Up from the Depths

Last updated
Up From the Depths
Up from the Depths Poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Charles B. Griffith
Written byAnne Dyer
Alfred Sweeney
Produced byJack Atienza
Cirio H. Santiago
Starring Sam Bottoms
Susanne Reed
Virgil Frye
Kedric Wolfe
Charles Howerton
CinematographyRicardo Remias
Edited byG. V. Bass
Music by James Horner & Russell O’Malley
Distributed by New World Pictures
Shout Factory (DVD)
Release date
  • June 29, 1979 (1979-06-29)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Up From the Depths is a 1979 horror film directed by Charles B. Griffith and starring Sam Bottoms, Susanne Reed, Virgil Frye, Kedric Wolfe, and Charles Howerton. The film, along with many other natural horror films at the time of its release, was made due to the success of Jaws .

Contents

Plot

The staff and vacationers at a first-class resort on the island of Maui are beginning to mysteriously disappear. A biologist believes that an underwater earthquake has caused a giant and very hungry dormant prehistoric fish to be released from its slumber. The fish voraciously helps itself to a tourist buffet. Now it is open season for the local fishermen to find and kill the creature.

Cast

Production

Charles B Griffith later called making the film a "terrible experience".

We had it written by one of the typists or secretaries in the office who didn't have any thoughts of becoming a writer. I think Roger did it to punish me, to send me out to The Philippines where I didn't know what I was getting into. I was making an action picture, but The Philippines people were all so depressed, and they had made this goofy-looking fish with bug eyes. I told them that we'll make it a comedy, and their eyes lit up! So I sent back a comedy on one plane, and I arrived on the next one. By the time I arrived, Roger had already cut 75 minutes out. As an editor would say, "That's a set-up, that's a payoff!" [1]

Release

Home media

Up from the Depths was released on DVD by Shout Factory as a part of its "Roger Corman's Cult Classics" on January 18, 2011. Shout Factory later re-released the film on October 9, 2012. [2]

Reception

Kurt Dahlke from DVD Talk gave the film 1.5 out of 5 stars, criticizing the film's corny acting, uneven tone, and obvious rubber monster suit. Dahlke concluded his review by writing, "Up From The Depths isn't remotely scary or thrilling, it lacks sufficient violence or gore to please the punters, and its mid-course switch to comedy isn't all that funny either. We're talking about a real heap of bronze-plated crud, so if your taste runs to Z-movies, you'll still probably have to get real drunk to eke any pleasure out of this one." [3] Charles Tatum from eFilmCritic gave the film 1/5 stars, panning the film's lack of characterizations, and suspense, as well as the film's special effects, and poor dubbing. [4] R.L. Shafer from IGN called the film "severely lacking", and "a low-rent knock-off of Steven Spielberg's smash-hit, Jaws ". [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Little Shop of Horrors</i> 1960 American comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman

The Little Shop of Horrors is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about a florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The film stars Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, and Dick Miller, who had all worked for Corman on previous films. Produced under the title The Passionate People Eater, the film employs an original style of humor, combining dark comedy with farce and incorporating Jewish humor and elements of spoof. The Little Shop of Horrors was shot on a budget of $28,000. Interiors were shot in two days, by utilizing sets that had been left standing from A Bucket of Blood.

<i>It Conquered the World</i> 1956 film by Roger Corman

It Conquered the World is an independently made 1956 American science fiction film produced and directed by Roger Corman, and starring Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland, and Sally Fraser. Shot in black-and-white, It Conquered the World was released theatrically by American International Pictures (AIP) as a double feature with The She-Creature.

<i>Humongous</i> (1982 film) 1982 Canadian film

Humongous is a 1982 Canadian slasher film directed by Paul Lynch, and starring Janet Julian, John Wildman, and David Wallace. The story centers on a group of young adults who become stranded on a deserted island, where they are stalked and murdered by a monstrous assailant.

<i>Attack of the Crab Monsters</i> 1957 film by Roger Corman

Attack of the Crab Monsters is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, produced and directed by Roger Corman, that stars Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, and Russell Johnson. The film was distributed by Allied Artists as a double feature showing with Corman's Not of This Earth.

<i>The Clown Murders</i> 1976 Canadian film

The Clown Murders is a 1976 Canadian horror film directed by Martyn Burke. It was one of the earliest films in which John Candy appears. The Executive Producer was Stephen Stohn, who later produced the Degrassi: The Next Generation TV series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles B. Griffith</span> American screenwriter (1930–2007)

Charles Byron Griffith was an American screenwriter, actor, and film director. He was the son of Donna Dameral, radio star of Myrt and Marge, along with Charles' grandmother, Myrtle Vail, and was best known for writing Roger Corman productions such as A Bucket of Blood (1959), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), and Death Race 2000 (1975).

