[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Island of the Fishmen (1979)

Reasonable adventure yarn which is a cross between The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Island of Doctor Moreau with bits of War Gods of the Deep thrown in for good measure.

Starring Richard Johnson, Joseph Cotton and the lovely Barbara Bach, this is an Italian production from the prolific Sergio Martino. Whilst the afore mentioned are all fine as the villains what the film lacks is a stand out hero because sadly Claudio Cassanelli is no Doug McClure as a shipwreck survivor who ends up on an uncharted island, home to Johnson's Edward Rackham (a descendant of Jack perhaps?) who appears to be using strange marine creatures to help him mine the sunken city of Atlantis of it's treasures. Yes, the plot is absurd in that mad way only Italians can manage and it's not as action packed as you might have hoped but because there's so much to cram in it's always watchable.

The films main disappointment are the fishmen themselves. This film must have had some sort of a budget to get three international stars involved as well as some brilliant sets and island locations, however what it forgot to do was make the fishmen remotely scary. Their 'man in barely movable rubber suit' look is frankly embarrassing. (The Sea Devils from the Doctor Who story of the same name some seven years previous were far more effective.) Any fear and thrills they should have conjured promptly evaporated the moment you actually see them. Witness the scene as one attempts to swim away following an attack. The poor actor just dives head first into a puddle and Martino quickly pans his camera away.

'Cheesy fun' is a phrase many films are labeled with and it certainly fits Island of the Fishmen.