A Roger Corman production featuring the tragic Vic Morrow and infamous dinosaur fighter, the square jawed Doug McClure (an actor who is hated by the character Dave Lister in the sci-fi series "Red Dwarf" and may have inspired The Simpsons character Troy McClure.  Roger Corman is of course a name that everyone comes across once in a while.  Roger’s name is splashed on this DVD release with a passion, showing his face on the side.  It has been released as part of the Roger Corman Cult Classics collection via Shout factory.

"Humanoids From the Deep" (not to be mistaken with the 1996 TV movie of the same name) is a creature feature with a large helping of gore that opens with a nifty camera in a tank shot which changes to a big river in the next shot.  It seems small fishing towns are dangerous places to live in around the 70s and 80s world of movies (think "The Fog," "Dead and Buried" and let’s not forget Innsmouth either).

Johnny, Hank, Jimbo…. These are the names of small town fishermen as they stand around chatting to each other about the day ahead.  Then as quite starling embarrassing music kicks in, they set sail.  Underwater cameras show the nets catching what looks like a huge lizard claw.  You can be sure John West wouldn’t want what’s in that net in his cans.  This boat is out of gas and stuck whilst refilling.  Moments later, a kid is in the water, petrol has spilled, a flare gun is fired and BOOOOOMMM!!!!!

Back on shore and Jim’s (Doug McClure’s) dog wanders into the misty woods and is attacked (not before wagging his tail, “His owners are nearby,” commented my horror soul mate with a grin).  The dog is found soon on the beach gutted.  Two other dogs at the fishing port are also found mutilated.

The townsfolk meet to plan the upcoming  75^th annual salmon festival with a predictable banjo player and posh guy clapping along.  Two standard teens are cookie cutted into a car to make out.  A party pooper brings his dead dog in and causes quite a scene.  Most dismiss him.  Next thing the poor guy is set upon and beaten in the car park but luckily Jim saves him in typical square jawed style.

Another young couple -- or possibly the same couple from the car (they all look the same in this sort of fathead in a rubber suit movie) -- are playing in the water.  He dips under and comes out with dry hair.  He’s then suddenly dragged underwater to appear again with half a face.  She’s pulled into the ocean and then in the next shot she’s pulled onto the beach!  Huh?  How did she change direction?  We didn’t waste time discussing the Godly miracle because here comes the infamous lizard rape scene!  It doesn’t shy from detail and it was moments like this which caused much controversy at the time of release.  Apparently the director fell out with Corman over the insertion of these scenes -- she says she never filmed them.

We soon have a pure WTF part involving a beach tent, a naked girl and a lad holding a ventriloquist dummy.  Seriously!  “Want to see my wood pecker?”  Then comes the big lizard’s attack (there’s more than one).  The film sort of falls into a string of monster attacks with short monologues amongst the chaos.  Guns go off, cars are jumped, people die, and Roger counts his cash.  Naturally there’s a tourist magnet festival like I mentioned earlier that most films of this nature tend to have -- like "Kingdom Of The Spiders," or "Piranha," for the creatures to wander around killing.

So what is "Humanoids From the Deep" all about?  Mutated salmon experimented on by a scientist.  That’s it.  They want to breed and maybe make mermaid people, or a Sal-Man (sorry I couldn’t resist it).

Vic Morrow plays Slattery who is a corporation town leading bad guy, and he is pretty convincing but that’s just him.  Whether he’s a hitman in "Bronx Warriors," Ames in the "Roots" TV series, or a town bad guy, Vic delivers.  Doug McClure is a refreshing face in this flick, I’m used to him battling Atlantis monsters and dinosaurs in lands that have been forgotten.  He’s simply Doug.

The effects range from basic to totally graphic.  It’s easy to see why the movie had some people feeling sick back when it came out, but then again it was just a tip of the iceberg of gut-ripping bloodfests of the late 70s and early 80s.  As for the Humanoid costumes?  They are passable: scales, big heads and teeth, talons and a brain sack on their back!?

"Humanoids From the Deep" is likable but not the genre classic some people claim it to be.  Buy it for the right price or get a lend of it.

Extras on the Shout factory release are deleted scenes, a 22-minute “Making of” featurette, TV spots, trailers and a photo gallery.  The “Making of” though short contains some very interesting info mainly told by the director about how the film she shot differed from the version released.  The effects guy also chats a while, along with Roger Corman being interviewed and gives his view of things.
 

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 DVD SPECS:
 Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
 Region: NTSC R1
 Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

 SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
 - Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
 - The Making of "Humanoids From The Deep"
 - Leonard Maltin Interviews Roger Corman On The Making Of The Film
 - Radio Spot
 - TV Spot
 - Poster and Still Gallery
 - Trailers