Expected more

A Disappointing Continuation

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Great b-movie with a good cast and typical jaws scenario. i saw it years ago on uk sat tv and stubbled about it on a cable channel this evening. if you like the classic killerfish story, then watch this - also, or because the monster is not in the water! the mood in this movie is, as you know it from A movies water & beach flicks. recommend it to everyone who, like myself enjoys such films.

"Blood Beach" is an okay if not entirely spectacular creature feature.**SPOILERS**Following a strange disappearance, Catherine Hutton, (Marianna Hill) learns from ex-fiancée Harry Caulder, (David Huffman) about the true nature of the disappearance. When it soon starts to become apparent that something is living under the beach and attacking people, Captain Pearson, (John Saxon) orders Sergeant Royko, (Burt Young) and Lieutenant Piantadosi, (Otis Young) to investigate the disappearances and find out why people are disappearing on the beach. Getting together, they realize that the victims are the result of a series of attacks by a ravenous creatures living underneath the sand, and soon use all their resources to stop the deadly creatures from killing everyone in their path.The Good News: There was a couple things to this one that worked. One of the big ones is that the film has a rather unique killing concepts regarding it's monster. This one absolutely never shows it, really only giving a shot of a minor tentacle, but due to the extremely inappropriate manner of seeing it in the dust and darkened room generates a really obscured look at it so we never really know what the creature looks like, and that makes for a successful adaptation of it. That it uses a great tool as well to conduct it's attacks, using the sinking sand to swallow victims is a nice concept and manages to work for some good, iconic moments that are utilized from it's choice of monster attack. There's a few of these attacks that actually do have some fun, and these are noteworthy for being the film's only action until the end, since the sight of the humans sinking into the sight screaming their lungs off, or the main one where a victim is attacked on the beach in full view of everyone as they're buried in the sand by their friends, leaving a big impression. The ending here is one of the only other scene in here that actually works, due to the raid on the basement, it's creepy location included and nice setting included in the action manage to work for it and the assault from the squad delivering a nice blow-off to the creature. The last minor point that works is the sequence where a victim crawls up out of the sewers horribly mangled and disfigured, covered with slime and gore and generally looking like a mess, which is later confirmed by the report giving the description of the victim that looks like the images seen. These here are all that work for the film.The Bad News: There was a couple of big flaws to this one that hold it down. The main one here is the fact that this one doesn't really have a whole lot of entertaining moments, leaving most of it feeling rather dull. There's not a whole lot of attacks in here, leaving most of it to deal with the investigation of the disappearances. This one takes out the investigation angle nearly forever in here, rather spending time with the police wandering around the beaches talking with each other or the others on the beach about what's going, and these are spread-out throughout the beginning of the film. These take up way too much time without nothing exciting happening, and this remains a flaw. That also manages to make the biggest flaw in the whole film apparent, in that the film has no real attacks at all. There's barely any at all in the film, since there's plenty of time spent elsewhere that doesn't really do anything of importance which takes time away from the attacks in here. This one has such a low body-count from it's attacks that it has a big problem with those scenes. Also noteworthy about these is that the kills all pretty much consist of pulling the victim below the sand, an impressive visual but requires no gore to come from them at all, and it's not anywhere close to giving it anything. The monster-no-show is one that depends on personal tastes, but these altogether are the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: Not exactly brimming with vital qualities but still having enough to make it seem worthwhile, this is a real take-it-or-leave-it affair. Give it a shot if you're into these kinds of films or find it interesting, otherwise stick to others more worthwhile or at the very least, heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence, Brief Nudity, an attempted rape and animal violence

