BLOOD BEACH
US, 1981, 92 minutes, Colour.
David Huffman, Mariana Hill, Burt Young, John Saxon.
Directed by Jeffrey Bloom.
Someone in this film refers to the Creature from Blood Beach. This is the tone of this quite competent horror thriller. While it has the contemporary Californian beach look, the plot and the characters are straight from the B Budget science fiction Creature films of past decades. The beach sequences give the semblance of serenity (with hints of Menace and Jaws) but soon are quite terrifying, gulping people down. There is the usual search for the Creature - and a variation on the seventies' police films. Burt Young stands out as a particularly obnoxious policeman. This kind of material is conventional, take it or leave it - this is a reasonable example of its kind.
1. The appeal of horror and monster movies over so many decades? The blend of reality and fantasy? Expectations - scares, shocks, revelations, mystery? How satisfying is this particular example?
2. The background of California, the beaches, old buildings filmed with menace, modern atmosphere, teenagers, old people and fools, the police? The blend of realism and fantasy? The use of expectations from T.V. and film police shows?
3. The atmosphere of horror - the woman disappearing? the element of mystery under the beach? The eccentric old woman and her pram? The sense of the unknown, water and sand? Special effects? The girl mauled
under the sand? The man who escaped from the underground? So much of the film in the dark with the sense of menace?
4. Speculation about the monsters, explorations in the basement? The visual impact of the creature? The explosions? Audiences wondering about the destruction of monsters and their survival as hinted by the end? Audience response to such films as of nightmares?
5. Harry as hero - swimming to work, his police work, the puzzle of the disappearing woman, his relation to Kathryn and the renewal of friendship with her, falling in love? The hostess and her disappearance? His puzzle, work with the police, exploring the basement, the end – and the perennial valiant hero?
6. Kathryn - the death of her mother, her life story, the break with Harry, her return? Falling in love? her exploring the basement and the threat and menace?
7. Pearson and his tough running of the Police Department, pressures? His haranguing the men? Telling off the councillors?
8. The other police - their competence in their work, puzzle? Royko and his obnoxious presence and comments about Chicago?
9. The Harbour assistant - the attempted rape of his girl friend and her rescue? The songs at the cabaret?
10. The eccentric old lady, her presence on the beach, the musicians? her accosting Kathryn? her presence in the old pier? her refusal to rescue the assistant? in the explosion?
11. How well did the film create and sustain atmosphere of tension and suspense? The disappearances? Audience feeling for the characters? the mother, the hostess, the girl on the beach, the man with the metal detector, Harry's assistant?
12. The build-up to a climax, the explosion? The long sequence (during the final credits suggesting that more creatures were lurking, the disappearance of the baby?
