watched this film as a kid and remember that I was disappointed by it being about fish people rather than Men Turned Inside Out! Then watched it again recently with my wife and was completely baffled by how awesome the opening was as people are killed in brutal fashion as heads are ripped off, there is a corpse that opens its eyes and all sorts of nasty stuff is happening. Apparently, this is added to the film for the American cut, which makes sense as the fish men the rest of the film are way less brutal in their attacks as that opening sequence. After this newly added section, the rest of the movie is a bit dull in places, though it has a pretty good ending.

The story has a group landing on an island and promptly getting killed, but never mind them as they are not important. The boat full of prisoners, on the other hand that wrecks upon the island is as the prisoners and the doctor upon the boat that sunk (they were on a lifeboat) soon start searching the island and have the worst luck ever as they encounter poisonous water, spear traps and strange monsters! Soon, the doctor and two others find a strange house and this is where the film slows down immensely as the doctor has many conversations with his host as something strange is going down!

Honestly, what is apparently, the part of the film Corman did was way better than the Italian film, though I did like when the prisoners first arrived at the island and the ending. Just so many boring moments in-between that. Barbara Bach just does not look as good as she did in The Spy Who Loved Me or that Caveman movie, but she is still attractive. I was hoping she would show more skin, but no such luck.

I find it a bit funny that it is usually the Italians that make films that are gorier and such, but here we are the ones who added the gore and horror. I was wondering why the film seemed almost pure horror and then switched to more of an action film that just happened to have monsters. It was not all bad, but I would prefer the tone that was set up by the beginning Corman did.