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Writer's pictureMr. Pat

Humanoids from the Deep

I'm open about my love for the works of H.P. Lovecraft. I understand why people don't like him, he can be a hard, and often very uncomfortable read, but there's no denying his impact on literature and horror in general. Since I first started reading him, I've enjoyed watching Lovecraftian movies, so much that I can get tricked into watching something because I think it has his themes, it's why I decided to watch...


Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

I don't believe in reincarnation, but if I did, I would imagine I would have been a sailor or a pirate. Like Moana, I've always felt like I've been called to the sea and I love wooden sailing ships. I also loved John Carpenter's The Fog, which I'm sure Moana would have too because, like me, she would have been fascinated with the small little fishing town they lived in. Sadly, this movie is nowhere near as good as The Fog, Moana or much else.


I chose to watch this movie because I was hoping for something Lovecraftian. I wanted some cosmic horror and maybe a movie about The Deep Ones, but alas...


We start with some fishermen who snag something big. During the struggle, a kid around 12 falls into the water and then gets pulled under, never to resurface. At this point, I'm a little impressed that the movie had the balls to kill off a kid so quickly. But then, through a series of unfortunate events, one of the fishermen accidentally blows up his boat after firing a flare into it. So it's going to be that type of movie. Sigh...


Anyway, I was still a little impressed that the movie would kill off a kid, but that goodwill ends immediately. Shortly after, a dog gets murdered. Shortly after that, a whole bunch of dogs get murdered. And shortly after THAT, the last remaining dog gets murdered. Seriously, fuck. this. movie.


From there we start meeting the characters. The baddies work with a company that wants to build a cannery. We later find out they've been experimenting with salmon to make them bigger. Some of them escape in a storm and get eaten by bigger fish who mutate into the Humanoids from the Deep! There's a Native American character who is against it and it's one of the earliest movies I can remember that brings Native politics into it and the guy is one of the protagonists. The movie has things to say, but it gets overshadowed because the behind-the-scenes stuff is wild.


The Executive Producer, indie film icon Roger Corman, wanted more nudity and gore. The director, Barbara Peeters, a feminist, refused. In response, Corman said they'd hire a new director to shoot the nudity and then they'd get her feedback on what was shot. She agreed. Turns out, he was lying and never showed her the footage and she was PISSED. I mentioned earlier that Peeters is a feminist, I mention that again because I can imagine she lost her mind at the direction they went. The baddies don't just kill the women, they rip off their clothes and rape them. If you know me in real life, you've probably heard me say we shouldn't judge people in the past with the standards of today, but rape has always been horrific. It's really uncomfortable to watch and doesn't add anything to the movie outside of them ripping off the chestburster scene from Alien at the very end.


I've seen worse, but it's not good. The monsters look silly and they're all plodding and they look even more like men walking around in rubber suits. Even taking out the stuff added in by Corman, it's not a good movie. It's silly but there's next to no humor in it. There's one scene that made laugh but that's it, there are no other scenes in the movie that intentionally make you laugh. Plus, with what I talked about earlier and killing so many doogies... fuck this movie.


3 Dr. Chainsaws!


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