Creatures from the Abyss

Creatures from the Abyss (original title Plankton) is a 1994 Italian horror film directed by Alvaro Passeri and written by Richard Baumann. The film stars Clay Rogers, Michael Bon, Sharon Twomey, Laura di Palma, Ann Wolf, and Deran Sarafian.

Creatures from the Abyss
Promotional release poster
Directed byAlvaro Passeri
Screenplay byRichard Baumann
Story byRichard Baumann
Produced by
  • Al Passeri
  • Joseph Holden
Starring
  • Clay Rogers
  • Michael Bon
  • Sharon Twomey
  • Laura di Palma
  • Ann Wolf
  • Deran Sarafian
CinematographyDavid Williams
Edited byPeter Jones
Music byElikonia Group
Distributed byProduction Film 82
Release date
  • 8 January 2000 (2000-01-08) (Japan)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian
Budget$250,000

Synopsis

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A group of five teenagers, three girls, and two boys get lost in the ocean in a dinghy, and a big storm begins. Suddenly they spot a yacht sitting in the middle of the ocean, and they go to investigate and to find shelter. But in fact, the yacht was a secret laboratory studying mutated fish resulting from radioactive plankton. One of the specimens escaped, killed the crew, and preys on the unsuspecting teenagers.

Cast

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  • Clay Rogers as Mike
  • Michael Bon as Bobby
  • Sharon Twomey as Margareth
  • Laura di Palma as Dorothy
  • Ann Wolf as Julie
  • Deran Sarafian as Professor Clark

Release

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Shriek Studio released Creatures from the Abyss on 31 July 2007 as part of the Mutant Monsters Triple Feature along with The Dark and The Being.

Reception

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Much of the coverage for Creatures from the Abyss focused on the film's production values, acting, and dubbing.[1] HorrorNews.net noted that the film contained poor dubbing, special effects, and acting while also stating "Is this movie worth your time? I’d have to say “Yes!” Is it a new cult classic in the making? Maybe. Don’t really see people flinging caviar at the screen. Still, it is quite quotable, and makes for a great party film with like-minded friends."[2] Clive Davies noted many of the same issues with the film in his book Spinegrinder, however wrote that the stop motion effects were "quite good".[3]

Bleeding Skull called the film a ripoff of Piranha, further writing that the film "looks like it was shot by the team behind Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan and feels like it was written by Lloyd Kaufman between The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke 'Em High.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Long, Mike (1 August 2003). "Plankton (review)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Film Review: Creatures of the Abyss (Plankton) (1994)". Horror News | HNN. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  3. ^ Davies, Clive (6 March 2015). Spinegrinder: The Movies Most Critics Won't Write About. SCB Distributors. ISBN 978-1-909394-06-3.
  4. ^ Choi, Annie; Carlson, Zack; Ziemba, Joseph A. (23 March 2021). Bleeding Skull: A 1990s Trash-Horror Odyssey. Fantagraphics Books. pp. 51–52. ISBN 978-1-68396-186-4.
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