The Top 10 Best Fish Man Movies
Fish Man Movies Go Great with a Pinch of Old Bay and a Squeeze of Lemon
When it comes to classic cinematic monsters, there are shockingly few Fish Man movies out there. Considering the character is one of the first great creature feature villains, I would have thought that there would have been more films featuring the aquatic beast. Despite there not being enough films starring the “Gillman” for a proper top 10 list of his own, I couldn’t let him be one of the only classic movie monsters not to get a list of his own. After all, if I can pull ones for Frankenstein, werewolves, and the mummy, I could do one for him. So, I reexamined the core concept of the Gillman and expanded it to include aquatic humanoids in general, or as I like to affectionately call them, Fish Men. That would include any creature with two arms, two legs, a set of gills, and a mouth full of teeth. Now, these creatures also have to be more or less human-sized, so don’t expect to see any kaiju or Kraken on here. While the character is traditionally amphibious, I’m not going to make that a steadfast rule to stick by. Finally, I’m going to be including films that contain memorable aquatic humanoids in them, even if they aren’t horror flicks and the Fish Men aren’t main characters. Fair warning, you should make sure you wait at least 40 minutes after you eat before diving into this list of Fish Man movies or they might pull you under with them.
10. The Cabin in the Woods
Kicking off this list of Fish Man movies is a film that delivered the ultimate cinematic merman. At its heart, The Cabin in the Woods is a wickedly funny deconstruction of the horror genre that features a cameo by every trope of the genre, from zombies to zombie redneck torture families and everything in between. The film centers on an ancient ritual (long since modernized into an impressive operation) in which sacrifices choose a cursed object representing the harbinger of their doom. One of the running gags in the film is how much Bradley Whitford’s character wants to see a merman chosen. While the merman isn’t the monster summoned in the film, we do get to see a glimpse of him in action at the very end and he is just horrifying. Technically, he doesn’t have “two legs” but he definitely fits the concept of a Fish Man and proves to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie.
9. Humanoids of the Deep
There really aren’t that many horror movies out there directed by women, which is weird considering that women love the genre just as much as men do. Luckily for this list of Fish Man movies, Barbara Peeters directed the 80s “classic” Humanoids from the Deep. The film takes place in a California fishing village where a series of mutilated bodies have been found floating in the bay. The culprit turns out to be the titular humanoids of the deep, who have become aggressive due to a new cannery encroaching on their habitat. To be fair, the so-called Humanoids are kind of goofy looking if you get a good look at them. However, it takes an element that is often seen in Fish Man movies and takes it to a dark extreme. You see, the first appearance of the Gillman on screen featured it trying to woo and abduct a human woman. Since then, the taboo of cross-species relations has become a gut-wrenching underlying theme in many of these sorts of films. Humanoids of the Deep just threw away any notion of romanticism attached to the idea.
8. Cold Skin
More often than not, Fish Man movies are less straightforward creature features and more an examination of man’s role as a villain in the eyes of nature. Cold Skin is a film about two men left to do their jobs on a rock in the middle of the ocean in 1914. The new meteorologist who learns madness will be the least of his problems when strange creatures begin to emerge at night to attack his home. When he goes to warn the veteran lighthouse keeper about these monsters, he is shocked to find that not only does the lighthouse keeper know about them, but he’s been keeping one of the females as a pet named Aneris (Aura Garrido). At least, that’s what it seems like at first. The meteorologist soon suspects that Aneris is more prisoner than pet, and the lighthouse keeper has been performing “unchristian” acts with her. Faced with a choice between his fellow man and doing what is just, the meteorologist has to decide fast as a new wave of monsters emerges to claim what is theirs.
7. Underwater
Underwater is one of the last films I got to see in theaters before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic shut them down. All things considered, it’s actually a pretty exciting underwater horror-adventure featuring monsters inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s Deep Ones. Deep at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, a research/drilling station has unleashed something ancient from the depths. Cut off from the surface and seven miles underwater with systems failing, the surviving crew makes the decision to suit up and walk across the ocean floor in the hope of reaching their sister station. The crushing pressure of the depths proves to be the least of their worries when they begin to suspect that they are being hunted by creatures that have remained hidden since the dawn of time. Trapped in a place man was never meant to be, they have to fight for their survival and escape before they become fish food.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Here is where I got a little creative with what constitutes Fish Man movies. At first glance, the pirate flick, Dead Man’s Chest doesn’t seem like it would qualify for a spot on this list. However, Davy Jones and his crew are, for all intents and purposes, Fish Men. There are all sorts of fish under the sea, and while some of the crew might be inspired by other sea creatures that technically aren’t fish (squids, crabs, etc), I think we threw science out the window at the start of this list. Besides, the franchise has always been more fantasy than science-fiction. While fans and critics alike weren’t thrilled with the sequel, I’ll argue that the creature designs for Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and his crew are actually pretty cool. Each one of them has a unique look that blends man and beast, allowing them to move freely between land and water while being just as lethal in both worlds. Aesthetically speaking, Dead Man’s Chest definitely deserves a spot on this list.