Humanoids from the Deep

Rating:
Summary: fish men want our women!
Review: Beware all ye expecting the 1980 version of this movie starring Doug McClure! This is a 1996 remake for cable (Showtime), its' real title being Roger Corman Presents 'Humanoids From the Deep'.

This drecky mess stars Emma Samms and David Caradine, along with a number of less noticeable actors who currently reside in the 'where are they now' file. The plot involves a big business/government cover up (gee, how very original), toxic chemicals in the ecosystem, and a small, coastal town under siege by hungry, mutated fish men.

Apparently the government contracted a private company to splice the genetic material of fish with that of convicted felons in an effort to create a race of amphibian soldiers. Sounds like a reasonable idea, right? Anyway, the government isn't happy with the results, so they terminate the project, but some of the fish men escape.

Cut to a small, coastal fishing village. Canco, the major fish catching and canning company in the area, is responsible for dumping a biohazardous growth hormone into the waters to embiggen the fish. Actually, it's one particularly dislikable guy named Bill who is responsible. David Caradine, who plays Wade Parker, also works for the company (seems like he and the evil Bill run the company), finds out what's going on and demands that the dumping stop. Bill agrees, but only to placate Wade as there's good money to be made in those big fish.

Enter a nameless eco-group, whose leader, Matt, is played by Justin Walker. This group knows chemicals are being dumped into the waters, and are protesting Canco. Later they videotape Bill and his cronies at work, pollutin' the waters. No real attempt was made by Bill or his evil lackeys to cover up what they were doing, as they did it in broad daylight, with huge, yellow drums with biohazardous markings clearly visible, so it's no big surprise they got caught on tape. Also, it seems this growth hormone is attracting the mutated fish men, as they need the chemical to survive.

After the death of a little boy, completely ripped off from a much better movie, the fish men start to make their presence known. Their attacks become more brazen, and we soon find out that they are kidnapping, not killing, local females for mating purposes. Yuck....Damn those amorous fish men, stealin' our wimmen!

Man this movie had a lot of problems...worst being the inept direction. The actors, most being fairly capable, seemed totally mismanaged. An extremely poor script and plot certainly didn't help matters any. The thing that really annoyed me was how so many technical aspects were glossed over, like the DNA splicing, effects of toxic chemicals on the environment, the military involvement, etc. No real thought was given to any of these aspects, instead skimming the surface of theses many themes to aid (hinder) the plot along. Mutations, DNA splicing, and conspiracies being the crux of the movie, it's painfully obvious that the writer threw this stuff in the story, without having any real knowledge to support it. And the sets...the interiors were so obviously fake, making parts of the movie seem like a high school production. The characters' motivations are all over the place, causing the actors to appear indifferent to events that should mean more to them than they do. A specific example is when Wade's teenage daughter is taken by the fish men, and presumed dead. Wade doesn't seem all that broken up about it. At some points he does seemed upset, but given that your offspring may have been eaten by a mutated fish man, I'd figured you'd be pretty horrified and suitably despondent, but not so here.

On a positive note, the creatures did look kinda cool, but it was obvious that the suits (no CGI here) allowed for very little mobility, hindering the action in their limited screen time. The suits were fairly detailed, but I think if they were simplified, allowing more mobility, they would have been much more effective. The gore was needless, and the blood looked painfully fake.

In the cheap thrills department, there are a couple of brief nudity shots, if that's your thing, but they were unnecessary, and only served to further exemplified the total lameness of the movie. "Hey, we know this movie stinks, but here's some breasts!" Emma Samms, never got au natural, retaining some of her dignity, but not much.

There are some extras, including a director's commentary (!?) which I was interested in hearing, but was unable to sit through this movie again so soon. Also, there are some trailers for other movies, including one for a movie called Watchers 3. In watching this, I was amazed at how blatantly this feature ripped off the movie Predator. I don't mind producers copping ideas off better movies, but at least try to make it seem not so glaringly obvious. Geez...

Rating:
Summary: fish men want our women!
Review: Beware all ye expecting the 1980 version of this movie starring Doug McClure! This is a 1996 remake for cable (Showtime), its' real title being Roger Corman Presents 'Humanoids From the Deep'.

This drecky mess stars Emma Samms and David Caradine, along with a number of less noticeable actors who currently reside in the 'where are they now' file. The plot involves a big business/government cover up (gee, how very original), toxic chemicals in the ecosystem, and a small, coastal town under siege by hungry, mutated fish men.

