By Horror.Harlot
The poster above scared me in 1981, I was 9, but I remember it hanging in a video store in downtown Red Bank, NJ. I knew from that poster and the TV commercials that I needed to see this movie. About 3 years later, I finally had my dad rent it for me based on that fear of the poster and because one of my first crushes at 12, John Saxon was in it.
In Blood Beach, someone or something is attacking beachgoers at Venice Beach. Turns out whatever it is is not all bad as in the case of a wannabe rapist who ends up getting castrated while being pulled down into the sand.
Ruth is walking on the beach with her dog and stops to chat it up with the local coastguard, Harry (David Huffman). After their talk, without warning, she disappears into the sand, yes she gets sucked into the sand leaving her poor dog barking at a spot on the beach.
Ruth’s daughter, Catherine (Marianna Hill) arrives in town to look for her missing mother. We see that she is uncomfortable around Harry since they used to date. They come across Ruth’s dog who is dead on the beach leading them to believe someone did this on purpose.
On a crowded beach, a young woman is being buried in the sand and begins screaming like a banshee while friends pull her out only to find her legs chewed up. Cue, sexy Captain Pearson (John Saxon) the man in charge and he wants answers.
Sergeant Royko (Burt Young doing his best Paulie from Rocky) is busting his balls and doesn’t know what to make of the situation. He just wants to drink beer and watch TV. The cops decide to dig up the beach, but they turn up empty-handed since nothing is found.
The beach is becoming well known because the locals are calling it Blood Beach. Of course leading the press to show up doing what they do best: sensationalize. The deadly events aren’t stopping anyone from going to the beach. I am not a fan of the beach, to begin with, but if I heard that someone or something was killing people before they even went into the water, I am pretty sure I would stay the hell away.
An odd thing about this movie is Mrs. Selden (Eleanor Zee), an oddball who is always nearby whenever someone is getting dragged into the sand, but never gets attacked herself. I can identify with Mrs. Selden since she is never particularly concerned by all the carnage around her and I am pretty sure I would be the same way in this situation.
Meanwhile, Catherine is still looking for her mother with no luck. But she is convinced a killer is stalking the beach. Harry decides to do a little more exploring and discovers a secret lair. The cops decide to stake out the lair and find a creature lurking below the sand. Before I saw the movie people kept saying it was a giant clam under the sand. I can still picture what I thought it looked like when I was 9. They decide to blow it the fuck up. Although it’s dark, you can see it looks like a sack-like barnacle, glowing flower creature. This would have been the perfect time to call in the military, but Capt. Pearson and Sgt. Royk just have to handle it themselves and not listen to Dr. Dimitrios. The doctor seems to have a handle on what’s going on more than anyone else. But hey, why listen to the expert? Hmm, what could go wrong with Pearson and Royko’s brilliant plan?
Did the explosion take care of the creature? Doesn’t seem so when we see small funnels forming around unaware beachgoers during the end credits.
I don’t think I would have been as scared or interested if they had gone with this poster. What the hell is with the giant hand?
This movie has one of the best taglines, “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you can’t get to it” A take on Jaws 2’s tagline.
This movie needs a Blu-ray release immediately.
You can’t go wrong with John Saxon and Burt Young, both of whom I had the pleasure of meeting years ago at a Chiller Theater convention.
For nostalgia purposes, I give this movie 7 out of 10 Shrieks
