She Creature could so easily have been terrible lowbudget dross, shot almost entirely on a soundstage etc, but it is actually a very well made little film, with a cool twist on the mermaid myth. This is partly thanks to the creature effects by producer Stan Winston, of course, but what impresses the most is the extraordinary atmospheric cinematography by Tom Callaway and some good substantial writing from director Sebastian Guitierrez (Gothika). There's also a standout performance by Carla Gugino in the lead (she was also in Guitierrez's Judas Kiss) and Rya Kihlstedt manage to bring some seductive beauty to the mermaid despite spending most of her screen-time in a big water tank. Although when the mermaid transforms into fulltime monster (or the "Mermaid Queen") at the end, the film becomes just another Alien clone.