Friday, May 31, 2013

BLOOD BEACH (1981) movie review


Blood Beach (1981) d. Bloom, Jeffrey (USA)

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you can’t get to it!” You might want to find another locale to take that romantic midnight stroll after watching this low budget monster flick, which succeeds on its own rough graces more often than one might expect. When southern California beaches are being thinned out by a subterranean monster, it’s up to ill-tempered police captain John Saxon to curb the Coppertone creature’s cravings.


We never get a really good look at the bloodthirsty behemoth until the end (which, when it does surface, seems to resemble an organic satellite dish), but writer/director Bloom's scenes of bewildered bathers being sucked under the sand still manage to provide a thrill in the best monster movie traditions.


Unfortunately, whenever we leave the beach (i.e. the majority of the 92-minute running time) to focus on the dull-as-dishwater romance of headliners David Huffman and Marianna Hill, the show stops dead in the water, with nothing but sergeant Burt Young’s mannered and decidedly un-PC rantings to carry the day.

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