ferbs54 Previously, my respect for the brothers Martino--director Sergio and producer Luciano--had been a result of the quartet of excellent giallo films that the pair had come out with from 1971-'72: "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail," "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh," "All the Colors of the Dark" and (hang on for one of the greatest titles in cinema history!) "Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key," those last three starring the so-called Queen of Giallo, Edwige Fenech, girlfriend of Luciano at the time, the lucky bastid! (I still have not seen the Martinos' 1973 giallo entitled "Torso," which is supposed to be excellent.) But, as most of their fans know, the brothers often ventured outside of the realm of giallo, and with some surprisingly good results, if their 1979 effort, "Island of the Fishmen," is any example. Originally released under the Italian title "L'isola degli uomini pesce" (and later, with additional gore footage shot here in the States, as "Screamers"), the film turns out to be a pleasingly old-fashioned, Saturday matinée-style monster bash, with a hissable villain in black, a hunky good guy dressed in white, a beautiful damsel in distress, a mad scientist, jungle natives, bug-eyed creatures and an explosive climax. What kid--or kid at heart--could ask for more?In the film, a prison ship sinks in what the viewer infers to be the Caribbean, in the year 1891. Only Lt. Claude de Ross (charismatically played by Claudio Cassinelli) and a half dozen or so convicts manage to survive, their lifeboat washing ashore on a mysterious, volcanic island. The men are quickly done in by various island perils (poison water, staked pitfalls and, most especially, some lumbering, bipedal, amphibious creatures!), until only the lieutenant and two others remain to encounter the island's HUMAN inhabitants: Edmond Rackham, who is exploiting the island creatures in furtherance of his own schemes (deliciously well played by Richard Johnson, who had starred in the scariest movie ever made, "The Haunting," back in '63, as well as Lucio Fulci's cult item "Zombie" that same year); a beautiful young woman who the viewer automatically assumes is his wife, Amanda (Barbara Bach, apparently game for some physical stunts here); a half-mad biologist (the great Joseph Cotten, here cashing a paycheck for perhaps three minutes of overacted screen time); and a whole gaggle of voodoo-practicing natives, who carry out Rackham's every wish. And before long, treasure hunting, the lost continent of Atlantis, and a volcanic blowup (has there EVER been a volcano shown in a film that failed to eventually blow up?) are all conflated into this truly wild and crazy tropical stew...."Island of the Fishmen" features surprisingly solid acting from its three leads, endearingly cheezy monster effects (the fishmen look like something out of an old "Outer Limits" episode; for example, the monsters in the 12/23/63 episode entitled "Tourist Attraction") and a fairly thrilling windup, as the titular monsters go on a murderous frenzy when the island tears itself to bits. Sergio's direction is imaginative and stylish, as his giallo fans might have expected, and the music by Luciano Michelini is by turns lovely and gripping. I don't want to oversell the film, which in essence is a somewhat hokey schlockfest, but darn it, for those of us who love their BEMs (bug-eyed monsters) and their matinée material of this ilk, the picture should prove a nicely winning diversion. Think Jules Verne's "Mysterious Island" crossed with H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and you might start to get an idea of the pulpy fun in store. Further good news regarding the film is that its current DVD incarnation, from an outfit apparently called Mya, is a nice one, with a very decent print on display and proper framing of the film's CinemaScope image. Sadly, no subtitles have been provided, but a very adequate job of dubbing does serve to compensate. Break out the popcorn, sit down with your 8-year-old nephew, and enjoy!

TheHrunting This ambitious film is set in the 19th century, gave a dab of action-adventure with mythology to boot, some shocks of horror and a nod to science fiction if that wasn't enough. "Island of Dr. Moreau" it wasn't entirely, though the initial premise is no doubt given nod to.The zoom ins, dated synthesizers and blatantly overdubbed sound effects that usually came with campy Italian cinema can give these pictures charm like no other. However, the inconsistent creature effects and cringe worthy miniatures unabashedly shown in close-ups, instead of rolling in the fog or covering up with shadows, were just asking too much from a viewer's imagination. Most of these films have flaws from cheap production to speedy filmmaking, mirroring what was done in the '50s/'60s, but it's just a matter of how many you are willing to overlook (especially by '79). If really easy, this could be more up your alley. If not, take the detour.The acting and even the English dubbing were of decent and serious caliber to moving this along without being one giant accidental farce; which leads me to believe the producers gave the green light with a tight cast but without realistically scaling back their overzealous production costs. The owner of the island was villainous though a charming and eccentric gentleman, his former Bond-girl (Barbara Bach of "The Spy Who Loved Me") wife was an exquisite treat to look at, and the guest of honor, that got there from a shipwreck, was a commanding and confident presence on screen."Island of the Fishmen," aka "Screamers," was not as mystifying as set out to be as an adult fantasy film. Applied to the goals the filmmakers had and their ability to realistically pull them off, the old idiom "less is more" usually works better in these cases, otherwise it's a challenge to step in with both feet and truly let yourself go minus the unintentional smirks. (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

