Blood Tide

**SPOILERS** Drawn to the Greek island of Synanon in the Aegean Sea young and pretty, as well as virgin, Madeline,Deborah Shelton, inadvertently with the help of Frye, James Earl Jones,and his girlfriend Barbara, Lydia Cornell, releases from a hidden underwater cave an ancient monster who goes on a bloody rampage. Killing islanders on the Island as well as those swimming off shore. Were told by the wise old men of the Island, from it's mayor on down, that the only way to stop the monster from it's deadly rounds is to offer up a young girl or woman virgin as a sacrifice to it.

Arriving on Synanon earlier in the movie is Nell,Martin Kove, Madeline's brother and Sherry,Mary Louise Weller, his wife who are going both on their honeymoon and looking for the elusive Madeline who hasn't been seen or heard from for almost four months. Thinking at first that the story of the Sea Monster is a lot of hogwash Nell Shelly and especially Fray become believers when a number of women end up missing,including Barbara, and later are found washed up on shore dead, and in pieces, as a result of the monster's actions.

Fray who was both cool and collective and very sure of himself flipped out when he later saw the monster devourer an Island woman who was trying to save her daughter, who fell into the water, and becomes a hopeless drunk. Seeing her call in life, by uncovering a hidden ancient painting, Madeline prepares to offer herself up to be killed and eaten by the Sea Monster in order to stop the slaughter. The monster went as far as attacking a church killing all the nuns except the Mother Superior Sister Anna, Llia Kedrova, who was badly injured. In the end Frye who released the ancient monster for it's cave destroyed it, as well as himself,by blowing it to shreds with modern explosives.

The acting in "Blood Tide"is far better then the story itself with top-notch actors James Earl Jones as the self-centered adventurer Frye. Jose Ferrer was very good as the Islands mayor Nerevs who knew more about what was going on then you at first would have thought. Besides the very good acting the scenic and breath-taking photography of the Greek Island and the surrounding Aegean Sea kept you awake and observant of what was happening on screen even though the very flimsy and mediocre story didn't.

Blood Tide is the brain child of Greek horror 'auteur' Nico Mastorakis. Nico probably has more films in IMDb's bottom 100 than any other director but this is more a reflection on the poor taste of most IMDb voters. Nico's films are generally pretty atrocious (with the exception of the great "Island Of Death") but at least his films won't induce insomnia like some of the movies populating the top 250. This film, directed by Richard Jefferies, is a good example of the Nico formula: blood, nudity and virgin sacrifice.

The plot of Blood Tide is pretty damn stupid. A treasure hunter, played by James Earl Jones, has awoken an evil demon that lies dormant under a Greek island. Unfortunately, this event coincides with Neil and Sherry's arrival on the island to search for Neil's missing sister, Madeline. Before too long, young women start disappearing and the villagers resort to sacrificial offerings in order to calm down the island demon. In other words, this is all a thinly veiled excuse for gratuitous nudity and cheap horror action - which is fine by me.

The strange thing about Blood Tide is that the film has quite a respectable cast for what is obviously a B-movie. James Earl Jones is always reliable and he doesn't disappoint with his turn as Frye. I'm convinced he only to took the role due to the character habit of incessantly reciting Othello, because the idea of playing a watermelon chomping stereotype could not have been all that appealing. Jose Ferrer is another great character actor and he makes his role count for more than it is worth. The same can be said for Lila Kedrova, who has to be the only Oscar winner to appear in a Mastorakis production. Genre fans will also be pleased to see Martin Kove, atypically playing a good guy.

Apart from the actors, the main reason to watch the film is to enjoy the gloriously inept creature effects. The demon is a plastic puppet that looks more like a sea horse than a monster. The rest of the special effects are equally as dubious. The film also strangely spends a significant amount of time 'paying homage' to (ie. shamelessly ripping off) "Exorcist II: The Heretic". Why anyone would want to take inspiration from that train wreck is beyond me, but someone was obviously a fan.

Blood Tide has many faults: crap special effects, a poor script and a lead actor who refuses to wear a shirt. However, it is also campy horror fun and contains one of the funniest displays of beach side aerobics that I can remember seeing. In any case, Blood Tide does not belong in the bottom 100.

It wouldn't be unfair to say that Greece hasn't got the best pedigree when it comes to movies. There doesn't really appear to have been a film industry in action there at any point in time. Probably the best effort I have seen from that country is the notorious Island of Death. Its director Nico Mastorakis was also responsible for the screenplay of, this film, Blood Tide. There's no way that the latter film is as good as the former but I have to say I didn't really find it all that bad either. It's about a shady archaeologist who inadvertently unleashes a legendary evil creature from its century's long sleep. It's true that it is fairly uneventful from a horror point-of-view but overall I thought that the events surrounding the sea monster had just enough intrigue to keep this one afloat.

The monster itself is hardly seen. Mostly we encounter it via point-of-view camera-work. When it is seen briefly, it doesn't in all honesty look that bad but I guess the film-makers thought otherwise. There are a couple of gory attacks in the water and a massacre of nuns at a monastery, while the chopped up remains of a victim are found on the beach. But mainly, this is a slow burner with little visceral material. I thought the plot strands about the ancient drawings that are found in the monastery that depict the monster was quite good as well and added a decent level of interest.

It never escapes the fact that it's obviously hampered by a low budget though but the exotic Greek location does add some worthwhile production value. And it also has James Earl Jones at its disposal too; seemingly he did the film in order to get a paid-for holiday. But much better is Deborah Shelton as the enigmatic woman who ultimately offers herself as a virginal sacrifice to the beast; she was very beautiful and added a welcome sensual aspect that didn't do the film any harm at all.

Decent plot and acting, but... if you're looking for a monster flick, this ain't it. The monster is in it for all of 4 seconds- literally. This is truly a shame, because this movie had all the earmarks of a great monster flick. So, I'd say pass on this one, unless you don't mind wasting your time.

For a low-budget, occult thriller, 80's-era B-movie, I really enjoyed it, though I love occult thrillers as guilty pleasures. The direction is unexceptional but decent, the cinematography (easy, because of the gorgeous locales and mostly outdoor shooting) was surprisingly very good and the soundtrack was passable. I loved the casting, with Martin Kove (from The Karate Kid trilogy), James Earl Jones and Jose Ferrer (who always makes a great nasty, what with his cosmopolitan look, like Anthony Quinn, and his condescending, 'I'm better than you, and why do you think you can even exist on the same planet as me?' sneer and attitude), and, of course, the gorgeous women. Though the special effects were low-budget and quaint, they worked on this scale, and how they were executed. There's gratuitous nudity and sex at every conceivable opportunity (and a lot of inconceivable ones!) and even incestuous overtones, so it's terrifically entertaining, if not a cinephilic masterwork.

In short, it's worth a look, especially if you enjoy B-movies and occult thrillers, particularly from the 80's. It's both free online, or I found my copy in my legendary Mill Creek 50-pack, 'Nightmare Worlds'.