Poetry: from Humanoids from the Deep by Jonathan Hayes

from Humanoids from the Deep

 

“Hey baby, ya wanna see my woodpecker?”

 

Will I get splinters?

 

“Don’t worry baby, I’ve been sanded.”

 

[ The first role and nude scene for Lisa Glaser, 

 

the woman attacked in the tent on the beach. ]

 

The creatures kill six dogs on the wharf, all belonging to white fishermen.

One dog survived; it was the Indian’s dog. 

 

The Indian’s trying to stop the building of a new cannery.

Fight the good fight: tribal streams, tribal ocean, tribal salmon.

 

“Oh, you scared me.”

 

Hi Honey

 

“I thought you were cleaning fish.”

 

[ Joe Dante, who had at the time recently directed Piranha (1978)

 

turned down directing the movie. ]

 

The grunge creatures look like Swamp Thing on steroids — a little fishy.

 

[ According to the Film School Rejects website, this picture was 

 

“One of the earliest films to deal with genetic modification.” ]

 

“The coastline, Jim.”

 

What about it?

 

“There seem to be caves out there.”

 

“Where do they lead to?”

 

The creatures are nocturnal. Staking their territory at dusk.

 

Night Swimmers. Glittering water glinting.

 

The creatures do not harm the Indian.

 

Indigenous. 

 

On the surface, a man-made wake — rippling a cursed fishing boat.

 

“You all right?”

 

That’s twice I owe you my life.

 

( Johnny coughs ) 

 

( camera clicks )

 

Game on!

 

They got them creatures good with riffles and bullets on the shoreline.

 

Banged their slimy scales into shreds pouring red blood back into the churning ocean.

 

“Oh my god”

 

“Who is it?”

 

My god, it’s Peggy.

 

A severed human leg on the beach. A human corpse buried in kelp on the shore.

 

“What the hell are these things anyway?”

 

( Susan sighs )

 

First, as far as I can tell, the species has only just appeared,

but there has to be a reason that a humanoid creature evolved so quickly.

 

“Why are they attacking us?”

 

Well, most bright animals protect their territory and food sources.

 

While Jaws is a better movie, and has more to say, released a few years before,

both films are quite similar — I saw Jaws with my father three times in one day 

in the summer of 1975 on East 86th Street at Lowes Theaters in NYC.

 

[ The film was re-made for television with Humanoids from the Deep (1996)

 

but the levels of sex and violence for the remake were greatly toned down. ]

Jonathan Hayes lives in Oakland, California.