This Special Collector’s Edition Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Video (www.arrowvideo.com – www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/).
The early 80s were a prime era for horror pictures, with several being released seemingly every week. As big a fan as I was of the genre back in the day, it was still impossible to keep up with them all. Bloodtide aka Blood Tide was one of those titles that slipped by me. This UK/Greece co-production received a very limited release before hitting VHS. Not long after, many companies mistakenly thought this movie was in the public domain. Over the years, numerous releases appeared, featuring increasingly terrible image quality and edits.
That’s all in the past thanks to Arrow Video’s new Blu-ray of Bloodtide. In reviews, I frequently comment about how much better some of these little films look after being newly restored and upgraded. This particular effort may be one of the best new Arrow transfers ever created. The movie certainly provides a helping of over-the-top monster-movie silliness, but the picture is an absolute revelation. Viewers will be shocked by the incredible photography and lush coastal scenery. It looks like a band new movie and is absolutely gorgeous to behold.
The story is set on the sparsely populated Greek island of Synoron. Protagonist Neil Grice (Martin Kove) and his new wife Sherry (Mary Louise Weller) boat to beautiful isle on a specific mission. Despite being on their honeymoon, Neil is searching for his missing sister Madeline (Deborah Shelton), who has been completely out of touch with the family for four months. Town mayor Nereus (Jose Ferrer) tells them she’s not there and advised them to leave, but the pair continue looking, eventually finding Madeline at a nearby church. Her behavior is distant and disconcerting. While trying to convince her to leave the island with them, the couple also encounter very ill-tempered fortune hunter Frye (James Earl Jones) and his girlfriend Barbara (Lydia Cornell). As it turns out, he has discovered a hidden cave beneath the cliffs that houses plenty of valuable coins and has blown it up. Without him knowing, this may have released a monster whom locals used to sacrifice virgins to. Now, Madeline is being prepped as a fresh offering.
Surprisingly, the cast for this feature film is much stronger than one might expect given the subject matter. Lead Kove would become a familiar face in action movies (in titles like The Karate Kid, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Steele Justice and appearing most recently in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). Mel Ferrer is an amusingly sinister mayor, and James Earl Jones eats plenty of scenery as the blunt and rather rude treasure hunter. They’re all having a good time hamming it up, which at least helps sell some of the stiff exposition. As for the ladies, they aren’t as well written but are striking to look at (in fact, they appear to be there primarily to lounge around in beachwear). At least Deborah Shelton is given more to do as an oddly spellbound woman who actually wants to be sacrificed in the ceremony.
For monster fans, unfortunately you only get a few fleeting glimpses of the creature and there aren’t many attack sequences. The movie does its best to keep the main antagonist hidden from view. Truthfully, it’s hard to say whether this done to create suspense or if perhaps it was too difficult to work with a full creature suit while on a remote location in pools of water. The movie needs much more of their beast, but the villain still does manage to cause a bit of havoc despite disappearing for extended portions of the film.
Clearly, the movie’s big selling feature is its cinematography. Whether the characters are searching through the stone village, swimming into an underground cave or hanging out on the beach, the visuals consistently impress. The locations are staggering and even if what occurring onscreen is rather silly, you can always admire the island and think about planning a future trip to Greece. This 4K restoration of the feature from the original camera negative is a wonder to behold.
The extras are also enlightening. There’s a discussion with Greek co-producer Nico Mastorakis. It’s something of a soft and self-aggrandizing talk, but the subject does offer interesting insight into how he managed to sell and finance low-budget features in the late 70s and early 80s. He discusses the various issues and challenges he frequently encountered, as well as his run-ins with talent and others who caused him difficulty in creating his films. Mastorakis also refers to other titles in his catalog, including Island of Death and Blind Date. His criticisms are frank, although he’s very upbeat overall. The segment is enjoyable even if it does appear to only skim the surface of his career and what was going on behind the scenes during this shoot.
Perhaps the most intriguing extra is the commentary featuring American writer/director Richard Jefferies. This was his first credit and a film that he has mixed feelings about. According to the speaker, he did a great deal of research on Greek myth, believing he had written a soldi script. And it did generate a lot of buzz and interest from big name actors (which is likely why the movie ended up with such a fine cast). However, he states that he was new to the business and naive, signing up with a production company that weren’t completely above board.
Money promised from one of the backers didn’t come through, outside forces were causing him difficulties and insisting on unnecessary changes to the script and he found it a struggle to get the footage he needed. Still, Jefferies says he was positive about what he had shot, knowing he could edit together something strong. So, he was completely shocked to figure out that he had been removed from the movie after filmed ended without even knowing it. Over the following year, while asking about getting together to cut the movie together, he realized that producers had taken control and edited it themselves. As the filmmaker watches the picture years later, he is distanced enough to not be upset, but still expresses regret about how the final product was assembled and his lack of involvement.
These extras are really fascinating and the background details add more interest to the feature itself, explaining some of its defects. Admittedly, Bloodtide isn’t a high watermark horror film for its era, but it is unique, incredibly well shot and will deliver a few smiles to the faces of genre picture fans. Additionally, the background information from the writer/director is also interesting to hear. If you remember and/or enjoy this picture, this cleaned up Blu-ray is certainly for you and presents the movie in a way that no one has ever or perhaps will ever see again.