Humanoids From The Deep AKA Monster (1980)
Starring: Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, Vic Morrow, Linda Shayne
Director: Barbara Peeters
Synopsis: 80's creature feature is sublimely ridiculous, very silly but hugely enjoyable
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

"This fun monster movie caused an outcry when first released" Monster Movies.

"absurd splattery with some good effects" Splatter Movies

"fast, occasionally hilarious... gutter trash" Maltin's

"good old fashioned monster flick...I love it and you will too!" Uncut

"tacky and sleazy" Blockbuster Video

"trashy, derivative time-waster" Horror Films of the 80's

 

Roger Corman's amiable B-movie monster romp is a farcical but enormously enjoyable creature feature from the glorious age of schlock horror. The acting is worse than amateurish, but that somehow feels entirely appropriate for the madness and mayhem unfolding on screen.

The plot—if one can call it that—goes something like this. The local river running through a sleepy town of bumpkins has become polluted, resulting in unpleasant things happening to the town's fishing stock. Before long, grotesque tuna-like monsters with bulging, exposed brains are roaming the countryside, attacking innocent townsfolk. Worse still, they are not simply killing the women—they are impregnating them in order to perpetuate their ghastly mutated race.

Vintage monster-movie mayhem follows, with scene after scene of outrageously designed—and decidedly lustful—creatures pursuing the not-so-innocent nubile beauties who seem to populate every corner of the town.

The film builds to a wonderfully chaotic final twenty minutes as the admittedly magnificent monsters descend upon the town's wonderfully tacky fishing festival. It's all gleefully ridiculous, entirely predictable and absolutely typical creature-feature material, succeeding precisely because of its shameless tackiness, complete lack of political correctness and the superb creature effects by the legendary Rob Bottin. Even on the Blu-ray, you can occasionally glimpse human skin beneath the monster suits, but that hardly matters. This is the sort of film that demands to be enjoyed with a generous pinch of salt, a broad smile and a deep affection for the glory days of drive-in monster movies.

The film is pure Roger Corman, whom I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with in 2004 at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival, where he was being honoured alongside his charming wife, Julie. One evening we were driven out to a wonderfully atmospheric haunted house attraction, and I had the opportunity to chat with him about films, horror and all manner of wonderfully macabre subjects.

Corman was a delightful, soft-spoken gentleman who seemed far less interested in talking about himself than everyone else was in talking about him. What I do remember vividly is his telling me that he had originally studied engineering and had applied much of that practical knowledge throughout his filmmaking career. Every moment spent in his company was a genuine privilege, and they remain memories I shall always treasure.

Roger Corman earned his reputation as the undisputed King of Cult Cinema, encouraging countless independent filmmakers to dream bigger than their budgets would ever allow. His name is attached to scores of films, many of them genuine classics. Humanoids from the Deep may not rank amongst his most celebrated productions, but it remains a wonderfully entertaining creature feature that injected a healthy dose of old-fashioned monster madness into the slasher era. Fans continue to hold the film in high regard, and with good reason. It's an absolute scream.

Ironically, the film attracted criticism from some feminist groups upon its release, who condemned it as sexist. Such complaints largely fell on deaf ears. Humanoids from the Deep belongs firmly in the tradition of the gloriously outrageous beach monster movies of the 1950s, where bikinis, beach parties, plentiful eye candy and rampaging monsters happily coexisted. There is very little here that audiences of those earlier films would have found unfamiliar.

The irony, of course, is that the film was directed by a woman—Barbara Peeters—something that was highly unusual for a monster movie of this type during the post-Jaws era.  It was revealed later that Barbara Peeters had no knowledge that Roger Corman had demanded more graphic violence, gore and rape scenes that Peeters claims she was unaware of.  Both Ann Turkel and Barbara Peeters asked for their names to be removed from the movies credits but this was refused.  "I dont talk about THAT movie" is what Barbara Peeters said about the film in an interview in 2019.  Times regarding rape and women have evolved and Humanoids may not be seen in very positive light in today's world.  

Interestingly, throughout much of Europe the film was released simply as Monster rather than Humanoids from the Deep.

Very dodgy, very funny and enormously entertaining, this is vintage creature-feature nonsense at its very best. A glorious heap of cinematic garbage and proudly one of those wonderfully bad movies that horror fans never tire of revisiting.