![]() Stick with the original version, then fast forward through the nude version, which although photographed by the same director, looks sloppy in matching scenes underwater.Either way - any movie where Timothy Carey is more dangerous than a killer shark is certainly worth watching, although, even with a sparse hour-long runtime, MERMAIDS, with all the swimming around, can get rather tedious, quickly - the sexy gill-gals aren't as mysterious from the doctor's dreary narration (which kind of sounds like Hal 9000 years earlier): a bland lecture describing these half-humans as being a missing link of the evolution process, neglecting any would-be suspenseful elements of Mermaid lore, like coaxing men to their peril. The luminous Diane Webber is totally convincing in her silent role, which can't have been that easy wearing a fiberglass fin (later donned by Marta Kristen when she played a mermaid in BEACH BLANKET BINGO). The last 20 minutes pale compared to the previous 40, particularly repetitious beneath the water. Timothy Carey's villain wasn't really necessary, except to pad the running time out to feature length (his character damages the film by interrupting the flow underwater). There appear to be nearly a dozen topless lasses in the nude, only about four or five in the original, none of which speak any lines. I also prefer the original over the nude, simply because Diane Webber was virtually cut out of the latter! None of the topless girls have fins, and half the time they swim barefoot, so they can hardly be considered 'mermaids.' I viewed both versions side by side for a comparison, and apart from what you see underwater, they are identical (each running 75 minutes). And a number of the topless mermaids in AQUA SEX do have separate fins on each foot, while some are barefoot. The website is run by a friend of Diane's, and it has many scans of rare photos, articles and documents-an amazing assortment of info all about her.Ĭorrection to the above: Diane Webber DOES appear in the AQUA SEX/NUDE VERSION, though not as much footage of her is used as in the original MOT. The comp of clips linked below shows Diane in Peter Gunn, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, a B&W cheesecake short, and (I think) TRIAL OF BILLY JACK. Check out the trailer for SHE DID IT HIS WAY on VCI's double feature disc of DELINQUENT SCHOOLGIRLS/DREAM NO EVIL: the tall, bearded muscular guy picking up and playing around with starlet Kellie Everts in the pool is Joe Webber, Diane Webber's husband! The interesting thing about THE AQUA SEX (or MOT-NV) is that Diane Webber is not in it, and none of the topless mermaids in the added footage have mermaid fins! Gaby Martone, the statuesque, well-endowed brunette who receives the most screen time in AQUA SEX also appeared in Jack Hill's MONDO KEYHOLE and Russ Meyer's HEAVENLY BODIES. The "nude version" on the disc is basically the AQUA SEX, letterboxed, in color, but with the new title card MERMAIDS OF TIBURON - NUDE VERSION. The VCI disc has the original MERMAIDS OF TIBURON in color, fullframe, and with a new title card. So the film has been a sort of living, breathing entity that he has re-tooled and re-released over time. The thing that may be causing a bit of confusion is that director John Lamb re-edited, added footage and re-released MERMAIDS OF TIBURON over the years, starting with the AQUA SEX version in '64. When you saw AQUA SEX in a theater in '67, that was a re-release. The VCI disc contains the original MERMAIDS OF TIBURON (1962), and what might be called a "director's cut" of THE AQUA SEX (1964). I saw "Aqua Sex" in 1967 in Bordeaux, France - it was a real curiosity. The TIBURON disc has both a nudie and a "family" version, both in color.Do you mean that the disc contains both the original version ("Mermaids of Tiburon") and the 1965 re-release with additional sequences ("Aqua Sex"), or two different versions of the original release? I believe that they bought a John Lamb package. It was part of their Psychotronia series. I'm sure everybody here knows this, but VCI released a very nice DVD of MERMAIDS OF TIBURON in color, and with nudity. ![]()
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