ALL SCI-FI

[Bogmeister]

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_________________Humanoids from the Deep


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I admit I found this to be a lot of fun back when I first went to see it in a theater 30 years ago. It seemed to break a lot of boundaries from my perspective, stuff I never imagined that filmmakers would dare do — yet there it was on screen.

Word spread among young guys and male teens back then, and this was a modest hit for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Corman, as in Galaxy of Terror, championed rape scenes for the exploitation aspect.

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The proposition here is that mutated fish — mutated into humanoid lifeforms due to experimental growth hormones by meddling humans — would hunt down and rape female humans in order to propagate the new species. It all takes place at a small fishing village locale; young women are found raped; dogs are killed; and racial tensions between whites and Indians are escalated due to the happenings.

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Doug McClure, fresh from a successful row of sf pictures (starting with The Land That Time Forgot in '75), plays the nominal hero; Ann Turkel (Ravagers '79) is the visiting scientist who had warned her associates about what would happen; and Vic Morrow (Twilight Zone the Movie) is great as usual as the local head bigot and loudmouth.

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This has several scenes (some of which were filmed after principal photography) of naked young women being chased by ugly creatures and culminates with an exciting all-out attack by many of the monsters during a carnival. In-between, it's on the slow side, with minimal tension, but it's impressive that there were only 3 monster suits, yet it's conveyed that there is a multitude of these creepy beasts. It's also another follow-up to Alien (1979), as indicated by the climactic scene.

BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

Trivia from the Deep: Also known as "Monster" - Barbara Peeters was the director, but the story goes that many scenes were added later by others, such as the 2nd unit director, to spice up the film. There was a remake in 1996 for Showtime TV.


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Bud Brewster]

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Wow . . . if you love tits and gore and more tits, this is the movie for you!

But not for me . . .
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___________Humanoids From The Deep - Trailer


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

Roger Corman was know to add more exploitative scenes to his productions after they were filmed...And without the knowledge of the Director. He added extra gore to "Death Race 2000", without telling Paul Bartell. Bartell was mad at first. But when he saw how cartoonish the added gore was, he was okay with it. He felt it fit the tone of his movie.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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I watched Death Race 2000 for the first time just last week, and I noticed that the gore was deliberately unconvincing ("cartoonish" as you said), so it didn't bother me the way such scenes do in movies like Robocop where the violence is graphic and disturbing.

On the subject of Roger Corman in general, it occurred to me recently that the reason I don't care much for his movies isn't really because they're low budget and frequently low quality, it's because he has no real love for the movies he makes (especially science fiction), and therefore he just cranks out movies which are designed to make a few bucks.

The rare exception to this rule is Battle Beyond the Stars, which is fairly good in spite of Corman, not because of him. On that one, I think the people who worked on it were determined to do a good job, so the quality was higher than other Corman productions precisely because of the love the production crew had for their work.

That illustrates my point about the importance of being a sincere filmmaker, not just someone who exploits the medium.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[ralfy]

720p version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn8Qs7aWcw8

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has several interesting trivia items for this production.
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~ As the film was being finished up, producer Roger Corman felt that the picture needed more sex, and ordered scenes shot that showed the "humanoids" attacking — and of course, ripping the clothes off other nubile young women.

Director Barbara Peeters refused to shoot the scenes, protesting that they were inserted purely to show gratuitous nudity. Corman fired her and hired another director to shoot the additional footage. However, most of the re-shot Humanoid attack scenes were deleted from the final print of the movie.

Note from me: I wonder why the scenes were deleted after Corman went to all that trouble to shoot them.

~ There are only three Humanoid creatures seen together on-screen in the same frame throughout the movie.

The production really only had one fully functioning Humanoid costume and two others that could only be shot from certain angles because they weren't as convincing. Use of such angles, as well as the editing, would help to create the illusion that there were much more Humanoids than just three for the climactic carnival massacre.

Note from me: Good old Roger Corman, squeezing every nickle 'till it squealed in agony.

~ Actress Ann Turkel once said why she chose to do this film: "It was an intelligent suspenseful science-fiction story with a basis in fact and no sex". However, with the filming of additional footage, the sex content changed.

Note from me: Maybe Miss Turkel talked Roger out of spoiling this "intelligent suspenseful science-fiction story" with a lot of sex scenes. But based on the trailer, the sex scenes that did make it into the film were certain bad enough.

~ One scene of the Humanoids attacking a victim was shot when the temperature was cold enough to turn the actress's lips blue.

Note from me: That poor lady really wanted to e in this movie!

~ Director Barbara Peeters once said that the "humanoids" were originally suppose to be played by the film's stunt men. Unfortunately, the stunt men found the monster suits to be too "goofy-looking" and refused to wear them. Additional actors had to be hired to perform as the monsters.

Note from me: It's hard to imagine stunt men refusing to wear costumes. You'd think they'd be worried about their professional reputations.

~ According to Movie News (Australia) magazine, after her discovery of the explicit additional footage, "Ann Turkel was so outraged that she asked Hollywood's Screen Actors' Guild to try and stop 'Monster' [Humanoids from the Deep] from being released".

Note from me: Wow, based on the gore and cruelty to the women in this movie (just based on the trailer) it sure doesn't look like the "intelligent suspenseful science-fiction story" which Miss Turkel thought it was going to be.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

When Barbara Peters was filming it was known as BEYOND THE DARK. Corman had the extra sex and nudity filmed in post production.
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Krel]