Humanoids from the Deep

Humanoids from the Deep

Barbara Peeters

US
1980
Feature Film
78’
Focus

As a growing number of weird deaths shatter the idyll of a small town on the American coast, a seriously injured eyewitness tells of bloodcurdling monsters that emerge from the sea: half-fish and half-human. Biologist Dr Susan Drake takes on the monsters whose main object is to attack and rape women as a means of propagating their species.

Humanoids from the Deep is a science-runs-amok movie that hovers between science fiction and horror trash, reminiscent of the low budget monster films that Roger Corman started to produce back in the 1950s. Because Barbara Peeters refused to shoot the rape scenes that Corman was demanding, she was replaced by Jimmy T. Murakami who came up with the required material. Ms Peeters then tried to get her name removed from the film’s credits, albeit unsuccessfully.

Film programme Exploitation

Director

Barbara Peeters, Jimmy T. Murakami

Script

Frank Arnold, Martin B. Cohen, William Martin

Cinematography

Daniel Lacambre

Editing

Mark Goldblatt

Sound

Earl Stein

Music

James Horner

Cast

Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, Vic Morrow, Cindy Weintraub, Anthony Pena und andere

Production

Martin B. Cohen, Roger Corman

Barbara Peeters

Barbara Peeters grew up in Iowa and studied theatre before going into the film industry. With Bury Me an Angel (1971), she was the first woman to direct a biker film. Similarly, she and Stephanie Rothman were the only two female directors working for New World Pictures in the 1970s. Her debut as co-writer and co-director consisted of The Dark Side of Tomorrow which also entailed a lesbian coming out. In 1980, she left New World Pictures and turned her attentions for the next ten years to TV movies and series, including Renegades, Remington Steele and Falcon Crest. Ms Peeters set up her own company, Silver Foxx Films, in the 1990s. In 2008, she moved to Oregon and concentrates on making commercials and documentary films.


Films by Barbara Peeters (Selection)
Shadow Chasers 1985 | Falcon Crest 1984–85 | Remington Steele 1984 | Renegades 1983 | Matt Houston 1982 | The Powers of Matthew Star 1982 | Starhops 1978 | Summer School Teachers 1974 | Bury Me an Angel 1972 | The Dark Side of Tomorrow 1970