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Island of the Fishmen (1979,
Italian aka L'Isola degli uomini
pesce, dir: Sergio Martino; cast: Richard Johnson, Claudio
Cassinelli, Barbara Bach)
I'm not writing this review so much for newcomers as for old fans
of
Island
of the Fishmen ( aka
L'Isola degli uomini pesce).
If you've seen earlier versions of this
film, you haven't really seen this film. This is the must see version for longtime fans.
I've seen several versions of
Island
of the Fishmen (aka
Screamers) over the past 30 plus years. The American TV broadcast
version. The VHS version. But this restored DVD version has many
differences:
* This version is widescreen, and it makes a difference. The
director has framed some beautiful compositions, which are lost on
full screen.
* Many restored scenes.
* Earlier American VHS and TV versions (of what was
originally an Italian film) included a new 10 minute scene (lifted from
a Roger Corman film) and inserted as a new opening scene,
retitling this film Screamers. This
restored version of
Island
of the Fishmen drops
that opening scene, which had characters that were (naturally) unrelated
to the rest of the film's characters or story.
* This version has done a beautiful job restoring the color and
sound. Great music.
So what's this film about? It's yet another 1970s Italian
exploitation ripoff, of sorts. Richard Johnson is the usual rich
white guy who rules an uncharted island and sponsors a mad scientist
to conduct experiments. They're turning the native islanders into fishmen.
Johnson uses them to salvage the lost
gold of Atlantis.
If you like Italian exploitation films, if you think Johnson is a
great villain (though he was also a fine hero in 1963's
The Haunting), if you think Barbara Bach is gorgeous, if you like
killer fishmen and Italian exploitation films, you should love
this one.
Yes, this is a
PAL version, so you'll need a multi-region DVD
player. The DVD has both Italian and English soundtracks, take
your pick. This later
Mya version also seems to be restored version, in NTSC, though
I haven't seen it.
There's also a one hour "making of" featurette, with interviews of
the key creative people, but unfortunately, it's entirely in
Italian. Not even any subtitles. The trailer is also in Italian.
Director Sergio Martino, and actors Richard Johnson, Claudio
Cassinelli, and Barbara Bach all collaborated on another Italian
horror film that same year -- 1979 -- called
The Big Alligator River (aka
The Great Alligator).
Coincidentally, Mel Ferrer appears in that film and in
Screamers Corman prologue (but not in
the original Italian version).
So if you loved Screamers and /or
L'Isola degli uomini pesce, you'll want to see
The Big Alligator River.
You will also want to read my review of
Screamers, for a fuller comparison of both films, and the
history behind each.
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