<i>Gunslinger</i> (film) 1956 film by Roger Corman

Gunslinger is a 1956 American Western film directed by Roger Corman and starring John Ireland, Beverly Garland and Allison Hayes. The screenplay was written by Mark Hanna and Charles B. Griffith.

<i>Bitten</i> (film) 2008 Canadian film

Bitten is a 2008 Canadian black comedy vampire film directed by Harv Glazer. It stars Jason Mewes as a paramedic who rescues Danika, a female vampire, from an alley way.

<i>Blood Tide</i> 1982 film

Blood Tide is a 1982 British horror film directed by Richard Jefferies, and starring James Earl Jones, José Ferrer, Lila Kedrova, Lydia Cornell, Mary Louise Weller, Martin Kove, and Deborah Shelton. Its plot follows a young American couple visiting a Greek island where the husband's sister disappeared; they soon find that an ancient monster has been released, forcing the villagers to return to the practice of human sacrifice to appease it.

<i>Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype</i> 1980 American film

Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype is a 1980 American comedy-drama horror romance film directed by Charles B. Griffith, starring Oliver Reed and Sunny Johnson.

<i>The Nesting</i> 1981 horror film

The Nesting is a 1981 American supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Armand Weston, and starring Robin Groves, Michael Lally, John Carradine and Gloria Grahame in her final film role. Its plot follows an agoraphobic novelist who rents a rural mansion that she comes to find is haunted by the prostitute victims of a mass murder that occurred there in the 1940s.

<i>Little Fish, Strange Pond</i> 2009 American film

Little Fish, Strange Pond is a 2009 American direct-to-DVD independent black comedy drama film directed by Gregory Dark and written by Robert Dean Klein.

<i>Eat My Dust!</i> 1976 film by Charles B. Griffith

Eat My Dust! is a 1976 American action comedy film written and directed by Charles B. Griffith, and starring Ron Howard.

<i>Smokey Bites the Dust</i> 1981 American film

Smokey Bites the Dust is a 1981 car chase film from New World Pictures directed by Charles B. Griffith. Despite the title, the film is not connected to the Smokey and the Bandit series.

<i>Devil Hunter</i> (film) 1980 film

Devil Hunter is a 1980 horror film directed by Jesús Franco under the pseudonym "Clifford Brown" and written by Franco and Julián Esteban. It was shot back-to-back with Franco's Mondo Cannibale. It is one of the infamous "video nasties" that were banned in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

<i>Shadow of the Hawk</i> 1976 film directed by George McCowan

Shadow of the Hawk is a 1976 horror film directed by George McCowan and written by Norman Thaddeus Vane and Herbert Wright. The film stars Jan-Michael Vincent, Marilyn Hassett, Chief Dan George, Pia Shandel, Marianne Jones and Jacques Hubert.

<i>Excessive Force II: Force on Force</i> 1995 American film

Excessive Force II: Force on Force is a 1995 American direct-to-video action film starring Stacie Randall and Dan Gauthier. It was written by Mark Sevi and directed by Jonathan Winfrey. The film is a sequel to Excessive Force (1993), despite not bearing any relation to the original movie or its storyline.

<i>The Loreleys Grasp</i> 1973 Spanish film

The Loreley's Grasp is a 1973 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio, and starring Tony Kendall, and Helga Liné. The film centers on a series of horrific murders in a German town by the Rhine river perpetrated by a deadly water spirit known as the Lorelei.

Gums is a 1976 American softcore pornographic film. It was a send up of Jaws and received a relatively wide theatrical release as a midnight movie.

References

  1. Aaron W. Graham, 'Little Shop of Genres: An interview with Charles B. Griffith', Senses of Cinema, 15 April, 2005 accessed 25 June 2012
  2. "Up from the Depths (1979) - Charles B. Griffith". Allmovie.com. Allmovie. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  3. Dahlke, Kurt. "Up From The Depths / Demon Of Paradise : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk.com. Kurt Dahlke. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  4. Tatum, Charles. "Movie Review - Up from the Depths - eFilmCritic". eFilmCritic.com. Charles Tatum. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  5. Shaffer, R. (21 January 2011). "Up from the Depths/Demon of Paradise DVD Review - IGN". IGN.com. R.L. Shaffer. Retrieved 1 November 2018.

Notes