Encuentros en el abismo

Ever wanted to watch a movie about a bunch of guys in boat doing absolutely nothing for an hour and a half? Just admit it, we all have. Tonino Ricci (director of Night of the Sharks and Days of Hell) brings us what we've always yearned for in the form of Encounters in the Deep! It's kind of some sort of rip-off of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, set on the sea (Tonino is a bit obsessed with the sea), without the special effects, but with the added bonus of not having Richard whats-his-face in it. Boats and such like keep going missing in the Bermuda Triangle, and once a rich guy's daughter goes missing, it's up to our heroes to head out to the sea and find her! Well, they do a lot of swimming at least. And I suppose they do sort of find her, but not after dodging sharks and dodgy lights set to bizarre moogs outbursts. And…one of them turns a bit strange, which riles their dog…and erm…there's an old man…and…um… Look, this is THE most uneventful Italian film I've ever sat through. Apart from the various boat disappearances at the beginning of the film (a toy boat in a tub, no less), nothing of any consequence happens until the last ten minutes, and even then you'll be thinking 'is that it?'. The film does have a slight naive charm and the effects are pretty funny, but it's lacking in any elements that make for a great Italian genre movie (no action, no gore, no nudity, no style). Tonino Ricci, sadly, doesn't do anything here but waste time. If you want to see something decent (i.e hilarious) from him, watch his action movie Days of Hell.

Unnervingly, this isn't the worst Italian movie I've watched – That would have to be War of the Robots, which was so bad it actually caused me physical pain.

I picked this one up in a thrift shop as it had weird cover art featuring an exploding aeroplane above an ocean full of sharks fins, people over-board a ship and an odd large alien shaped hand. Anyway as the credits rolled for this Italian/Spanish co production, I noticed the music was by the (usually god-like genius) Stelvio Cipriani and the main star was Andrés García, the handsome muscle guy who starred in Tintorera. The film starts with a voice-over intro about U. F. O's and the Bermuda Triangle... Strange occurrences begin happening in the Bermuda area (will they ever learn?) as boats, ships and helicopters (yeah!) disappear into thin air after a high pitched screeching noise is heard, the sea water bubbles and a weird green light pulsates into red (very basic not so special effects).

A rich old guy's much loved daughter and her new husband (wearing possibly the smallest white hot-pants I have ever seen) experience the same fate and the old guy wants to find out what happened to them. So he hires a bloke (money no object) with a theory about the disappearances to go and search the area they went missing. He takes with him Andrés García and an old sailor who likes the whisky, an Alsation dog and some some other bland characters (divers etc.) Anyway, as they search you really expect something to happen, but sadly it never does. They search the area for what takes up nearly the entire film, dodging the occasional stock-footage shark and discovering rocks unlike any other found before. One of the divers who sports a beard gets possessed by something in the water and the dog growls at him. It really is this exciting. Eventually Andrés and the other guy discover an underground (and under sea) grotto with a huge statue like one found on Easter Island.

I won't give away the ending, because I want other people to watch the entire film (like I had to) see what the climax would be. I will say though, that silver body suits and crash helmets do not make for good space aliens with intelligent and supreme powers.

The score by Stelvio Cipriani was a lot more orchestral than I was expecting (not like the superb 'Tentacoli') and there's no suspense to speak of, but if you like the look of Andrés García, you wont be disappointed as you do get to see him in very skimpy underpants for almost the entire film.

To say this film is a fantastic piece of filmography would be an understatement. Made in 1979, the practical effects still stand up to this day. The storyline of finding an underwater world inhabited by aliens in the Bermuda Triangle is quite simply inspired! I watched the English dub of the film and the actors used conveyed the emotions shown by the characters in the film perfectly. I can't believe "Mike" didn't gain more recognition for his portrayal of "Crazy Eyes".

This film is quite simply one of the best films I've seen of late and it would be great to see it rebooted, possibly with Jean Claude Van Damme.

10/10

What do we know about the Bermuda Triangle other than what dozens of "experts" tell us? The fact that so many ships and planes have disappeared in this region will probably remain a mystery same as UFOs. But there's also the fact that no one has yet burrowed BELOW the bed of the ocean or even tried to find Glenn Miller's plane?. Here some attempt is made to suggest that an Alternative Universe exists well below the sea and that it may very well hold the answer to all the UFO activity. Imagine UFOs don't come from out of the sky but out of the sea where they cruise the skies looking for a place to land. I've seen a UFO and they glide before disappearing-just like so many have said.

ENCOUNTERS IN THE DEEP opens with "eyewitness" UFO testimonials, followed by a naval vessel (aka: a toy boat) running into an otherworldly phenomenon. Lights flash! The boat bobbles in the roiling bathtub water!

Next, Mary (Carole Andre) and her new husband are on their way to the Bahamas, when..., lights flash! Fog and weird noises ensue! "Ooooh-Aaaah!" says Mary! Not-so-surprisingly, the toy boat and Mary vanish, leading to a search team being dispatched, including a Bermuda Triangle "expert" named Peters (Manuel Zarzo) and a skipper named Scott (Andres Garcia).

Divers dive, and nights are spent in palaver about extraterrestrials. Unearthly occurrences... occur. More diving. More weird sounds, like drunken whales calling for more drinks. Lights and fog return. An abandoned ship is boarded. More chatter, while a member of the crew goes bug-eyed!

Wait!

A doll is found! Could it -please- be a devil doll like the one in BERMUDA TRIANGLE? Nope, just a doll. Even more diving.

Oh no!

Lights! Bubbles, causing the divers to break into an impromptu water ballet! Etc. Ultimately, Peters and Scott make an astonishing discovery, making us wonder why they didn't bring any pants along in case of such an encounter.

This is a thoroughly ludicrous, underwater version of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, minus the thrills or thoughtful story of that classic. This movie does, however, have a big finale featuring a "mother ship". Well, okay, maybe it's more of an ugly stepmother ship...