The Godfather. Terminator 2. Taxi Driver. The Stuff. The Howling. An eclectic spectrum of film for sure, spanning decades and genres and budgets, but all bound by a singular fact: none would exist without the impact of Roger Corman. A titan and godfather of independent American cinema, whose productions acted as a wellspring of some of the most iconic talent in the modern film, his filmography in front of and behind the camera is a testament to genre and canny craft. As a director, his films such as the sumptuous Poe adaptations with Vincent Price – House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, etc. – can seem like a far cry from his reputation as a producer attuned to the demographic-appealing and crowd-pleasing trends of the decades. And in that sense, one couldn’t ask for a more platonic ideal of a sleazy splattery ‘80s B-movie than the Corman-produced Humanoids From the Deep.
Its premise of a small town attacked by aquatic…humanoids may be right out of a ‘50s drive-in monster flick, but the Barbara Peeters’ horror film is crafted with Corman efficiency and B-movie appeal in its bones. Literally, as its production maxim was for a movie where the creatures “kill all the men and rape all the women,” down to the decision of having more explicit assault scenes filmed by another director to fulfill those schlocky aims. Like much of the best B-horror, Humanoids from the Deep is exceedingly simple: a coastal fishing town finds itself terrorized by mysterious deaths, immoral corporate greed is unsurprisingly involved (it is an ‘80s film after all), and a small band of heroes have to save the day. And like its genre ilk, atmosphere and personality soak that simple premise to great effect. The brisk runtime may be under 80 minutes sans credits, but Peeters allows the pace to simmer in everyone-knows-everyone town tensions akin to a Stephen King tale: a crisscross of frictions and enmities and an local annual salmon celebration all interweaved with scuzzy gory creature horror.
The town drama involving a crusading researcher and a Native American fisherman against the construction of a local cannery acts as a decently-told narrative skeleton but given its title, the real meat of Humanoids from the Deep is its ample helpings of mossy fishman freakiness. Rob Bottin of The Thing fame creates some wonderfully grotesque aquatic abominations: misshapen and repulsively gangly mutants, all exposed brain and shaggy diseased hide, whose effective designs walk a fine line between clearly cheap and surprisingly creepy. When their flesh-rending attacks or remains thereof are onscreen, there’s no question that Humanoids from the Deep is ‘80s creature exploitation-schlock at its finest.
The escalation in amphibian assaults and ambushes is finely tuned, expanding in scale, squibs and monster presence until the final 20 minutes crescendo into relentless fishman-splatter mayhem. Jaws has its 4th of July terror, Alligator has its high-society party, but Humanoids’ finale mayhem are what all low-budget creature features should aspire towards. The non-stop chaos of blood-splattered extras, shambling humanoids storming the docks and besieging homes, and carnival rides-turned deathtraps elevates the whole film with its effects work and monster attack relish.
The beautifully bad-taste ending that caps off the film is just icing on this gross gnarled cake, the perfect encapsulation of a Corman’s production to consider trends and popular films and provide a sleazy B-movie twist. (Hint: Ridley Scott’s Alien had just released the year before). Nearly 45 years later, Humanoids from the Deep still thrills as an undeniably time capsule of fun schlocky ‘80s horror. It’s clearly left a mark on some modern creators; the outrageous beach gorefest finale of Alexandre Aja’s Piranha 3D might as well be Humanoids’ final reel with a bigger budget. Though considering Roger Corman produced the original Piranha, perhaps that’s just another testament to the wider legacy of the late industry titan.
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