10 Creepy And Unique Mermaid Designs In Movies And TV

5. Charlotte - Charlotte's Song/Mermaid's Song

Only few appearances, less than 5 minutes in total in this 80 minute feature film in fact, this rather peculiar mermaid is unique in the weirdest way possible. This first and foremost social drama all set inside one and the same location, a shady Dust Bowl guest house, and far — far — away from all sorts wet and splashy. Marketed as a dark homage to Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” this time the story is set in a 1930s and evolves around a rather selfish father figure to say the least, who tries to keep a roof over his daughter’s heads. One of these daughters, however, seems to have inherited a gift from her dead mother — she is — surprise surprise! — a mermaid. On top of that she can control human minds with her piercing shrieks. Why it is only her of all the children is never explained.

There are considerably few mermaid scenes in this coming of age drama, but one of the transformations of the girl Charlotte is quite investing. Before we get a full mermaid transformation, we catch glimpses of different oddities that relate to the mermaid myth. There is the weird looking face of Charlotte’s mother: at one point we see her face having melted into a featureless mask with pointy teeth, a blunt, almost non-existent nose with slits for nostrils, and pitch black mirror eyes. Later, when the girl is assaulted by a gross, older man — crinch factor ten, folks, this scene is going pretty far for my liking — her legs appear to be webbed together along the shanks with a skin like texture. There are also some brief glimpses of webbed hands with pointy nails, extending like a tiger’s claws. Once Charlotte finally unveils her true form, she shows off something quite unexpected and not in the least comparable to the mermaid design in the official movie poster. We finally see Charlotte’s snow white, chalky mermaid Self:

A bold head with a sharp fin on her head like a nautic mohawk, makes sense as mermaids won’t have the need for human hair; the same raw, mask-like features we saw before in her and also her mother, an uncharacteristic fishtail, fins running along her arms and shoulders. In a bold moment two long fins shoot up from her back like a Frilled Lizard’s or

a peacock’s tail. To frighten her enemies and to look even more imposing? It’s right out of the tools and tricks we know from the animal kingdom, and a truly odd choice which can only be appreciated. The mer-creature in this one has an almost tacky Victorian design to it, with it’s dark grey and white extravaganza, and the many pleated elements.

While the mermaid suit is by no means one of the best one on this list, it relies at least fully on practical effects and steps away from CGI, so its kind of a shame we see so little of it. And have to freeze frame these very few precious moments. Too little mermaid to call it a creature feature, this outstanding mermaid design might not be for everyone, but even without a drop of water it is most likely the most bold and creative design and therefore deserves its mention.