Witchfinder General 666 I am sure I'm not standing alone when I say that Italian cult-filmmaker Sergio Martino is one of my favorite directors, primarily for the brilliant Gialli he made in the early 70s, including "Lo Stano Vizio Della Signora Wardh" ("The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh", 1971), "La Coda Dello Scorpione" ("The Scorpion's Tail", 1971), "Tutti I Colori Del Buio" ("All the Colors of the Dark", 1972), "I Corpi Presentano Tracce Di Violenzia Carnale" ("Torso", 1973), and my personal favorite, the masterpiece "Il Tuo Vizio È Una Stanza Chiusa E Solo Io Nè Ho La Chiave" ("Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key", 1972). While his Gialli are doubtlessly his most outstanding achievements, Martino has been active in many other fields of Italian Cult cinema, including the Spaghetti Western ("Mannaja" aka. "A Man Called Blade", 1977), the Cannibal genre ("La Montagna Del Dio Cannibale" aka. "The Mountain of the Cannibal God", 1978), or crazy Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Action ("2019: Dopo La Caduta Di New York" aka. "2019: After the Fall of New York", 1983). Or this fantastic little gem. "L'Isola Degli Uomini Pesce" aka. "The Island of the Fishmen" aka. "Screamers" of 1979 is a criminally underrated and outrageously entertaining blend of creature feature and island adventure, a film of which kind could only come from 70s Italy.The story seems like a crazy mix of the literary models of H.P. Lovecraft (hideous mixtures of fish and men), H.G. Wells (the "Island of Lost Souls"/"Island of Dr. Moreau" influence is undeniable) and Jules Verne. Of course, a film of the kind, especially one with a modest budget like this one, is being dismissed as 'cheesy' by the majority of viewers. And it is undeniable that "The Island of the Fishmen" is a little cheesy; however, it simply is the epitome for and insanely entertaining film. To be honest, I expected this film to be a whole lot cheesier than it actually turned out to be. While the film is cheesy enough to have the certain 'camp' charm, the special effects were a lot better than I expected them to be, and while the story is maybe a bit far-fetched, it is exciting from the beginning to the end. After their ship has sunk, Lt. Claude De Ross (Claudio Cassinelli) and a bunch of prisoners strand on a remote island full of lethal traps. The island is ruled by the sinister Mr. Rackham (Richard Johnson), who lives in a majestic mansion with his native servants and the ravishing young Amanda (Barbara Bach). But there is one other species of 'native' islanders: Hideous fish-men of superhuman strength...I do not wish to give the best parts away, but I can assure that "The Island of the Fishmen" unites many aspects that should be adored by my fellow cult-cinema buffs. Remote islands have always been superb Horror- and Adventure-settings. This one includes Voodoo, Mutants, an insane villain, mad science-fiction, ancient sub-aqueous worlds and mysteries, and many other notable elements, the most convincing one being the gorgeous Barbara Bach. The performances are better than one would expect in a movie like this one, the supporting cast even includes the great Josph Cotten in the role of a brilliant (though somewhat naive) scientist. The cinematography and settings are very good, and, as mentioned above, the effects are a lot better than I would have expected. Overall, "The Island of the Fishmen" is fantastic entertainment from start to finish, and I cannot understand why it has a ridiculously low average rating of 3.5/10 on IMDb. My only tiny point of criticism is the fact that the lovely Barbara Bach keeps her clothes on for the entire film. What the hell? "L'Isola Degli Uomnini Pesce" is a film that promises incredible entertainment from start to finish, and should be seen by every cult-cinema fan. My rating: 8.5/10

Steve Van Kooten No skin, a bit of red stuff. (Review based on VHS version)Some hapless bystanders get embroiled in a mad scientist/nutter's quest to harvest treasure at the bottom of the ocean, which involves using some homicidal sea monsters. Of course, things go awry. - - - Sergio Martino has a solid reputation for making some damn fine thrillers like "All the Colors of Dark" and "Blade of the Ripper," but that reputation hasn't followed him through other sub-genres. A solid opening scene (rumored to have been shot after the movie was finished) is probably the best thing going for this quasi-adventure/horror hybrid that lays on the dull exposition and parades its rubber monsters around in embarrassing pride. There are some inklings of the various talent that has accumulated; Barbara Bach looks especially good and Martino throws out some stylish moments, but that's not even close to saving this bore. Skip it.* out of 4