There have only been a handful of good live action movies with a mermaid as a central character. Clocking in at a mere 77 minutes, it's always watchable. This has an agreeable midnight movie feel to it at all times, and it's sure to appeal to lovers of obscure B pictures. The physical charms of the mermaid performers are impossible to resist, with Playboy Playmate Diane Webber (who would again play a mermaid on an episode of the series 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea') and Gaby Martone placed front and centre. He does a decent job, and Carey is great malevolent fun as one could expect. Rowe never speaks on camera instead his dialogue is entirely expressed in voice over narration. Not a lot may happen in "Mermaids of Tiburon", yet it just pulls a viewer right in with its ambiance, enhanced by a beautiful music score courtesy of Richard LaSalle. The real world also intrudes harshly, as a greedy fellow pearl hunter, Milo Sangster (played by the legendary screen psycho Timothy Carey) shows up using unscrupulous methods in the search for treasure. Well, George finds something else entirely: a grouping of exquisite mermaids who fascinate him. George Rowe, in his only acting gig, plays Samuel Jamison, a marine biologist with Marineland who accepts a gig offered to him by elderly gentleman Ernst Steinhauer (John Mylong of "Robot Monster"): travel to the waters around Tiburon, an island off the coast of Mexico, in search of pearls. It may take a viewer out of the story to some degree seeing that not all of the mermaids have fins, but the film remains a interesting and erotic experience. The underwater scenes in this thing are just gorgeous - and, naturally, the women are all gorgeous too. Given Lambs' background, it's not surprising that the visuals are so strong. It has a sedate pace, not much of a story, and not a whole lot of action, so it won't be for all tastes, but cult movie lovers who love the surreal are sure to find it quite engaging. "Mermaids of Tiburon" has a wonderful, otherworldly quality about it, thanks to the efforts of writer / director John Lamb, who's best known as a top notch underwater photographer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |