Tags:
Film: Blood Beach
Year: 1980
Director: Jeffrey Bloom
Writer: Jeffrey Bloom
Starring: David Huffman, Marianna Hill and Burt Young
Review:
This film begins with a man going out to the beach to swim to work; he is played by David Huffman. He pets a dog and we see the owner, she is played by Harriet Medin. We see that they get along and she jokes around with him. Huffman goes into the water and Medin sinks up to her knees into the sand. She is screaming as something pulls her under. Huffman hears the screams and returns to the beach to find her.
The police that are in charge of this case are Burt Young, who plays the angry white cop, and the other is Otis Young, who plays the African-American cop who is level-headed. They talk with Huffman and try to get to the bottom of this. Medin’s daughter shows up as well trying to figure out what happened to her mother, the daughter played by Marianna Hill.
We then learn that Hill and Huffman have history. They were engaged to be married and had grown up together. Something happened and it was broken off. Hill is now married to someone else. She does tell Huffman that she will be there as long as it takes to find out what happened to her mother.
Huffman is seeing a stewardess played by Lena Pousette. They get together that night and Hill has her mother’s dog. Something happens though and it gets out. It goes to the beach and it is attacked by what is under the sand. The dog is found and looked at by a doctor, played by Stefan Gierasch. He says that it was either done by a large man or a medium size man with large hands and sharp fingernails. Burt is rude and this causes Hill to leave. Otis scolds him for what he said.
The film then shifts to the beach during the day and young woman is attacked after her friends bury her in the sand. Whatever it is bites her legs to the point where she may no longer have the ability to use them.
We then meet the police officer that is running the investigation is played by John Saxon. He is getting pressure from everywhere and needs to solve this case as soon as possible.
The film then shifts to Huffman and his co-worker, played by Darrell Fetty. Huffman sets up a dinner date with Pousette and then Hill comes in right after. She wants to have dinner with him as well. He tells her that he cannot, because he just made plans, but he sets up a date the following day. Fetty points out to him that he never got over her.
Pousette shows up to Huffman’s house, but her hat is blown off her head by the wind. She goes after it. It blows into the sand and she is pulled into the sand. Huffman believes he has been stood up and calls Hill. They end up having dinner. It isn’t until the next morning that he finds her hat and finds a spot where she was pulled under the sand. A ban of the beach is put into effect until it is figured out what is doing this.
Will they be able to stop whatever is doing this before it is too late? What is doing this?
I have to say that this film is interesting. I never heard of it, but I learned before watching this that it is spoofing Jaws. I think the concept of this is good and would be scary that there is something in the sand that is pulling people underneath it. They don’t show the monster until the very end of the film as well, which I like. The monster doesn’t look all that bad, but I’m glad that we only get it at the end. The film does play up the fact that it could be something that is real and just evolving or a new species. This film does have a cult following and a comedy, so I’ll get it credit for that.
This was kind of boring. We don’t really see people doing too much to figure out what is doing this and not a lot happens. The deaths are repetitive as they just get pulled under and then nothing. The acting isn’t all that good either. It isn’t horrible, but no one really stood out for me. The monster did look pretty fake, but only showing it in the last couple of minutes so I won’t hold it against it much. It is a comedy and it isn’t all that funny though. Another issue is that once a couple people are killed, why would people still go onto the beach? Doesn’t make sense to me as I would stay away until it was found, but that it was what happens in horror films or they would be boring.
Now with that said, I would not recommend giving this film a viewing, unless you want to see a bad horror film. The acting isn’t all that good, the story itself is boring, but the concept isn’t all that bad. There isn’t much that happens and we do have Burt Young who is the hero in the end. This is a comedy that isn’t funny and a horror film that isn’t scary. I would only recommend this film if you are into cult films, but other than that, stick with Jaws that this film parodies.
My Rating: 4 out of 10