D V D C R Y P T

ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN / THE FISHMEN AND THEIR QUEEN

ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN

Directed by Sergio Martino
Cast: Barbara Bach, Richard Johnson, Claudio Cassinelli & Joseph Cottton

1979/93 mins/Color/5.1 DD (Dutch)
2.35:1 anamorphic/Italian/Italy/PAL Region 0

THE FISHMEN AND THEIR QUEEN

Directed by Sergio Martino
Cast: Giuliano Gensini, Donald Hodson & Ramona Badescu

1995/95 mins/Color/5.1 DD (Dutch)
1.85:1 anamorphic/Italian/Italy/PAL Region 2

Review from the Marketing Film DVD

ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN

One of my favorite film as a kid, i have been searching for this one for years. When i saw on the internet that Marketing Film were releasing it, i ordered it without any hesitation. Does the film still holds itself after all these years? Surprisingly, yes it does! Basically a "remake" of ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, the story starts in the Caribbean Sea in 1891, where Lt. Claude De Ross is a medical officer stuck in a prison boat with a hanful of criminals. During the night something attack the ship, leaving a few survivors on what seems like a deserted island. Its there that while searching for foods, one of the criminal is "savagely" attacked by a fish-like creature.

The remaining survivors soon leave and end up in a tribal cemetary where they first encounter Amanda (the stunning Barbara Bach). She doesn't want to help them but they follow her all the way to a house, the home of Edmund Rackham. Mr. Rackham seems to be the "leader" of the island, with bad ass looking native protecting him and a diabolical plan behind his mind. You see, Rackham has captured a scientist who happens to be Amanda's father. With his help he plan to steal all of the treasures of the lost city of the Atlantis which happen to be right under the island they're on! Rackham is using the fishmen to get down there and bring him all of the treasure. There's only one problem, the fishmen must be controled and only Amanda can do so by bringing them something special... no its not what you think you perverts! Sergio Martino delivered once again a good little genre film.

Marketing Film have released a nice double feature DVD. ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN has some print damage and film scratches but the image remains nice looking. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and its enhanced for 16x9 tv. We also get the choice of four audio tracks; a 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Dolby Digital Dutch tracks, a 2.0 Dolby Digital Italian track and a 2.0 Dolby Digital English track. All four sounds good but nothing spectacular. This is not the kind of transfer to showcase a DVD system. One annoying thing is that you'll get Dutch subtitles appearing from time to time, this is due to the fact that the actual Dutch tracks are missing some dialogues because at the time of its release the film was cut by 8 minutes in Germany. The film is separated in only 10 chapters, there's no booklet or inlay card but the DVD comes in a nice blue transparent keep case. We also get infos on the film, bios of Bach, Cassinelli and Johnson and a small stills gallery. The menus are static with no animations but with background music, and oh my are they ugly! There's one thing that really bugs me, the cover is badly printed and this pisses me off! If there's one film that has a very cool artwork its ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN, there is no excuse for this coming from Marketing Film.

It is interesting to note that ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN was retitled SCREAMERS for its US theatrical run thanks to Roger Corman's New World Pictures. This version included new added footage with Mel Ferrer and Cameroun Mitchell, including more violence and a cool tagline, "They're men turned inside out! And worse... They're still alive!".

THE FISHMEN AND THEIR QUEEN

Sergio Martino followed the first film with this tv sequel in 1995. We follow two boys living in the sewers of New York city trying to escape. They are pursuited by exterminators wearing Darth Vader like helmet! After escaping the city thanks to a demolition derby driver who they helped getting through a tunnel, they meet an old man called Socrates and his dog living by the sea. Socrates believes that they must do what a "magical" book is telling, take an enchanted voyage to an island to help a prince. Once they are on the island they meet an evil but good looking queen, fishmen serving the queen, a dwarf and more weirdos! I won't spoil you what is the end, you'll have to endure this yourself to find out!

Martino "recycled" lots of scenes from ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN and 2019 AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK for this "sequel" which prouves that he didn't really knew what to do with this one. It is much more of a kid oriented adventure than a genre film. The film is presented at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is enhanced for 16x9 tv, the image looks great apart for some of the scenes coming from the older films. We have a 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Dolby Digital Dutch tracks and a 2.0 Dolby Surround English track which features an awful dubbing. All three tracks sounds good but nothing spectacular. The film is separated in 10 chapters, we get bios for Martino, Badescu and Hodson and a small stills gallery. Please take note that this is a flip disc, with each film on one side.

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