Screamers (1979, aka: Island of the Fishmen) - Scorpion Releasing - May 27, 2014

[lilboyblu]

Full Moon?

Better hang on tight to that Scorpion Blu-ray if you have it.

[mikey horror]

I’m guessing the 99 minute runtime listed on the new Full Moon disc is a typo since the Scorpion Screamers disc has a listed runtime of 89 minutes?

[willo007]

Originally Posted by mikey horror

I’m guessing the 99 minute runtime listed on the new Full Moon disc is a typo since the Scorpion Screamers disc has a listed runtime of 89 minutes?

I was under the impression the Full Moon version was a different cut of the film.

[JohnCarpenterFan]

Originally Posted by mikey horror

I’m guessing the 99 minute runtime listed on the new Full Moon disc is a typo since the Scorpion Screamers disc has a listed runtime of 89 minutes?

The Scorpion release is of the Screamers export cut. The original cut of Island of the Fishmen has a running time of 99 minutes, which I'm assuming this release will contain.

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by willo007

I was under the impression the Full Moon version was a different cut of the film.

It's definitely a different cut from Screamers, or at least that's what they're saying it is.

Screamers I believe cut out quite a bit of expositional stuff to speed it up and added in some gore shots for the American drive-in audience (if I remember correctly the entire first part of Screamers was an addition).

I'm looking forward to the original cut of Island of the Fishmen. I already liked Screamers so having a longer original cut should be interesting to me.

[mikey horror]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterFan

The Scorpion release is of the Screamers export cut. The original cut of Island of the Fishmen has a running time of 99 minutes, which I'm assuming this release will contain.

I knew there was a different cut, but I didn’t know it amounted to a ten minute difference.

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by mikey horror

I knew there was a different cut, but I didn’t know it amounted to a ten minute difference.

Looked into it a bit more. The differences should actually be more significant than that. According to some sources, around 30 minutes were removed and replaced with around 20 minutes of new scenes shot a couple years later.

This cut should remove those 20 minutes but add back in the original 30 minutes not previously presented in HD, giving us that 10 minute difference but a differently paced film. Even some soundtrack cues should be different during the same scenes.

[The Great Owl]

I bought the Cineploit Records digibook, since it's region free. Excellent transfer!



Shortly after Lieutenant Claude de Ross, a military doctor played by Claudio Cassinelli, and some convicts under his transport are shipwrecked on a remote Caribbean island, their numbers are dwindled by amphibious half-human half-fish creatures that pick them off one by one. Claude finds temporary shelter at a plantation house owned by Edmond Rackham, played by Richard Johnson, and Rackham's female companion, played by Barbara Bach, but he will soon be fighting for survival again when he discovers that his hosts are hiding a deadly secret.

My initial introduction to the 1979 horror adventure film, Island of the Fishmen (L'isola degli uomini pesce), directed by Sergio Martino, was by way of a reworked version, Screamers, courtesy of Roger Corman's New World Pictures, which removed roughly a half hour of footage and added a handful of new scenes with gory special effects. My preferences, however, lie with the original incarnation, which benefits from a sense of visceral restraint and a more leisurely, yet engaging narrative pace, coming across as a blend of The Island of Dr. Moreau, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The titular fishmen are marvelously fearsome creations, but the true villains here are avaricious humans.

Martino helmed several of my favorite schlocky Italian classics, namely The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972), Torso (1973), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), The Great Alligator (1979), and 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983). Island of the Fishmen is more accessible than most of his output, and serves as a fun gateway into his work for younger viewers.

Barbara Bach, best known for her Bond girl role in The Spy Who Loved Me, is the most recognizable face here. She would appear again with Claudio Cassinelli, a longtime stalwart of Martino's films, in The Great Alligator. Richard Johnson (The Haunting) lends supreme menace to the proceedings, while Beryl Cunningham provides mystique as a voodoo practitioner. Be on the lookout for none other than Joseph Cotton (Citizen Kane) in a key part.

[Savage_Blu]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I bought the Cineploit Records digibook, since it's region free. Excellent transfer!

