Island of the Fishmen (1979)
Reasonable adventure yarn which is a cross between The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Island of Doctor Moreau with bits of War Gods of the Deep thrown in for good measure and all done in that wonky Italian style.
Starring Richard Johnson, Joseph Cotton and the lovely Barbara Bach, this is from the prolific Sergio Martino. Whilst the afore mentioned are all fine as the villains what the film lacks is a stand out hero because sadly Claudio Cassanelli is no Doug McClure as a shipwreck survivor who ends up on an uncharted island, home to Johnson's Edward Rackham (a descendant of Jack perhaps?) who appears to be using strange marine creatures to help him mine the sunken city of Atlantis of it's treasures. Yes, the plot is absurd in that mad way only Italians can manage and it's not as action packed as you might have hoped but because there's so much to cram in it's always watchable.
The films main disappointment are the fishmen themselves. They really look poor, The Sea Devils from Doctor Who eight years earlier looked far more convincing, and yet the fishmen come across as entertainingly bad. Witness the scene as one attempts to swim away following an attack. The poor actor just dives head first into a puddle and Martino quickly pans his camera away. I guess the money was all used up on three international stars, lovely locations and really impressive sets.
'Cheesy fun' is a phrase many films are labeled with and it certainly fits Island of the Fishmen.
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