Nymph (4 Stars)

This film has been released with different names from country to country. The original title is "Mamula". In the UK it was released as "Killer Mermaid". In Australia it's called "Nymph", which is also the title of the German Blu-ray that I have in my hand, so I'll call it "Nymph".

I've given the film a four star rating, i.e. good, but I'm still disappointed. It could have been better with a little tweaking. It's a Serbian film, made in English and set in Montenegro. With the exception of Franco Nero and two American actresses, all the actors are Serbian. That's the first problem. Some of the actors, even the main characters, have such strong accents that it's difficult to understand them. I had to turn on the German subtitles, even though the dialogue is in English.

Tourists visiting the beautiful town of Rose in Montenegro are disappearing. Two Americans, Kelly and Lucy, are visiting Rose not just as a holiday, but to meet Alex, a local man who went to college with them in America. He's engaged to marry Yasmin, but there's tension because she knows that he slept with both the girls at college.

Together with a local fisherman, Boban, the four friends visit an island called Mamula. It was the location of a 19th Century prison, but now it's deserted. It's a strange place to visit. Of all the beautiful scenery in the film, Mamula is the least attractive.

A mermaid lives in the prison. The film tells us that she's one of the sirens from the story of Ulysses. Through her song she can enchant men. What the Greek legends didn't tell us is that the sirens were flesh eaters. She prefers not to swim close to the mainland, because she feels vulnerable to modern technology, so she's used her song to make an ex-soldier her slave. He uses a hook to kill tourists, mostly women, and bring them to her as food.

The mermaid in the film is beautiful and seductive, but we see that it's just an illusion. In reality she has an ugly face. That was unnecessary. The director should have let her remain the appearance of a beautiful woman. There are only brief glimpses of nudity. For most of the film the mermaid's long hair is super-glued to her breasts. That's not natural. When a long-haired woman swims in the water her hair sticks to her back, not her chest.

There's also too much going on in the film. Too many sub-plots and intrigues. "Nymph" would have been better if it had been simplified.

The film was released on DVD in Britain and America, but it's now out of print. It's available on Blu-ray in Germany, but you have to hurry if you want a copy. I found it in the bargain bin at Saturn, so it's obviously not too popular.