BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Scott LeBrun Note: this review pertains to the Americanized version, known as "Screamers", devised by Roger Corman. The balance of the original Italian film, "Island of the Fishmen", was kept, and a new prologue, written and directed by Miller Drake, and featuring Mel Ferrer and Cameron Mitchell, was filmed. All in all, this movie is great fun. It's pure nonsense, but it throws a couple of different ideas into its brew, with irresistible results for schlock lovers. We have treasure hunting (in two separate eras), biological mutations, the supposed Lost City of Atlantis, and an international cast also including Claudio Cassinelli, Barbara Bach, Richard Johnson, Joseph Cotten, and Beryl Cunningham.Cassinelli plays Lt. Claude de Ross, a military doctor who's one of a handful of shipwreck survivors. They come across an isolated tropical island, populated by Creature from the Black Lagoon type monsters, and a number of humans, chief among them the dastardly Edmond Rackham (the charismatic Mr. Johnson of "The Haunting" and "Zombi 2"), his female companion Amanda (the stunning Ms. Bach), and her scientist father Ernest (Mr. Cotten).The additional American footage actually doesn't stick out that much from the Italian film; the material was pretty hokey from the start. But it's got tons of atmosphere, a whole lot of beautiful scenery, some pretty gnarly creature suits, and flavourful music composed by Luciano Michelini. The acting in the main story is pretty good, with Cassinelli making for a studly hero and Bach as an appealing leading lady. Johnson comes off the best; he's one of those villains you actually can't help but like. People such as Mitchell, Ferrer, and Cotten were clearly hired for name value and don't get to do all that much.If you're like this viewer, and are partial to this kind of thing to begin with, you should have a fine time watching this.Eight out of 10.

TheHrunting This ambitious film is set in the 19th century, gave a dab of action-adventure with mythology to boot, some shocks of horror and a nod to science fiction if that wasn't enough. "Island of Dr. Moreau" it wasn't entirely, though the initial premise is no doubt given nod to.The zoom ins, dated synthesizers and blatantly overdubbed sound effects that usually came with campy Italian cinema can give these pictures charm like no other. However, the inconsistent creature effects and cringe worthy miniatures unabashedly shown in close-ups, instead of rolling in the fog or covering up with shadows, were just asking too much from a viewer's imagination. Most of these films have flaws from cheap production to speedy filmmaking, mirroring what was done in the '50s/'60s, but it's just a matter of how many you are willing to overlook (especially by '79). If really easy, this could be more up your alley. If not, take the detour.The acting and even the English dubbing were of decent and serious caliber to moving this along without being one giant accidental farce; which leads me to believe the producers gave the green light with a tight cast but without realistically scaling back their overzealous production costs. The owner of the island was villainous though a charming and eccentric gentleman, his former Bond-girl (Barbara Bach of "The Spy Who Loved Me") wife was an exquisite treat to look at, and the guest of honor, that got there from a shipwreck, was a commanding and confident presence on screen."Island of the Fishmen," aka "Screamers," was not as mystifying as set out to be as an adult fantasy film. Applied to the goals the filmmakers had and their ability to realistically pull them off, the old idiom "less is more" usually works better in these cases, otherwise it's a challenge to step in with both feet and truly let yourself go minus the unintentional smirks. (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

The_Void Watching this odd little adventure movie, it's hard to believe that it was directed by the same man who brought us such high quality Giallo classics as The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and The Case of the Scorpion's Tail, but it has to be said that despite it's low quality production values, Island of the Fish Men is an entertaining ride and one that surely deserves more praise than it's getting. Like many Italian films from the seventies, this is one is a rip off of a successful American film, the one in question this time being the critically panned Island of Dr Moreau. Sergio Martino's film takes ideas such as mutation, greed and adventure and moulds it into one slightly compelling film, which makes up for what it's lacks in coherency and logic with a load of mostly intriguing ideas. The central plot follows a boat which crashes on a small island. It quickly becomes apparent that not everything about this place is normal, and it soon transpires that half of the population has been turned into "fish men" - a cross between a man and a fish, which exist for purely selfish reasons...The truth about this movie is that it's a lot more fun if you ignore the trashy production values. The central monsters look completely ridiculous, and much of the movie takes place on sets that look like they cost someone a few pennies - but the movie is well shot in spite of this, with the underwater photography being a particular highlight and the pacing of the movie is well done in that the film never becomes boring. The way that the plot comes together isn't exactly genius, but it takes in a lot of ideas and I've seen films made on plots with much less thought put into them than this one. The biggest location standout in the film is definitely the lost city of Atlantis. To be honest, I'm not a massive fan of adventure movies, and therefore don't see this lost city get mentioned much - but it is always nice to see it in a movie. The central island location is good in that it provides an apt setting for the story and also provides the movie with the right amount of mystery, as Martino makes good use of the voodoo theme. Overall, this isn't exactly a classic and there are certainly a lot worse trashy adventure movies out there than this one.

dargento I saw this film in a movie theater in Rochester, NY sometime in the mid 80s. I was fascinated by the tag line "You will see a man turned inside-out!" What I saw on the screen really didn't impress me too much, but, considering 15 minutes had been hacked out of it, I'm not surprised at how bad the finished product was.In the years since then I've learned more and more about European filmmakers such as Martino, Argento, Fulci, Franco and others. In fact, I now have several Martino dvds and have been impressed by his talent. I hope to get my hands on a version of this movie that is truer to the director's vision. I'm sure it couldn't be too much worse than what I saw lo those many years ago.