Plot:
The rolling tide opens the movie as a sailor is on a pier. He passes several carnival booths on the Southern California boardwalks. Imagine Coney Island of the late 50s and
early 60s in California. Obviously, Johnny, our hero and sailor, is one of those loner types. He doesn’t have any friends.
Johnny heads to seedy jazz bar. He looks awfully jumpy and nervous. Sitting down, his sonar is searching for a chick. Finally, he finds a girl. Johnny doesn’t really
impress her as gratuitous jazz ensues.
Some older lady speaking a foreign tongue speaks to her who leaves the bar. Johnny follows her wants to talk with her and escorts her home. We finally learn the girl’s
name is Mora. Johnny seems to have been a sea a little too long. This is a sailor that needs his depth charge released into the ocean, if you know what I
mean. Well, for some reason, Mora agrees to go on a date with him the next day.
The carnies are setting up for the day. Johnny heads to meet Mora for breakfast. Mora is fascinated with the sea. She has to go to work later as a mermaid. She wears a fish
tail and is paid to be looked at by the public. Great job if you can find it. Johnny joined the Navy to see the world. But, he has gotten to go to Hawaii once since he joined.
Filet of Mermaid is great way to start the day.
Calliope music plays as Mora and Johnny head to her show. Captain Murdock is introduced to Johnny. He offers to tell Johnny about how he found Mora some
day. Mora is ready for her audience. Johnny goes in first to see Mora the mermaid. Murdock starts barking up a crowd.
At a bus stop, Johnny walks off with the waiting Mora. They frolic on the beach. Mora tells that Captain Murdock found her as orphan on an island around
Greece. In fact, Captain Murdock was her guardian. Well, Mora and Johnny decide to suck some face….
That night at some kind of beach shindig, Mora is going to dance for them, folks not that kind of dancing. It takes her a little while before she is thrashing around like a
green-skinned Orion slave girl on Star Trek. Things start getting trippy. She spots the creepy woman in the background and collapses.
The next day, the merry-go-round owner and Ellen greet Johnny. Madam Romanovitch talks with Johnny. Lieutenant Henderson of the Venice Police stops by to
see if any of them have noticed anything strange. Johnny is told that Mora had 2 boyfriends in the past 2 years that vanished and then were washed ashore a few
days later. Police don’t know what is going on but Mora is a suspect.
Johnny gets phone call, and spots the creepy woman on the boardwalk. Madam Romanovitch offers to read his fortune some time. Johnny follows the creepy
woman but eventually loses her.
I will follow these tracks and bag me a mermaid...
Johnny winds up at Captain Murdock’s address and decides to pay him a visit to learn about Mora. Murdock warns Johnny he’s in danger as long as he sees Mora. Murdock
has a severed hand in a jar, this suitably freaks out Johnny.
Murdock tells him about sirens, sea creatures. The females are mermaids. Johnny doesn’t believe in real mermaids. Murdock explains that all myths have some
basis in reality. Mora was found on an island and she’s a monster. Johnny asks about the creepy woman. Murdock passes out from a little too much drink.
Later, Mora talks with Johnny who doesn’t believe Murdock’s story. They are waiting for Murdock to join them. Creepy woman is one of the sea people to remind
Mora of what she is. Johnny keeps trying to convince her it’s not true. Murdock is telling the truth. The sea calls to her. She is scared, but Johnny will stay be her side.
Johnny visits Madam Romanovitch. He has a very strange reading. He’s in danger, though…
On the boardwalk, Johnny is talking with Ellen. She’s casting eyes at him. Apparently, he doesn’t realize it. He goes for a walk before heading to Mora’s apartment
and lies down on the couch. Mora approaches wearing nothing but a towel. Johnny looks at her legs. She’s got a fish tail. Suckin’ face commences. Mora turns
into an octopus who wrestles with Dennis Hopper.
No, OctoMan leave me alone!!!
Johnny awakens from the nightmare, calling out to her. Mora left the apartment. Johnny follows her wet footprints to boardwalk and beach. Finally finds her under
the pier. Johnny rescues her from the oncoming tide and carries her away. The sea people were calling her.
Johnny awakens by her side. Mora thinks he’s sore and needs a massage. She’ll be fine. Johnny is getting rubbed down by a large tattooed man named “Bruno.” Is Johnny’s
character a prototype for the sailor in the Village People? Murdock warns Johnny that the full moon is approaching. That was when Mora’s boyfriends disappeared.
Mora thinks she sleepwalked and doesn’t want it brought up anymore. She is cleaning her diving gear. Dive when the moon is full. Johnny finally agrees. Take a
boat out in the ocean. There are some nearby reefs but they need to stay together.
Diving commences. In the murky water, something grabs for Johnny who ditches his tank and surfaces. Mora is stills swimming around. Johnny waits in the boat
for hours for Mora to return.
That night, Johnny is in a motel. He dreams of finding Mora as mermaid and tries pulling her from the water. She returns to the sea. Johnny awakens reading an
article in the newspaper about the 20th anniversary of the boardwalk. Mora is mentioned being there for years.
Carnival rides ensue. Johnny apparently didn’t return from his leave and is keeping a low profile. He searches the boardwalk. Murdock is still barking for his mermaid
show. Johnny pays and enters to see her. A group of kids are leaving. In the tank Mora looks dead. Murdock has a gun and blames Johnny for her death. Murdock apparently
loved Mora since she was a child. He shoots at Johnny, missing. Cops hear the shots and rush to the scene. Johnny, the unconscious Murdock, and he dead Mora is there.
At the police station, Murdock will give his statement for Johnny to hear. Murdock did everything for Mora, planned to keep her with him. He had to make her dependent on
him, used the legend of the Sea People. Mora was convinced she was one of them. No way could she have any relationships with ordinary people. Murdock killed her boyfriends
and let her think she was compelled to do it. Mora sacrificed herself to save Johnny. Johnny asks about the creepy woman. Murdock has no idea of what he mentioned. Murdock
is taken away.
The police think he was protecting her as his accomplice. Johnny leaves. He meets Ellen who wants him to visit her when he can. The military police take him away. Suddenly,
Johnny seems to have eyes for Ellen. Johnny is driven away as the movie ends.