Apparently the government contracted a private company to splice the genetic material of fish with that of convicted felons in an effort to create a race of amphibian soldiers. Sounds like a reasonable idea, right? Anyway, the government isn't happy with the results, so they terminate the project, but some of the fish men escape.

Cut to a small, coastal fishing village. Canco, the major fish catching and canning company in the area, is responsible for dumping a biohazardous growth hormone into the waters to embiggen the fish. Actually, it's one particularly dislikable guy named Bill who is responsible. David Caradine, who plays Wade Parker, also works for the company (seems like he and the evil Bill run the company), finds out what's going on and demands that the dumping stop. Bill agrees, but only to placate Wade as there's good money to be made in those big fish.

Enter a nameless eco-group, whose leader, Matt, is played by Justin Walker. This group knows chemicals are being dumped into the waters, and are protesting Canco. Later they videotape Bill and his cronies at work, pollutin' the waters. No real attempt was made by Bill or his evil lackeys to cover up what they were doing, as they did it in broad daylight, with huge, yellow drums with biohazardous markings clearly visible, so it's no big surprise they got caught on tape. Also, it seems this growth hormone is attracting the mutated fish men, as they need the chemical to survive.

After the death of a little boy, completely ripped off from a much better movie, the fish men start to make their presence known. Their attacks become more brazen, and we soon find out that they are kidnapping, not killing, local females for mating purposes. Yuck....Damn those amorous fish men, stealin' our wimmen!

Man this movie had a lot of problems...worst being the inept direction. The actors, most being fairly capable, seemed totally mismanaged. An extremely poor script and plot certainly didn't help matters any. The thing that really annoyed me was how so many technical aspects were glossed over, like the DNA splicing, effects of toxic chemicals on the environment, the military involvement, etc. No real thought was given to any of these aspects, instead skimming the surface of theses many themes to aid (hinder) the plot along. Mutations, DNA splicing, and conspiracies being the crux of the movie, it's painfully obvious that the writer threw this stuff in the story, without having any real knowledge to support it. And the sets...the interiors were so obviously fake, making parts of the movie seem like a high school production. The characters' motivations are all over the place, causing the actors to appear indifferent to events that should mean more to them than they do. A specific example is when Wade's teenage daughter is taken by the fish men, and presumed dead. Wade doesn't seem all that broken up about it. At some points he does seemed upset, but given that your offspring may have been eaten by a mutated fish man, I'd figured you'd be pretty horrified and suitably despondent, but not so here.

On a positive note, the creatures did look kinda cool, but it was obvious that the suits (no CGI here) allowed for very little mobility, hindering the action in their limited screen time. The suits were fairly detailed, but I think if they were simplified, allowing more mobility, they would have been much more effective. The gore was needless, and the blood looked painfully fake.

In the cheap thrills department, there are a couple of brief nudity shots, if that's your thing, but they were unnecessary, and only served to further exemplified the total lameness of the movie. "Hey, we know this movie stinks, but here's some breasts!" Emma Samms, never got au natural, retaining some of her dignity, but not much.

There are some extras, including a director's commentary (!?) which I was interested in hearing, but was unable to sit through this movie again so soon. Also, there are some trailers for other movies, including one for a movie called Watchers 3. In watching this, I was amazed at how blatantly this feature ripped off the movie Predator. I don't mind producers copping ideas off better movies, but at least try to make it seem not so glaringly obvious. Geez...

Rating:
Summary: Hello Emma!
Review: Emma Samms is great in this picture. Robert Carradine also stars in this story of mutated "fish men" that attack a small village. The picture has some great scares and a real good sense of humor. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Have you seen the original version lately?
Review: Perhaps memories fade, because I just viewed both versions of "Humanoids From The Deep" and found the original to be unwatchable. There is a reason Barbara Peters has not become a successful director, and it's because her film is uneven and flat. If it is the amateurish quality that makes people yearn for the original in order to laugh at it rather than be engrossed in the narrative, then those people should watch the original. For those with the expectation of getting caught up in a scary story, the remake is the only film to watch. It follows a similar story but has better caliber actors and some genuinely funny moments like Clint Howard observing that Justin Walker is the only one who survived a monster attack and asking "Did you know these monsters?" See only the remake.

