Mamula

Two young American women go on a Mediterranean vacation and uncover the watery lair of a killer mermaid hidden beneath an abandoned military fortress. What was once a carefree adventure becomes a deadly fight for survival.

So, the film has gone through a few title changes: from "Mimula" to "Killer Mermaid" to "Nymph". The first one is the most accurate, other than that no one knows what that is. The second sounds like a SyFy film. The third is sort of close. Really ,they ended up with a mermaid mixed with a siren. What would that be called?

There is some great use of color, although the camera has an odd tendency to "float" rather than focus on the subjects. There is also some awkward English, but given that this is in Serbia, that really should be expected.

Anyway, not terrible, but it does not even come close to the original mermaid horror film: "Night Tide".

Apparently not all horror efforts that come from Eastern Europe are as sickening, depraved and provocative as the notorious "A Serbian Film", because this particular Serbian film attempts to process a traditional folklore tale into a genuinely tense and atmospheric little horror movie. Unfortunately I can't state they fully succeeded in their aim, but at least you have to admire their efforts and admit that "Nymph" nevertheless contains quite a lot potential and even features a handful of memorable highlights. Truly tense and stylish movies about the wondrous subject of evil mermaids are extremely rare, so I had good hopes that "Nymph" – original Serbian title "Mamula" - could join the selected list that already contains Stuart Gordon's underrated "Dagon" and the regretfully obscure Swiss thriller "Marmorera". Sadly this is not the case, as the film contains too many tedious moments and not enough emphasis on the morbidity and macabre atmosphere that a mythical tale like this desperately begs for. Two American girls embark on a joyful vacation to Montenegro, where they meet their former university buddy and bona fide playboy Alex. There are quite some romantic intrigues, since Alex forgot to mention he got engaged recently and unexpectedly shows up with his fiancée, but the group nevertheless tries to have fun and make adventurous tourist excursions. They head out to Mamula, a former prison island and Nazi concentration camp that nowadays apparently homes a totally different type of horrendous evil. They witness a sinister fisherman pouring a bucket of human remains in a well and immediately realize they are in mortal danger. The background and origin of the mermaid creature, mainly provided by one central character, is confusing and feels somewhat incomplete and I'm convinced that a slightly more experienced scriptwriter easily could have done a lot more with the mermaid character, as well as with the character of her human slave. On the other hand, the creature looks stunningly charismatic and impressive, with her large tail and cute face that mutates into a monstrous mug in less than a split second. There are more positive aspects in "Nymph" as well, like beautiful filming locations and a glorious supportive role for a true cinematic hero (see below paragraph), but in spite of all this I left the theater with feelings of mainly disappointment and emptiness.

As referred to already, "Nymph" remarkably stars a true icon of cult cinema. Somehow, the young and reasonably inexperienced director Milan Todorovic managed to engage none other than the legendary Franco Nero to star as a mysterious fisherman and expert in the field of Mediterranean mermaids! This is praiseworthy, to say the least, as the production is fairly low-budgeted and not suitable for worldwide release. Moreover, yours truly had the privilege to meet Franco Nero in person, as he accompanied the director and producer to the world premiere of "Nymph" at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films. Here, Nero explained that he's really supportive of young and struggling directors (as his own son is also one) and likes to boost up their movies by appearing in them. Furthermore, Mr. Nero sang a song of the sixties musical "Camelot" in which he starred (quite beautifully, I may add) and had very amiable interactions with the public. At age 72, I must say that he still looks charismatic as ever and – according to my girlfriend – he's still a very handsome and imposing gentleman.

For a movie called "Killer Mermaid" this has surprisingly very little mermaid action in it, it takes an hour before the promised killer mermaid action actually starts (unless you count the beginning teaser).

In the first 30 minutes or so it still kept my interest a bit, a lot having to do with the beautiful Serbia Monetenegro landscape that I haven't really seen in a movie before.

The characters also feels a little more three-dimensional than the usual 2d stereotypes that cheap creature features like this usually offers.

Not that any of the characters are all that interesting tho and once the action does start in the second half the clichés starts piling up.

The acting is okay although the accents get a little distracting from time to time and make the dialog sound unnatural for most of the cast.

It's not the worst movie I've seen or anything but it's not particularly good either, if you're looking for a mermaid horror movie I suggest SHE CREATURE (2001) instead.

To be perfectly honest, I had some fun with this.

Like others have said, if you don't expect much, you might find it enjoyable. And, it's not hard to keep the expectations realistic after director's debut, Zone of The dead. This film is a step up.

The locations are fantastic, paired with intriguing premise, what can go wrong? Well, let's see....

Acting is questionable, characters paper thin, story rushed and what we do learn about them doesn't keep us exactly rooting for this bunch. The film starts out in least promising way possible, cliché one liners, atrocious acting from most members of the cast (Kristina Klebe, Franco Nero and D. Micanovic excluded) and awful, cheap music to go along with holiday mood.

After initial half hour or so which does test one's patience, Mamula indeed gets off the ground, meaning we finally start getting a taste of some action, essential for projects like this. Thanks to ideal setting (island of Mamula on Adriatic sea; former military base) and some gory fx, the pain of enduring uninspired talk and "character development" is finally paying off. Some generic slasher kills, chasing through the maze of corridors...all's good, but, where's the Mermaid?!

Nymph is the strongest thing this film has going for it, location aside. And, indeed when she does finally appear I was ready to forget all the shortcomings. Could have watched her go all day long, nice make up/fx work there with pinch of bad CGI, but having relatively humble resources in mind, that is really not that big a deal. Although, I could have used a bit more daring approach, the Mermaid should have gotten more screen time doing her "thing", imo.

One of the surprises was Dragan Micanovic, in a role that's atypical for him, he handled the perky, jokey and lively Boban pretty well. Nero shows that he's still got it/with admirable screen presence against the pale bunch; and calm, assertive Klebe takes her role seriously. Overall, not the worst way to spend hour and a half, if nothing, to soak up the natural beauty of the setting with occasional horror action thrown into the mix.

Surprisingly enough, it was a decent movie after all. The plot is kinda used, same for the action development but all in all a decent attempt at a horror movie that did not rely so much on gore or nudity. I said it did not rely THAT much, but those 2 trade marks will make their appearances here and there.

So, if you are too bored, nothing to do, and it is quite late, this is not the worse way to pass the time. The beginning looks very cheap and dumb, but it gets better with time. Once you see the "nymph" itself, you realize that they might have been saving for the design of the creature, explaining why the deaths are so weak and dull. Very few things I can think of to pass on, in the end, I suggest you just give it a try, cause you can do a lot worse than this one.

Nymph, a movie that almost got a grade of 5 from me, but ultimately, I strongly believe it will be a 4.2-4.4 tops. Not bad, but nothing out of the ordinary either, a simple production, that you might find yourself talking one time. Who knows...

Cheers!