The Treasure of Jamaica Reef

The original working and first release title (co-feature with "Witch Mountain") by Buena Vista was "Secrets Of Jamaica Reef".

Cheryl Ladd was credited as Cheryl Stoppelmoor, because that was her name when working on the film. She met David Ladd -=on=- this film and married (after his divorce) later! Not that the film is any better for it, but the original was almost totally filmed on location in Jamaica. It was 'spiced up' with later 'additions' such as those commented upon by the first review.

Daily'd, Sync'd and Edited in Jamaica.

JA - Production Sound Mixer

I cannot even give this a one because it would be too high of a rating. For the exception of some serious Cheryl Ladd boobage, this thing was quite possibly the worst film ever made, and the directors/writers should be completely and utterely embarrassed. Make sure if you watch this, you have no sharp objects, a tie or rope, or a big bowl of water, because you will want to hang, drown and stab yourself to try and ease the pain of watching this.

Quite literally you could sit and stare at a wall, and that wall would tell a better story than what this movie will do for you. You can't even use your imagination because by watching this, your mind is completely dormant and you will have no thought process until you manage to summon the remote to change the channel.

Your feelings will be hurt, your kids will hate you, your friends will never speak to you again and your wife or husband will leave you for somebody else if you are caught watching this "masterpiece." Do yourself a favor and please don't watch this incredible piece of crap. It is the equivalent of going to the strip club only to watch the DJ, to try and nail jello at the wall, to pick up women at the bar with a coors cutter (non-alcoholic) beer in your hand. None of it makes sense and neither does this movie. SAVE YOURSELF!!!!

It's a bad movie but It has a couple of really awful scenes:

1) Bad man get face grilled on a open bit bar-b-que grill. His face was well done in 3 seconds.

2)During a fight, a grenade explodes in the boat. Does anyone die? NO Does anyone get hurt? NO What happens? The shockwave of the explosion throws everyone into the water and the fight continues....

I watched at that movie as a fan of Stephen Boyd, and I was also interested by the fact that he personally participated to the production. I have to be honest, the movie that I have seen is not good. I saw a new tape purchased on the web and issued by a regular company. Is it a right one ? So many tapes are recorded from TV re-issues, with a blurry picture and cuts, that I would like to get the point of view of somebody who had really attented at a performance at the time it came out. The critics of the movie in 1976 were not so bad. Where is the truth ?

The shots, under the water are really beautiful. The fact that advertising made at the time of the movie are speaking of "jaws" and that I saw just a few sharks makes me definitly think that we are facing a short version and that we have to be careful with our judgment. The VHS would have had to quote on their jackets when they are coming from TV copies and not from the original film.

"The Treasure Of Jamaica Reef" has some interesting attributes. It has a once in a lifetime cast - what other movie has Cheryl Ladd, Darby Hinton, Rosey Grier, Chuck Woolery, and Stephen Boyd all together in one movie? The movie also boasts an unusual musical score, mostly electronic music. Also, the narration and the direction frequently give the movie a documentary-like feeling. All this stuff does make the movie interesting here and there, but as a whole, is the movie entertaining? Unfortunately, it isn't. The best I can say for the movie is that it has some nice underwater photography. It's a real slow-moving movie, and even in a couple of instances when it realizes things are boring and adds some action, it still isn't that exciting. Another problem is that the characters are really thin, and it's hard to care about their treasure quest. Though the movie doesn't sink like a stone, it's definitely very waterlogged.