Leofwine_draca Although there is a small but dedicated section of horror fans who adore Italian horror films, the career of trash director Al Passeri (aka Massimiliano Cerchi) is one yet to be fully explored. Whilst his cheap but gory B-films make him the 'Bruno Mattei' of the 1990s and 2000s, the fact that most of his work is as yet unreleased outside of Italy means that he has an obscure status. CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS is one of his earlier works, a low budget and insane riff on THE THING, set on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean. It looks like CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS is going to be typical fare from the start, what with plenty of cheesecake as the bikini-clad unknowns strip their tops off at every opportunity, but soon the tone becomes darker and the viewer is lost amid a welter of cheap-but-cool effects, extreme bad taste and all kinds of gooey sexual situations.Most aspects of the film are amateurish, but this is to be expected for the dedicated B-fan. Performances are abominable, the dubbing is also on the crude standard for the genre. The camera-work too is pretty dodgy, with weird eye-view floor shots from invisible creatures (???), lots of cheap music to complement the cheap action and flimsy-looking sets. But where this film excels is in the gross-out shocks and the special effects.Beginning with a girl spewing up live bugs and beetles, the film continues as characters turn into fish-monsters and kill each other, with lots of goo and gunk splattering all over the set. Watch out for the weirdest, sickest sex scene in history (the guy's face rips back to reveal a nasty monster inside) which rivals similar moments in SOCIETY but on a much lower budget. Other favourite moments include the wicked stop-motion monster in the cargo hold (briefly seen, but a nice surprise, especially in the '90s) and the bit where the guy with the glasses goes on an overacting spree, smashing up the lab, all shot in loving slow-motion. It's great, it really is. Fans of the crude, of the sick, of the cheap, definitely give this one a shot; it's a real surprise.

FacemeltingFilms Italian 80's horror movies always feel like sketchy territory. The actors are always too shiny, everything is lit like a porno and the Italians in the 80's couldn't act. Well, at least not the ones in this movie. Plankton starts off as a typical s--tty Italian horror movie but seems to make all the right choices. Out of nowhere you go from bored to enthralled. To this day I've never seen another film with homosexual fish sex. I think Plankton is the first.Four teenagers decide it's a good idea to get into a motorboat and ride into the sunset (and into the middle of the ocean). Predictably they get lost and run out of gas. Soon they are lamely paddling their way through a stormy dark night, crying in the rain. On the verge of death they randomly bump into a huge metal ship floating in the middle of nowhere. Desperate, they climb aboard to seek shelter. They soon find that the ship is half laboratory and half 80's Italian bachelor pad complete with a stocked bar and sexy neon lights. They also find that the ship is strangely empty.The film moves on with stumbling acting, horrible lighting and a basic disinterest in creating a well made film. There are strange unexplained things like a cartoon fish on the wall with a little girls voice that screams at everyone and a robot shower that wants to have sex with you and screams, "USE YOUR FINGERS!" over and over again. One of the more funny moments of the film happens early on when, as the girls are changing, one girl holds her boobies up to the camera and declares, "I think I need a new bra!" Then things start to get strange. They start hearing strange noises, one teenager will flip out and start screaming and crying and the next minute they will be fine again. The main character, Mike, starts snooping around and finds out that the ship was researching prehistoric piranha for a few years. The piranha are gay fish with unusually large genitals. For real. He actually says this out loud! Now here's the kicker: The scientists are all gay too and they have been fu--ing the fish for years! Apparently gay sex leads to mutations because all the scientists have either turned into huge gay fish or have been eaten by huge gay fish. Slowly the teenagers each fall to similar fates.In the world of bizarre 80's Italian horror films this is right up their with Nightmare Beach and um……. I guess those are the only two I know. So it's definitely in the top 10! But for director Massimiliano Cerchi this is old news. He went on to direct such classics as Satan Claus, Brainmaster, The Mummy Theme Park and Carnage Road. His IMDb page is so impressive Face Melting Films is thinking about building a guide for the guy. Plankton is something that has to be seen to be believed and even though I've seen it I still don't believe it!

DJ-Chojin OK this is probably a good film but i found an English dubbed version! its pointless watching it unless you want laughable dialogue esp when bobby finds the drugs!! this film sucks i really would like to see it with subtitles the acting i think will be much better. The rubber killer fish are funny. and the professor is well what can i say? like this line ''proffeser how long have you been f******g fish?'' ''they were old enough'' i don't know if that line is in the original language version. this film is not gory apart from little bits here and there by no means on the lines of gore from Italy I'm use to. the best bit the sex scene were Bobby turns into a fish monster really funny

Scott Mitchell This film is by far the best sea horror I have ever seen bar none! The sex scene's are perhaps the best and are on par with those in Team America. The special effects are probably the best I've ever seen. And with dialogue such as "how long have you been f******g fish professor" "what, they were all of age!" you can't go wrong! This film's "radioactive levels were above danger-zone!" The dialogue is ace, and the dubbing was the best dubbing seen in any film, ever. They should've won an Oscar just for the dubbing alone. How can a film with so many continuity errors pose the question of man/woman - fish relations and still remain so entertaining.