[Show spoiler]Shortly after Lieutenant Claude de Ross, a military doctor played by Claudio Cassinelli, and some convicts under his transport are shipwrecked on a remote Caribbean island, their numbers are dwindled by amphibious half-human half-fish creatures that pick them off one by one. Claude finds temporary shelter at a plantation house owned by Edmond Rackham, played by Richard Johnson, and Rackham's female companion, played by Barbara Bach, but he will soon be fighting for survival again when he discovers that his hosts are hiding a deadly secret.

My initial introduction to the 1979 horror adventure film, Island of the Fishmen (L'isola degli uomini pesce), directed by Sergio Martino, was by way of a reworked version, Screamers, courtesy of Roger Corman's New World Pictures, which removed roughly a half hour of footage and added a handful of new scenes with gory special effects. My preferences, however, lie with the original incarnation, which benefits from a sense of visceral restraint and a more leisurely, yet engaging narrative pace, coming across as a blend of The Island of Dr. Moreau, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The titular fishmen are marvelously fearsome creations, but the true villains here are avaricious humans.

Martino helmed several of my favorite schlocky Italian classics, namely The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972), Torso (1973), Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), The Great Alligator (1979), and 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983). Island of the Fishmen is more accessible than most of his output, and serves as a fun gateway into his work for younger viewers.

Barbara Bach, best known for her Bond girl role in The Spy Who Loved Me, is the most recognizable face here. She would appear again with Claudio Cassinelli, a longtime stalwart of Martino's films, in The Great Alligator. Richard Johnson (The Haunting) lends supreme menace to the proceedings, while Beryl Cunningham provides mystique as a voodoo practitioner. Be on the lookout for none other than Joseph Cotton (Citizen Kane) in a key part.

Where did you purchase this version from? Never heard of Cineploit...

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Savage_Blu

Where did you purchase this version from? Never heard of Cineploit..

Here is the website.

It was not cheap. About $44 or so with shipping. Great disc, though.

[Savage_Blu]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Here is the website.

It was not cheap. About $44 or so with shipping. Great disc, though.

Yeah, I checked out their website earlier. Wasn't sure I you had purchased it elsewhere....While I'm partial to Italian cinema of this ilk, the Cineploit release is a bit steep for a blind buy. I'll check out the FM release first. Thanks for bringing their version to my attention!

[Katatonia]

Here is a BDInfo scan (and bitrate chart) of the German release, if anyone is interested:

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00003.MPLS                                                      AVC     1:38:57 30,954,796,224  45,654,365,456  41.71   0.00    DTS-HD Master 2.0 (48kHz/16-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     INSEL DER NEUEN MONSTER
Disc Label:     INSEL DER NEUEN MONSTER
Disc Size:      45,654,365,456 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BDInfo:         0.7.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00003.MPLS
Length:                 1:38:57.097 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   30,954,796,224 bytes
Total Bitrate:          41.71 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        0 kbps              1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             German          0 kbps          2.0 / 48 kHz / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         0 kbps          2.0 / 48 kHz / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio             Italian         0 kbps          2.0 / 48 kHz / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz /  1509 kbps / 16-bit)

SUBTITLES:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Presentation Graphics           German          0.000 kbps                      
Presentation Graphics           German          0.000 kbps                      
Presentation Graphics           English         0.000 kbps                      

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00003.M2TS      0:00:00.000     1:38:57.097     30,954,796,224  0               

CHAPTERS:

