Humanoids from the Deep (1996)

In the middle of the nineties Roger Corman produced a bunch of made for TV-remakes of several his classics. Piranha got a reboot (and much later a very enjoyable 3D reimagination), A Bucket of Blood, Not of This Earth, Forbidden World (in 1991 as Dead Space) and the most entertaining of the bunch, Humanoids from the Deep in 1996! I understand several of the original movies are holy for some fans, but remember that Corman always first is a businessman and second a filmmaker - a very good one also. For him it's just normal to use footage from earlier movies to create new ones, or just reboot something he think can generate profit. And he's honest about it.

When it comes to Humanoids from the Deep, the TV-version is famous for being slightly hard to find uncut. Actually, it's only been released uncut on TV and never on DVD. The UK DVD is said to be longer, but it's just padding - more scenery and longer shots of boats. Stuff like that. But here on Ninja Dixon I've of course watched the uncut version, thanks to the Jazzercise Barbarian from Beyond the Sea, Mr Tarkan Zuzelo of Tomb It May Concern!

Oh, the military! Such fuck-ups! And yes, once again they caused a lot of trouble by injected fish-DNA into death row prisoners to create super-soldiers. Guess how it goes? To the shitters! After trying to kill the creatures, they of course escape into the sea and swims to the closest idyllic costal town and starts raping and killing women! Good for us that Wade Parker (Robert Carradine), a fisherman and businessman is there to save us! His daughter (Danielle Weeks)  is of course in love with the local environmentalist Matt (Justin Walker), but they need to be friends when she's kidnapped by the monsters - and at the same time defend the town from the upcoming monster invasion!

Hey, this wasn't half bad! The story and characters differs so much from the original movie that it more seem like a sequel and it had less stock footage than I expected it to have. Sure, there's a lot of stuff from the carnival scene, but mostly people running around screaming and a few shots of the monsters tearing down the scenery and dragging people into the water. I think all of the gore in this "requel" is original, including some nicely done cheap belly-effects, squibs, bites and a lot of blood spurting!

I'm not saying its a masterpiece, a forgotten gem - but it's not bad at all. It's a good, gory monster movie with Humanoid-suits that actually is a lot cooler and better made than in the 1980 classic. And to be honest, I know some people will get angry now, but this one HAVE better pacing - it's just takes lesser time for the monsters to appear, shorter intervals between the kills and a good amount of energy. The cast is great to, especially Robert Carradine and Mark Rolston. Clint Howard also have a small part, which always is a pleasure.

Give this one a try if you like old-fashioned, gory monster movies and is tired of watching the original Humanoids from the Deep. If you enjoyed The Terror Within, this could be something for you. Far from genius, close to the heart.