Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature (2002)

Very well executed

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Otherwise known as 'The Mermaid Chronicles 1: She Creature', this enjoyable TV movie has credited, as executive producer, the mighty Samuel Z. Arkoff, who has enjoyed a similar role on a huge volume of films with sci-fi/horror connotations. Sadly, he was to die shortly after completion of this.The rich, plummy voiced Aubrey Morris, whose career is made with playing eccentrics, played Mr. Woolrich who has imprisoned in his dark and gloomy castle, a mermaid (Rya Kihlstedt) in a water-tight cage. Showman Angus (Rufus Sewell) sees the business opportunities available in owning such a creature himself and shortly, she is part of his exhibition. Angus's partner who gets closer to the She-Creature than she might like, Lily is played by Carla Gugino. All four are excellent in their respective roles, and are aided by a terrific supporting cast.SPOILER – the fully manifested creature is pleasingly CGI-free and only occasionally betrays the project's modest budget. There are some well-conveyed gory moments too, but this is in the main a psychological horror which, although talky in parts, is highly enjoyable. The ending may not be totally surprising, but it is pretty satisfying.

But one that has a fine cast, especially in the lead roles. I wonder if Carla and Rufus are invited to Horror conventions. But back to this movie, that has a nice creature feature feel to it. You know where this is going, you also realize where the motivation of the main actors comes from.That doesn't mean you'll agree with their decisions at all. It's really obvious and predictable and made a bit better because of the acting at hand. That doesn't mean you'll like it, but the make-up on the "creature" is really good. Also they didn't "hide" her upper body, so there is partial nudity (not from Carla G. though, just in case you were wondering). Overall a nice little film that does what it says on the box (apart from the fact that there weren't more than one of these)

Low budget 'B' TV movie, with an 'A+' in story telling. Just proving you don't need a giant budget to make an AMAZING movie. I picked up this movie from the discount Blockbuster used movies bin and thought the cover and write up looked good. I had always wanted to see a mermaid movie that was more like the Greek stories of sirens luring sailors to their deaths then happy little bubbly sea-waifs. This movie does not disappoint! Was I ever surprised to find a movie full of an amazing cast, amazing costumes and cinematography. Sexy, suspenseful, chilling, creepy and very well done. Great character development, really makes you feel a range of emotions through out. Very realistic lines and acting. A great watch again and again!

Early 19th century - Angus a carnival owner gets a visit from a grizzled old sea captain who believes that their mermaid is real and is there to warn them of the dangers of this creature. This is when the old man shows Angus and his girlfriend Lillian the mermaid he keeps bolted in a large fish tank. Now Angus wants this never-seen-before attraction and he steals it with the plan of heading to America on a sailing ship for fame and fortune. But the crew aboard the ship meet the deadly side of this beautiful creature and Lillian gets real close and personal with it.This might be a diamond in the rough compared with the rest of the cable TV Creature Features' presentations. I agree that the mythology idea surrounding the feature is an extremely original one and it's very well produced, but I thought the film did not entirely complement it altogether. That goes for the shapeless direction and disjointed script that lacked personality. But with these faults in mind - I still found the film to be hypnotically enchanting, striking attention to the dense material and the atmosphere breaths the old fashion creepiness of monster flicks back in the heydays. Visually it's rather appealing with its darkly slick surface gloss bursting at the seams. Maybe at times it got a bit too artsy and either pointless for its own good - like those edited scenes of the mermaid attacking it's victims and the constant flashes of the mermaid in the tank. I actually thought the death scenes were poorly handled and definitely lacked imagination with the majority of the lethal cut-away deaths being replayed in POV frame shots that turn bloody red. When it comes to the action / violence it doesn't really break out until the final third - where the pace and excitement levels really picks up and we get swept up in some well-placed shocks and neat looking creature designs provided by make-up guru Stan Winston. The well-accomplished special effects are truly detailed and the sensual beauty of the mermaid design (who's mysteriously played by the adorable Rya Kihlstedt) is simply hard to take your eyes off. The atmosphere created builds upon it's confined setting with the majority of the film-taking place on a sailing ship. But the film is still decorated with a surrealistic, dreamlike build up because of the mythical set-up that truly makes you pay notice. The performances are stable and precise. Carla Gugino is irresistibly winsome and Rufus Sewell gives a sincere performance. Aubrey Morris as Mr. Woolrich is enthusiastically, resourceful in a rather small role. While, the mobile score doesn't have that much of a huge impact on proceedings -- the sweeping photography is rather polished and brings another fine dimension to the presentation. This watery tale is one of the sea's many wonders."Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature" is no more than a glossy and at times an interesting slow-burner of a monster feature.