An Exercise In Poor Taste- She Creature

[Guest TSMAdmin]

Welcome back to TheSmartMarks’ DVD section! This review is for “She Creature”, a made for TV movie that was originally shown on Showtime and HBO last year as part of the “Creature Features” series. Created by Stan Winston, the films in the series are tributes to older b-movies of the 1950’s. “She Creature” was the first to appear on DVD, and, as a piece of TheSmartMarks history, was my first trial column for the site as well. I decided to resubmit it, since another film from the series, “Earth vs. the

Spider” (starring Dan Akyroyd) is out this week. I’ll try and get to that one soon, but until then, enjoy this unique relic of DVD reviews past.

 

For a more serious (and spoiler-free!) review of the film check my review at IMDb.

 

 

“She Creature” (2001)

Columbia Tri-Star/Creature Features

 

Film (complete with minor plot spoilers!):

During the 1950’s, there was an over-abundance of b-grade monster movies known as “creature features”. Columbia/Tri-Star’s new Creature Features label is a concept devised from Stan Winston (the special effects master behind “Aliens” and “Terminator 2”), to pay tribute to these pictures by updating them with new, coherent plots and special effects (supervised by Winston himself). If “She Creature” is any example, he’s already done it

too well, as the film far outclasses its original film and genre, with a plot and performances most sci-fi/horror films would kill for, and a creature that ironically detracts from the movie instead of adding to it.

 

Whereas 1956’s “The She-Creature” was an awkward story about a hypnotist’s assistant who regressed thousands of years into a bad rip-off of The Gill Man, this new “She Creature” is about mermaids. How sweet… except these

aren’t the typical “Splash” or “Little Mermaid” type mermaids, these mermaids are EVIL! Remember those old stories of sailors being lured in by mermaids and their songs? The reason they did so, the film explains, is

because mermaids have a taste for human flesh. So, en route to America to star in a traveling sideshow, what else will a mermaid do, but break loose and eat people?

 

As silly as all that sounds, the film is believable, and works on multiple levels. Sultry and attractive, the mermaid (Rya Kihlstedt) is allowed from the beginning to have a defined sexual nature (she even appears topless – so much for the traditional childish sea-shell bra). This nature is the focus of the plot, as the mermaid interacts with a carnival owner, Angus (Rufus Sewell), and his lover Lillie (Carla Gugino). Although Angus suspects something is array with the creature, it is how the creature gets into Lillie’s head that is the most interesting plot thread. First she fears the creature, and then hates it, but by the end of the film it protects her and there are hints of romantic feelings between the two. Lillie claims she is bonded with the mermaid and it can read her thoughts, and Angus is just worried that she is crazy. The performances by Gugino (who makes up for a terrible mismatch with Jet Li in “The One”), Sewell, and Kihlstedt (who especially shines as a beautiful creature with an inhuman icy stare that penetrates to the heart) and the chemistry between the three make it all not only convincing, but captivating and interesting to see how this bizarre love triangle plays out.

 

Then the creature aspect comes back into play. In the majority of creature films this leads to the sole redeeming aspects, but in this film it actually cheapens it. The mermaid attacks throughout the rest of the film had been

off-camera (due to lack of budget, like in any true b-grade classic), but when the mermaid turns into a mix between The Gill Man from “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and Sil from “Species”, it ruins the beauty and mystique painstakingly crafted throughout the whole movie. There is never even a good full-body shot of the creature, and with the majority of the killings still being for the most part off-camera, this is an average “creature on a rampage” sequence that is totally anti-climactic, runs rough-shot on the story and ruins the movie. Regardless, I still recommend this film, on the basis of its surprisingly strong plot if nothing else.

 

Redeeming Aspects:

The strong plot and performances may not be enough for some, who expect a creature feature to be, well, a creature feature, light on plot and heavy on fun. The creature attacks are far from the greatest, and the film lacks in

the gore department (the 1950’s films never had gore anyway), but for those into nudity there are MERMAID BREASTS! Also, though I forgot to mention it above, the film, as a period piece set in the 1900’s, features beautiful and intricate set designs, particularly the old man’s mansion with the huge glass tank that the mermaid resides in (or rather, is supposed to reside in). The set design becomes blander when the film moves onto the ship

(which makes sense, because ships a hundred years ago were hardly luxurious), where it stays for the rest of the movie, but the mermaid is still kept in tank, with its plain, but fitting aesthetic pattern.

 

Presentation:

Originally a made-for-cable movie shown on Cinemax and HBO, the film is up to par with a good Hollywood “real movie” transfer. The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen, and I found no glaring errors with it. The sound is a Dolby Digital 5.0 mix that at times is a little quiet (alas, I did not test the Dolby Digital 2.0 French mix), but for those times, there’s the usual Columbia/Tri-Star abundance of sub-titles in English, Spanish, French,

Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, Thai. Should be enough for extra credit in most language classes…

 

Special Features:

How is it the majority of good films not by David Fincher get totally screwed on special features? “She Creature” has a 2-minute featurette that doesn’t even qualify as a fluff promotional feature, menu links to a photo gallery that don’t even work (they play the movie instead), trailers for

this and the other films in the Creature Features series, and a spotty commentary by producer/special effects supervisor Stan Winston and co-producer Shane Mahan, which at times is very interesting but also features quite a few gaps. The best moment is when Stan Winston tells you

to turn off the commentary because knowing about the special effects will ruin the magic of the movie (don’t worry Stan, I never thought Kihlstedt was really a mermaid), although another great line is when Stan gets pissed at Shane because an editing decision was made without his input. On the whole though, it’s pretty disappointing, but hey, as Americans we got screwed by

Artisan on the domestic “Ginger Snaps” disc as well…

 

Overall:

Although traditionally known for total cheese, the low budget horror film has become one of the most consistently entertaining and original genres within the past few years. “She Creature”, the world’s first ever low-budget mermaid psychological horror piece (how’d you like to have that on your resume?), is no exception. I’m impressed, and even though I doubt the other films in the Creature Features line-up come close to this caliber of this release, I’ll be sure to check them out when they hit rental shelves. I also hope the “Mermaid Chronicles Part 1” sub-title mentioned on IMDb means there will be more low-budget mermaid psychological horror pieces coming from Winston and his crew.

 

Being that I’m a narcissistic person (at least when it concerns my writing), be sure to write me and tell me how you much you loved my column (or how much you hated it, my inbox is lonely). I’d post my Amazon.com wish list, but I’ll wait a few columns so I don’t come off as too desperately materialistic.

 

Until next time…

Edward Robins

Send me feedback at [email protected]