Believe it or not, Blood Beach actually surpassed my expectations. Of course, I didn't go into the film expecting a masterpiece; but I decided if it was half as fun as the other beach related John Saxon film that I've seen (Umberto's Lenzi's Nightmare Beach), then I'd be happy. Despite being a schlocky eighties mess of a movie, Blood Beach is a lot of fun to watch and the idea of monsters living underneath the sand of a local tourist beach is fairly original. The film takes more than its fair share of influence from the classic film Jaws, and I was actually surprised that it wasn't produced in Italy - given how adept the Italians are at making Jaws rip-offs. As mentioned, the plot focuses on a tourist beach, except this time the danger isn't in the water but in the sand. After several people disappear into the sand, it is up to the local law enforcement to keep people off the beach. There's also a rather superfluous sub-plot about a couple of long-lost lovers bumping into each other and rekindling their relationship...but you've got to expect a bit of filler with a plot this thin! The film's main asset is undoubtedly the fact that it features a performance from prolific cult actor John Saxon. Unfortunately, Saxon isn't the star of the show, but he makes his presence felt in every scene he's in. The main roles go to David Huffman and Marianna Hill, and while neither impresses; their performances at least fit with the film. The main reason why this film fails as a 'good' horror film is down to the plotting - it's never really all that interesting, and it seems obvious that writer-director Jeffrey Bloom knows this as he continually throws in yet another sand death scene every time things are getting boring. Unlike a lot of eighties horror; this one is practically bloodless, and while I'm not a big fan of that fan of that fact; I have to respect the film somewhat for not throwing in a bucket of gore, which wouldn't have fit with the tone and theme of the movie. The ending doesn't really resolve much, and while the conclusion is typical of this sort of film; it does at least work fairly well. Overall, Blood Beach is hardly a must see film - but it's certainly worth seeing if you manage to get your hands on a copy.

How's this for a novel premise: a foul, carnivorous, subterranean monster whose exact origin is never properly disclosed feasts upon sundry teenagers, pretty young honeys, cops, bums and little old ladies who are all unfortunate enough to be treading on the beach when the sucker is on the prowl, thereby puzzling the local clueless and ineffectual authorities and whipping up a heretofore sleepy California coastal community into a frenzied tizzy. Boy, does that ever sound fairly similar to "Jaws," now doesn't it? Although the threadbare story ain't much, this surprisingly fun cheapo fright flick somehow manages to be quite entertaining. Veteran B-movie flatfoot John ("Black Christmas," "Welcome to Spring Break") Saxon as the dour, irascible police chief who's disgusted with the whole bloody mess and the ever-coarse Burt Young (Paulie in the "Rocky" films) as the boorish, jocund homicide detective investigating the baffling murders both delightfully grouch it up while longtime favorite unsung character actor Stefan ("Blue Sunshine," "Spellbinder") Gierasch gleefully commits thespic grand larceny as a pompous, pipe-smoking coroner with a ludicrously protracted drawl (Gierasch talks as if he graduated with top honors from the William Shatner Academy of Studiously Affected and Mannered Overdone Hammy Elocution). Despite several glaring flaws -- writer/director Jeffrey Bloom's hopelessly all-thumbs cinematic technique, sometimes excruciatingly sluggish pacing, drab performances by David Huffman and Marianna ("The Baby," "Messiah of Evil") Hill as a pair of middle-aged seaside lovers who make a belated attempt at rekindling their extinguished relationship, Gill ("A Cold Night's Death," "The Ultimate Warrior") Melle's rather inappropriate, but still funky moody jazz score, Steve ("Dead and Buried," "Donnie Darko") Poster's peculiarly fuzzy photography, and the lamest, phoniest, most pitifully unscary beast this side of the killer walking carpet in "The Creeping Terror" -- "Blood Beach" nonetheless still rates as a weirdly winning low-rent creature feature, mainly because a certain sweetly misguided, but very palpable and thus engaging enthusiasm permeates every single fabulously fumbling frame. It's this unusual synthesis of earnestness and ineptitude which ultimately makes this baby so endearing. And any picture which boasts a scene where a nasty would-be rapist gets gruesomely castrated by the rampaging monster will always get my vote.