Director: Sergio Martino
Year: 1979
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: L'Isola degli uomini pesce; Screamers; Something Waits in the Dark
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
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.
Review:
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.
Overview: ***.5/5
With a lot of enjoyable elements that make this a fun adventure/horror hybrid, for the most part, there are still some flaws here mainly in the sense of how much the adventure plays a role here rather than the genre aspects most would be expecting this to be. Those who are fine with those elements, looking for a genre film of this nature or a fan of the creative crew would be fine here, while those who are looking for more straightforward genre fare might be disappointed with this one.
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