ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN

The lieutenant of a French vessel, the Cayenne, tasked with overseeing several dangerous criminals during their sea transport to prison, after the sinking of the boat, will shipwreck with the criminals on a mysterious and apparently deserted island. But he will soon discover that the island is not deserted but is inhabited by terrifying and ravenous creatures halfway between men and fish, and who seem to be somehow linked to the disappearance of the ancient civilization of Atlantis. Dramatic and extremely boring films made solely to win some film festival, light and banal comedies with Pieraccioni or vulgar Christmas comedies with Boldi and De Sica... these are now the only films made in Italy. Nowadays, our country aims to produce only unoriginal films, lacking courage, which do nothing but rehash the same old stories to ensure a decent (but almost always excessive) success at the box office. And it is thus that little by little we have come to feel a certain nostalgia for the old films produced in Italy, original, well-thought-out and well-made films, which more often than not had positive outcomes and had nothing to envy to overseas films. "L’isola degli uomini pesce" (The Island of Fish Men) can be a classic example of valid but unfortunately long-dead Italian cinema. The film, masterfully directed by the always excellent Sergio Martino ("Tutti i colori del buio", "Il corpo presenta tracce di violenza carnale"), is part of that strand of Italian-made films that boasted original ideas but above all well-made and avoided creating cinematic inferiority complexes for Italians. The film, as often happens in Martino's films, is much closer to the adventure genre than to the horror genre (as could happen in "La montagna del dio cannibale" or in "Il fiume del grande caimano"), but it still manages with ease to integrate the two genres into a single work without creating any flaws. First of all, the starting plot is to be admired, which decided to build a film, all in all horror, on the fascinating legend of Atlantis, a Greek civilization submerged by the waters of the ocean and disappeared without a trace, and which has always intrigued human minds. To an engaging plot, a more than valid screenplay collaborates, which manages to capture the viewer's attention from the first minute, avoiding creating dead or slightly heavy scenes; while the direction of good Martino, once again, does not disappoint. The cast is also worthy of praise. In fact, all the actors turn out to be very professional and well suited to their role; among these, Claudio Cassinelli (who had already lent himself as the protagonist in other films by the director) and Barbara Bach stand out as always. Another strong point of the film are the beautiful sets (beaches, forests and caves), spacious and bright places unusual for setting horror films (which generally prefer cramped places) that manage to fascinate and enchant the viewer. Finally, the realization of the creatures is decisively to be appreciated. Made with nice costumes that might seem a bit crude and ridiculous to a modern eye, but instead cannot do anything but fascinate the viewer, evoking the style of the classic monsters that generally dominated the cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. In conclusion, this "L’isola degli uomini pesce" is a classic and excellent example of old and dear Italian cinema, which made us dream in past times, but which now seems to have disappeared forever just like the civilization of Atlantis. It inevitably deserves a viewing.