Check this out for a storyline: hideous fish-men rise from the ocean depths in order to mate with human females and thus speed up their rapid evolution (which has already been kick-started by them eating genetically mutated salmon). Now if that doesn’t sound like B-movie monster heaven, then I don’t know what does.

After fisherman Jim Hill (ageing action ‘hunk’, Doug McClure), native-American Johnny Eagle (Anthony Pena), and scientist Susan Drake (Ann Turkel), discover the randy web-footed mutants in a nearby network of caves, they must race to the fishing town of Noyo to warn the locals of the danger that awaits them.

A wonderfully silly and scary portion of fishy fun, Humanoids From The Deep is a must-see for all fans of rubbery creature features. Packed with numerous dubious delights, which include the raping of buxom babes by the seaweed-covered critters, loads of gruesome gory killings, the obligatory shower scene, and a terrific ending in which the beasts gatecrash a party with bloody results, the film entertains from the very start right up to its OTT splattery ending.

Produced by horror legend Roger Corman, HFTD manages to deliver its preposterous plot with just the right mixture of seriousness and knowing silliness (watch the ventriloquist scene for the loopiest moment, when the dummy’s eyes flick back and forth as its owner is killed!). Ace make-up FX man Rob Bottin’s work is top-notch—the monsters may be men in suits, but they are still effectively disgusting looking things, equipped with razor sharp fangs, weird extended fore-arms and obscenely bulging craniums—and the seasoned leads (including Vic Morrow as town bad-guy Hank Slattery) give credible performances. The big breasted girls in the movie are also great, gamely shedding their clothes at every chance and enthusiastically bouncing in front of the camera!

Unabashedly misogynistic, and very, very silly, ‘Humanoids’ is a gem of 80s horror and a real treat for fans of trash cinema—do yourself a favour and fish this one out soon!