Number          Time In         Length          Avg Video Rate  Max 1-Sec Rate  Max 1-Sec Time  Max 5-Sec Rate  Max 5-Sec Time  Max 10Sec Rate  Max 10Sec Time  Avg Frame Size  Max Frame Size  Max Frame Time  
------          -------         ------          --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  
1               0:00:00.000     0:16:01.919     33,216 kbps     44,258 kbps     00:11:03.089    37,729 kbps     00:02:12.225    36,575 kbps     00:02:31.244    0 bytes         507,473 bytes   00:13:19.256    
2               0:16:01.919     0:15:26.342     34,601 kbps     41,442 kbps     00:24:28.049    37,623 kbps     00:31:09.993    36,410 kbps     00:29:02.574    0 bytes         466,908 bytes   00:24:28.091    
3               0:31:28.261     0:15:53.744     33,954 kbps     43,100 kbps     00:39:09.638    37,824 kbps     00:46:16.648    36,817 kbps     00:46:11.769    0 bytes         581,603 bytes   00:43:48.042    
4               0:47:22.005     0:21:07.182     34,825 kbps     41,605 kbps     00:57:37.328    37,620 kbps     01:07:59.283    37,176 kbps     00:57:16.099    0 bytes         429,770 bytes   00:47:22.756    
5               1:08:29.188     0:14:25.656     34,813 kbps     41,971 kbps     01:21:42.647    37,875 kbps     01:18:10.394    36,881 kbps     01:08:42.368    0 bytes         365,529 bytes   01:22:43.792    
6               1:22:54.844     0:16:02.252     33,533 kbps     43,570 kbps     01:24:37.155    38,322 kbps     01:24:34.068    36,475 kbps     01:23:07.816    0 bytes         436,181 bytes   01:37:29.051    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00003.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     5937.014                34,179                  25,365,095,854  137,938,350     
00003.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       deu (German)            5937.014                1,730                   1,283,706,568   7,805,783       
00003.M2TS      4353 (0x1101)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       eng (English)           5937.014                1,578                   1,171,113,456   7,316,190       
00003.M2TS      4354 (0x1102)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       ita (Italian)           5937.014                1,696                   1,258,619,104   7,792,409       
00003.M2TS      4608 (0x1200)   0x90            PGS             deu (German)            5937.014                3                       2,572,676       14,968          
00003.M2TS      4609 (0x1201)   0x90            PGS             deu (German)            5937.014                19                      14,461,973      83,906          
00003.M2TS      4610 (0x1202)   0x90            PGS             eng (English)           5937.014                17                      12,537,127      73,416

As with past Cineploit releases, it's very English-friendly as far as the MediaBook text, the disc menus and the bonus features.

[vortexx]

Based on someone from the Corman camp, when they released the poster that said something like seeing someone turned inside out, people weren't happy (at what I assume were previews), that no such thing happened in the movie, so they ended up shooting something close to that in the intro. I have no idea if other scenes were already removed at that point. I thought the intro was well done, so I like both versions.

[The Batman Professor]

Got FISHMEN today, and will be giving it a spin by the weekend.

Happy to have both versions.

[The Batman Professor]

Watching it now on my Pioneer Kuro in my office.

PQ is excellent for the most part. A few shots look a bit soft, but most are impressively sharp. Contrast is variable, but even the SCREAMERS blu is that way.

[Member-222782]

I'd love to see the 1995 "sequel", "The Fishmen and Their Queen", get a decent Blu-ray release. I have the old Mya DVD (or was it One7?). Bad film but I still enjoy it.

[Hammerlover]

I'm happy with the Cineploit mediabook edition.

[Mose Harper]

Originally Posted by The Batman Professor

Watching it now on my Pioneer Kuro in my office.

PQ is excellent for the most part. A few shots look a bit soft, but most are impressively sharp. Contrast is variable, but even the SCREAMERS blu is that way.

Are you watching the Full Moon or the import?

[The Batman Professor]

Full Moon

[bigdaddyhorse]

Man, so tempting but so torn.
First off, my experience with this movie goes as follows.
Saw the Isalnd of the Fishmen dvd cover at Hollywood video all the time, but it was always rented out so I never saw it. Was going to buy it when store went out of business, but didn't have a chance as someone rented it a day before and didn't return it (but didn't get the case/cover which was still there). Always loved that cover/poster.
Bought the Screamers BD. Liked it enough, but haven't revisited.
Am more of a gorehound kind of guy, but appreciate well done films.
US version seems like good option. Right cover, not too expensive.
But German features sound interesting. Are they, plus all the swag, worth an extra $30 on a film I might watch twice in my remaining life?
Are they? (secretly begging for someone to put em up on youtube) Think I'll keep an eye on the US one and hope to find find it $10 or less. Don't all FM end up cheap in the end?