THE PRESENCE (1992)
A couple of months back, give or take, I reviewed Fright Night Part 2. I had so much fun with it, I decided to explore the rest of director Tommy Lee Wallace's resume. One title kept sticking out. This title, as a matter of fact. It's a made-for-TV morsel that was intended to be a pilot for a series that never germinated. I've covered a lot of those lately. Strange. Anyway, The Presence feels formulaic, like it could have been directed by anyone. Synopsis! After a plane crashes in the Pacific, the inhabitants wash ashore on some remote island. They find bananas, coconuts, and an abandoned military base. Two of the men are groped by a tentacled critter, and as a result, they begin to mutate in different ways. So what happened on this island? And should our survivors be worried that ol' Frank is developing reptilian features?
I suppose it would be more appropriate to say that he's turning into an amphibian, but I'm not your biology teacher. I will only tell you what you need to know. That is, The Presence has a fishman in it! This sub-subgenre is the bee's kneecaps. Whether it's the Gillman in Creature From the Black Lagoon or the mucky sex offenders in Humanoids From the Deep, I'm a huge fan of these particular monsters. Unfortunately, the fauna in this flick is pretty insignificant in the overall scheme of things. It doesn't even kill anyone. All told, the majority of The Presence would fit nicely in the action/adventure section of your local video store. I had to see it, though. I had to be sure, y'know? For what it is, it's competent. The pace is kinetic, and hey, we get to ogle Kathy Ireland in a pink bathing suit.
Recommended to fans of driftwood and Beach Blanket Bingo.
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