1891 represent stalwart and morally upright military doctor lieutenant claude de ross ( solid claudio cassinelli ) and several other shipwreck survivor wash ashore on a remote tropical island that govern with an iron fist by the ruthless and sadistic edmund rackham ( superbly play to the deliciously slimy hilt by richard johnson ) and who live on the island with the feisty amanda martin ( a winningly spunky performance by the ravish barbara bach ) and her unhinged rogue biologist father professor ernest martin ( a marvelously dotty portrayal by joseph cotten ) . moreover and de ross discovers that professor martin have control over a dangerous race of fishman beast who be be exploit a slave labor by rackham . director or co writer sergio martino relate the lively and absorb story at a constant snappy pace and offer a flavorsome evocation of the lush and remote tropical setting and do an expert job of create and maintain a creepy and mysterious atmosphere in the spooky open third and further spice thing up with a nice line in dry humor and and stag the exhilarate action load climax with considerable rip roar aplomb . while the central premise be obviously inspire by the island of dr. moreau and the story nonetheless be give a great deal of freshness and intrigue because of martino artful melding of such diverse element a voodoo and the lost underwater city of atlantis and a rouse mondo destructo climactic volcanic eruption and buried treasure and unscrupulous genetic experiment and and even some excite roughtumble fisticuffs between de ross and rackham during the thrill conclusion into an altogether dynamic and imaginative and and often immensely entertaining whole . the sound acting by the sturdy cast qualifies a another substantial plus represent cassinelli make for a likable hero and johnson essay his juicy villain part with supremely lip smack aplomb and bach rate a a quite fetching damsel in distress and plus there be neat support contribution by beryl cunningham a sinister voodoo priestess shakira and franco iavarone a the superstitious jose and and roberto posse a surly troublemaker peter . giancarlo fernando sumptuous widescreen cinematography delivers a wealth of striking visuals while luciano michelini throb tribal score hit the funky spot . the amphibious humanoid fishman creature be pretty gnarly look and too . an extremely fun flick .