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Island Of The Fishmen
[Mya]
1979; color
Directed by Sergio Martino
Starring: Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli, Richard Johnson, Beryl Cunningham & Joseph Cotten
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While Island Of The Fishmen might not feature every touchstone in the wide world of exploitation (there are no zombies, teens girls stalked by maniac killers or biker gangs, to name three) it does combine more than a handful of disparate subplots you'd normally never see together in the same movie into one neat little Eurotrash package. And it works! We get an uncharted island; a mad doctor who works for an even madder millionaire; allusions to The Isle Of Dr. Moreau, Atlantis(!), and, of course, fishmen (in some of the craziest monster suits ever, by the way); and that ain't all. Things start off simply enough with a lifeboat full of prisoners (apparently their prison ship broke up in a storm before the movie started) and the ship's doctor as the only person of authority left to oversee them. After their small skiff smashes up on some rocks and almost everyone on the boat either drowns or is eaten by sharks, the four survivors find themselves stranded on a deserted island. But, as we all know, no deserted island is truly deserted. If it were, there'd be no good movie in it. Plus we all know there are fishmen afoot - or rather aflipper - and in no time flat one survivor gets mauled to death by one of said fishmen. As the remaining three make their way through the jungle they meet up, quite by accident, with a rifle-toting girl on horseback. (She's also one helluva shot, blowing the head off a snake from 50 yards away.) She warns the men they aren't welcome and they'd best head back to the beach and wait for a rescue boat if they know what's good for them. They do just the opposite, of course, and follow the girl. As it turns out, she lives in a huge house (coincidentally the same house used for Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2) with the aforementioned mad doctor and his benefactor and a retinue of voodoo-believing slaves and native guards who look like extras from Mel Gibson's Apocalypto. What unfolds in the next hour-plus weaves many of the plotlines referenced earlier (and then some!) into a truly original sci-fi thriller. And did I mention all of this takes place at the turn of the last century? That subtle twist makes for a very Jules Verne-like atmosphere, which is like a final coat of polish on top of it all. When Sergio Martino made Fishmen (1979) he was already well-regarded for his Giallos and sex comedies, this was his first foray into sci-fi and really showcases his versatility as a director. Despite the ostensibly predictable finish, which you can see coming from about a half-hour away, I will gladly watch this again.
—the Kommandant
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