In 1956, She came from the past!
In 2001, She came from the sea!
In both cases you have the privilege of seeing before and after. Except for one of them you have to stand on your head in front of your pc to see what the after is like.
This is actually the first of the Creature Feature series, though they were all made in a fairly short span of time, and I'll be suprised if it isn't the best. Sewell runs a fake freak sideshow in Ireland just after the turn of the last century and Gugino (with a convincing non-American accent) is his fake mermaid and lover with a shady past. One aging and drunk customer who has come to check out the mermaid actually has a real one in captivity and it killed his wife. Sewell, seeing money signs in front of his eyes, kidnaps it with one of his men (who plays a fake zombie) accidentally killing the old man in the process. Sewell gets it on board a ship bound for the States without the crew realising. Which is when thing start to get bad.
The mermaid is very effectively done. Human (and naked) from the waist up without swirling hair conveniently obscuring certain parts, but with odd bits of fins sticking out from her back and a long and very finny and warty lower half. Although non-speaking per se, the actress playing the mermaid is convincing.
She also has psychic powers and it's clear quite early on that she is playing a game with Gugino, Sewell, and various supporting characters. One of the crew (Gill Bellows) knew Gugino from when she 'worked' in London and took all his money. Shortly after threatening her, the mermaid gets loose and he disappears with claims that she's eaten him. This is ludicrous of course as she's human size. Eaten large chunks of him yes, but not swallowed him whole. Or did she?
Tension builds, new facts are discovered, and mist covers the ship until the mermaids plans are revealed and it becomes an all-out monsterfest when we see her true form and it's pretty ugly. This is a good well-made chiller and a nifty variant on the mermaid legend. Plus a neat little surprise at the end as all good horror movies should have.
Okay, She also comes from the sea as well.
This mermaid you don't want to bring home to meet your mum.
Happy Halloween.
No comments:
Post a Comment