Rating:
Summary: Have you seen the original version lately?
Review: Perhaps memories fade, because I just viewed both versions of "Humanoids From The Deep" and found the original to be unwatchable. There is a reason Barbara Peters has not become a successful director, and it's because her film is uneven and flat. If it is the amateurish quality that makes people yearn for the original in order to laugh at it rather than be engrossed in the narrative, then those people should watch the original. For those with the expectation of getting caught up in a scary story, the remake is the only film to watch. It follows a similar story but has better caliber actors and some genuinely funny moments like Clint Howard observing that Justin Walker is the only one who survived a monster attack and asking "Did you know these monsters?" See only the remake.

Rating:
Summary: A Remake Which Should Never Have Been Made
Review: Purely by accident, I ended up with this movie. I was after the original.
Anyway, the movie shamelessly pulls scenes from the original 1980's version. The original was scary, this one is . . . stupid. It follows the same storyline, but without the grainly graphics and bad lighting, it just doesn't cut it.
Take my advice, buy the original, NOT the remake. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Remake From The Deep
Review: This is not the original starring Doug McClure, but the remake staring David Carradine and Emma Samms. While not the original, the story is pretty much the same (complete with some footage from the original added in).

A small town is the setting as a fish plant is targeted for dumping chemicals in the local waters. The fish have gotten bigger as a result but something else has gone wrong as well. The chemicals being dumped are needed by a new resident in the waters, a fish man created by the military.

David Carradine is the head of the plant and is trying to stop his employees from dumping. To make matters worse, one of the animal rights activists has a thing for his daughter. Then people start to be killed in the water. A shark is blamed but it does not explain why only male bodies have been found. None of the females have been recovered. Then most of the animal rights people, and Carradine's daughter, are killed or taken one night.

No one seems to know what is going on except for reporter Emma Samms. But then a survivor shows up and the town finds out that there is something fishy going on. Samms is really a doctor who helped create the creatures. She is trying to stop them and exposes the military involvement. But one survivor points to the possibility of others. The military does not care, they will just blow everything up.

Good ending, nice twist and I liked the way the creatures don't occur just from dumping, but were lab created (a slight improvement over the original). Still, it is a nice remake but I found it hard to take David Carradine seriously (I kept seeing flashes of Revenge of the Nerds). Definitely one to see if you like Roger Corman or a good creature flick.

Rating:
Summary: Remake From The Deep
Review: This is not the original starring Doug McClure, but the remake staring David Carradine and Emma Samms. While not the original, the story is pretty much the same (complete with some footage from the original added in).

A small town is the setting as a fish plant is targeted for dumping chemicals in the local waters. The fish have gotten bigger as a result but something else has gone wrong as well. The chemicals being dumped are needed by a new resident in the waters, a fish man created by the military.

David Carradine is the head of the plant and is trying to stop his employees from dumping. To make matters worse, one of the animal rights activists has a thing for his daughter. Then people start to be killed in the water. A shark is blamed but it does not explain why only male bodies have been found. None of the females have been recovered. Then most of the animal rights people, and Carradine's daughter, are killed or taken one night.

No one seems to know what is going on except for reporter Emma Samms. But then a survivor shows up and the town finds out that there is something fishy going on. Samms is really a doctor who helped create the creatures. She is trying to stop them and exposes the military involvement. But one survivor points to the possibility of others. The military does not care, they will just blow everything up.

Good ending, nice twist and I liked the way the creatures don't occur just from dumping, but were lab created (a slight improvement over the original). Still, it is a nice remake but I found it hard to take David Carradine seriously (I kept seeing flashes of Revenge of the Nerds). Definitely one to see if you like Roger Corman or a good creature flick.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be confused by the incorrect information here
Review: This remake of HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP does not have Vic Morrow in it, since Morrow died in the 80's. All the reviews, credits, and tech info. here are referring to the 1980 original. The remake has Robert Carradine and Emma Samms. It is slicker and better crafted than the original. We found it far more entertaining than LAKE PLACID. Skip the original. Get the remake.

Rating:
Summary: Don't be confused by the incorrect information here
Review: This remake of HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP does not have Vic Morrow in it, since Morrow died in the 80's. All the reviews, credits, and tech info. here are referring to the 1980 original. The remake has Robert Carradine and Emma Samms. It is slicker and better crafted than the original. We found it far more entertaining than LAKE PLACID. Skip the original. Get the remake.