Hawaii; land of palm trees, hoola girls, and peaceful islands. Kihono (which doesn't exist in any world atlas I've ever seen) is one of the tranquilplaces of beauty in the heart of Hawaii.Or should I say, it was. Sleazy poachers using dynamite to bring in the catch of the day get more than they bargained for, when from the murky depths they accidentally unleash . . . Baby Bop from Barney and Friends on steroids??! No wait, that's Acua! Mythological Hawaiian reptile-man awakened from hibernation after 50 years of dormancy. His rubbery rampage will leave you, and the residents of Kihono in a state of numbness by the time this piece of cheese is grated down to it's final seconds. Jaws this ain't.
The director of this stinky sea monster saga, Cirio H. Santiago, is certainly no stranger to the world of lovable low-budget lunacy. For years Santiago has left his mark on a variety of subgenres considered undesirable by mainstream movie goer's. If you ask me though, I'd say low grade goodies like DEMON OF PARADISE (1987) are far more enjoyable than Hollywood big shot crappers like Titanic. Santiago is best known among fans of exploitation films for the many titles he contributed to the genre, such as: Cover Girl Models (1975), The Muthers (1976), She Devil's in Chains (1976), Caged Fury (1980), Machete Maidens of Mora Tao (1981), and Naked Vengeance (1985). He also tried his hand at the post-nuclear holocaust subgenre inspired by the Mad Max films, with movies like: Stryker (1983), Wheels of Fire (1984), Equalizer 2000 (1986), and Future Hunters (1988). This is one of Santiago's few attempts at the horror genre along with the Filipino made Vampire Hookers (1979), starring B-movie legend John Carradine. DEMON OF PARADISE definitely doesn't have any legends in it, but fans of grade Z monster movies will wallow in it's badness.
In the pre-credits sequence we see a couple of American dynamite smugglers aboard a boat, making a sale to a couple of local fisherman. If they wanted something to be left of the fish, wouldn't it be better to use nets? Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway because when they test the dynamite and throw a couple of sticks in the water, they piss off the previously mentioned Acua. Instead of having bad actor brunch though, the scaled sea slime rocks the boat and one of the inept fisherman drops a lit stick of dynamite. KA-BOOOM! They become fish food. Sheriff Keefer (played by William Steis) shows up with some of the Hawaii Five-O to investigate the explosion. They complete the investigation in under a minute and the opening credits roll to Edward Achacoso's musical score, which sounds like something out of Miami Vice.
Back on the mainland, some of the worst actors you'll find in any creature feature argue over the recent disappearances of thousands of fish. Sheriff Keefer shows up to shoot down the rumors of Acua, but resident herpetologist (reptile expert) Annie Essex (played by Kathryn Witt) isn't so skeptical. She's been in Kihono for several months looking for a new species of life. With some of the half-wits roaming the island, she may have found it. She tells Keefer that Acua is a lizard-man from the Triassic age who some of the natives of Kihono believe exists. Annie grimly tells the Sheriff, "All the pan fried toxic muck we throw at this planet. You never know what it might throw back at you." You said it sister! This movie's evidence of that.
Acua does indeed raise some hell on the island, stalking a variety of moronic characters in and out of the water. During these scenes some enjoyably hokey, strange electronic music plays, which makes me love this movie even more. However, the killings are goofy as hell. Sometimes the characters just get freaked out from spotting Acua and accidentally blow themselves up. Other scenes have Acua appearing to be at least 30 feet away from a boat. Yet when he swings his claw, it slashes the passenger's face as if he were right next to it!!? Another scene that had me pissing my pants with laughter was when one old timer catches Acua in his net. The beast drags his wooden canoe across the river like it were a high powered motor boat. Instead of jumping off, he let's it drag him and the canoe underwater like a submarine. This is far from the Captain going down with his ship. Or how about the scene where Acua leaps out of the water like a monkey and pulls a helicopter into the river? There are just too many ridiculous incidents in this film to count, which makes Demon of Paradise a bad cinema delight.
Oh by the way, there's also a resort on the island for the monster to trash called Paradise. It's run by the bitchy Ms. Cahill (played by Laura Banks), who teams up with a dorky, obnoxious news reporter named Ike Baskerville (played by script writer Frederick Bailey). Together they plot to make money off the sightings of Acua and plan activities for the guests at the resort, such as a "beast egg hunt". Thankfully, annoying Ike gets mangled by the monster and Ms. Cahill ends up ripped through the floor boards of the resort.
There's also lots of wonderfully absurd dialogue. Like when two dynamite smugglers hit on a sexy blonde and she shoots them down with the intelligence of a thumbtack by saying, "Take a hike spaz-ass!" Or when the smugglers shoot up the resort and Sheriff Keefer shuts the place down, he tells Ms. Cahill, "Sorry Cahill, I'm shutting you down." She responds by saying, "Just when things were looking up." Did she forget the fact that armed criminals just shot the hell out of the place and a savage creature is eating her guests? Yeah lady, things are looking fantastic.
In the end it's Acua Vs. The National Guard. I won't spoil the ending and tell you who wins. Let's just say that the National Guard isn't going to get anywhere when their soldiers are throwing down their pistols and trying to stab the beast, which is what one idiot does. DEMON OF PARADISE is the type of bottom-of-the-barrel drek that everyone should embrace. In fact, I suggest you clear your entire schedule and devote your life to finding a copy. Of course this movie isn't going to get a high rating for quality. But it does deserve to be discovered by bad movie buffs for it's totally tacky appeal. For other walking reptile monster on the loose films, check out: Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954), Monster of the Piedras Blancas (1958), Beach Girls and the Monster (1964), Horror of Party Beach (1964), and Humanoids From the Deep(1980).
Gs
MOCK O' METER
