Island of the Fishmen

Watch: Island of the Fishmen

6/1/19811h 33m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Killers from the deep guard the forbidden treasures on... ~

Overview:

After their prison ship sinks in the Caribbean, a group of prisoners and a doctor wash ashore on a seemingly deserted island. They soon discover a strange couple, who invite them to stay at their house. While the prisoners plan an escape, the doctor does some investigating, and soon finds out just what the pair are really doing, and why the prisoners keep disappearing mysteriously.

Director:

Sergio Martino

Status:

Released

Language:

Italian

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

sea monster

Cast

Barbara Bach

~ as ~

Amanda Marvin

Claudio Cassinelli

~ as ~

Lt. Claude de Ross

Richard Johnson

~ as ~

Edmond Rackham

Beryl Cunningham

~ as ~

Shakira

Joseph Cotten

~ as ~

Prof. Ernest Marvin

Franco Javarone

~ as ~

Jose

Roberto Posse

~ as ~

Peter

Giuseppe Castellano

~ as ~

Skip

Franco Mazzieri

~ as ~

Francois

Cameron Mitchell

~ as ~

Decker (US version)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

Wuchak
Written 5 year(s) ago
5
Castaways on deserted island Italian creature feature

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+