Come with us now to those thrilling drive-in days of yesteryear, when the concession stands vended mystery-meat burgers and stale, fake-butter-soaked popcorn, windshields were steamed with passion, and Roger Corman-produced, shoestring-budget celluloid trash filled the screens from dusk to dawn.

Actually, the outdoor cinema was a cultural phenomenon that had long been on the decline when the “King of the B’s” released “Humanoids From the Deep” (aka “Monster”) in 1980, but this creature feature turned out to be one of his best under the direction of Barbara Peeters, who helmed several pics for Corman’s New World Pictures in the ’70s and ’80s before moving to a career directing hit TV series such as “Remington Steele.”

Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, Cindy Weintraub and ever-dependable villain Vic Morrow star in this tale of a sleepy fishing village that’s invaded by fishlike humanoid creatures spawned from mutant DNA that are bent on raping bikinied babes. “They’re not human. But they hunt human women. Not for killing. For mating,” goes the tagline. They also mangle kids, dogs and men in graphically bloody ways. Genuine jolts are in store for horror buffs, and there’s enough bad acting and dialogue and rubber-suited monsters to guarantee some chuckles, but this fare is definitely not for the squeamish. It is, however, one of the last of the great made-for-the-drive-in delights.

This uncut international version, with a haunting score by Academy Award-winning composer James Horner (“Titanic”), also has Leonard Maltin’s amusing interview with Corman, New World trailers, deleted scenes and a making-of documentary.

— Gene Triplett

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