- AKA “Orang Ikan”
- Directed by: Mike Wiluan
- Written by: Mike Wiluan
- Stars: Dean Fujioka, Callum Woodhouse, Alan Maxson
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 23 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW5BboT4Wuo
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Two men from opposite sides of the war have to work together when they’re stranded on an island with an angry creature. The story is pretty straightforward, but it’s well done. The acting is good, the effects are decent, and the location is beautiful. We thought it was quite good.
Spoilery Synopsis
We hear about Japanese “Hell Ships” during WWII which took Allied POWs to Japanese slave camps and were often targets of the allies themselves.
It’s 1944 on one of these Hell ships. The guard pulls one of the prisoners out of a cell and pushes him away. He’s Japanese, but a traitor, sentenced to death but he has to be kept alive for the mainland execution. They bring in a second prisoner and get a little sadistic with him. They are chained together at the ankle.
Suddenly, the ship is under attack. The two prisoners attack the guards and jump overboard just as the ship explodes. Credits roll.
In the morning, both prisoners wake up on a deserted beach, still chained together. The other prisoner is British, and they fight some more. As they fight, something in the water attacks the Brit, but the Japanese man shoots it and drives it away. Saito and Bronson wonder what it was, but they can’t speak each other’s language, so that’s tough. They scavenge the ship’s wreckage and set up a camp.
They both figure out that they were prisoners, so maybe they can help each other. They work together to get the chain off, but soon it becomes apparent that there’s something out there in the jungle that isn’t friendly. There’s the monster, but there are also two Japanese soldiers and another prisoner. Saito tells Bronson to hide and pretends to be asleep until the soldiers find him.
The soldiers soon figure out that there’s someone else out there besides just Saito. They hear the monster roar out in the jungle, and the new prisoner calls it “Orang Ikan” and looks very afraid. One of the soldiers goes looking for what made the noise and soon finds it. Meanwhile, Bronson dispatches the other soldier. Saito and Bronson watch as the monster comes and finishes off the second soldier and the new prisoner.
The two men run through the jungle, which is nearly as dangerous as the monster, and they both get pretty badly beaten up. It’s a rough night for both of them. In the morning, they are separated and each learns what they can about the island they’re on and the monster they are up against. Saito finds a sword and a pistol.
Both men find the same crashed fighter plane, and one wing has a large unexploded bomb still attached. When they get back together, Saito shows Bronson to a cave with an egg. Saito tries to explain that they’re dealing with a mermaid protecting her egg.
Together, the two men go back out and carry the large bomb into the Mermaid’s cave. It’s got a delayed action fuse, but it’s damaged. Bronson explains that one of them is going to have to go boom with the bomb. They go back out to the plane to get an ax to set off the bomb, and the monster attacks. This time, the men have weapons and manage to run the creature off. Not for long, as it comes back in the cave and messes up Bronson really badly until Saito shoots it in the head and then shoots the egg.
As the injured-but-not-dead monster wails over the dead baby, mortally-wounded Bronson tells Saito to go; he’ll set off the bomb. Saito runs off as Bronson smacks the bomb with the ax.
As Saito walks off into the jungle, he hears more of the creatures out there. No, it’s the same one again. This sucker is tough. He lures it to the beach, where they fight some more. Eventually, Saito beats the creature, but doesn’t kill it. He lets it go.
Saito gets picked up in 1945 and tells the Americans there about Bronson. They ask him what his original crime was, and he says he killed his superior officer to save his comrades.
Zooming back to the island, we see the monster is still out there.
Brian’s Commentary
“Orang Ikan,” is Indonesian for “Mermaid” or “Man-Fish.”
The scenery and locations are pretty amazing. We only get flashes and glimpses of the monster, so we can assume the rubber suit wasn’t too great. It’s essentially the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” with a little CGI enhancement.
We’ve seen the trope of enemies having to work together many times, and it usually works; this one is pretty good.
Kevin’s Commentary
I didn’t think there were many surprises here, but it’s well made and visually impressive with good special effects. If you want to see a quick creature feature action flick, this is a good one.