{"id":20900,"date":"2020-07-24T13:36:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T20:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20900"},"modified":"2020-07-24T13:36:57","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T20:36:57","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-bloodtide-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20900","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: BLOODTIDE (1982)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Special Collector\u2019s Edition Blu-ray is currently\navailable from Arrow Video (www.arrowvideo.com \u2013 <\/strong>www.facebook.com\/ArrowVideo\/<\/strong><\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The early 80s were a prime era for horror pictures, with several\nbeing released seemingly every week. As big a fan as I was of the genre back in\nthe day, it was still impossible to keep up with them all. Bloodtide <\/em>aka\nBlood Tide<\/em> was one of those titles that slipped by me. This UK\/Greece\nco-production received a very limited release before hitting VHS. Not long\nafter, many companies mistakenly thought this movie was in the public domain. Over\nthe years, numerous releases appeared, featuring increasingly terrible image quality\nand edits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s all in the past thanks to Arrow Video\u2019s new Blu-ray\nof Bloodtide<\/em>. In reviews, I frequently comment about how much better some\nof these little films look after being newly restored and upgraded. This particular\neffort may be one of the best new Arrow transfers ever created. The movie certainly\nprovides a helping of over-the-top monster-movie silliness, but the picture is\nan absolute revelation. Viewers will be shocked by the incredible photography\nand lush coastal scenery. It looks like a band new movie and is absolutely gorgeous\nto behold.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, the cast for this feature film is much stronger\nthan one might expect given the subject matter. Lead Kove would become a familiar\nface in action movies (in titles like The Karate Kid<\/em>, Rambo: First\nBlood Part II<\/em>, Steele Justice<\/em> and appearing most recently in Once\nUpon a Time in Hollywood<\/em>). Mel Ferrer is an amusingly sinister mayor, and\nJames Earl Jones eats plenty of scenery as the blunt and rather rude treasure\nhunter. They\u2019re all having a good time hamming it up, which at least helps sell\nsome of the stiff exposition. As for the ladies, they aren\u2019t as well written but\nare striking to look at (in fact, they appear to be there primarily to lounge\naround in beachwear). At least Deborah Shelton is given more to do as an oddly spellbound\nwoman who actually wants to be sacrificed in the ceremony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For monster fans, unfortunately you only get a few fleeting glimpses\nof the creature and there aren\u2019t many attack sequences. The movie does its best\nto keep the main antagonist hidden from view. Truthfully, it\u2019s hard to say whether\nthis done to create suspense or if perhaps it was too difficult to work with a\nfull creature suit while on a remote location in pools of water. The movie\nneeds much more of their beast, but the villain still does manage to cause a\nbit of havoc despite disappearing for extended portions of the film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, the movie\u2019s big selling feature is its cinematography.\nWhether the characters are searching through the stone village, swimming into\nan underground cave or hanging out on the beach, the visuals consistently impress.\nThe locations are staggering and even if what occurring onscreen is rather\nsilly, you can always admire the island and think about planning a future trip to\nGreece. This 4K restoration of the feature from the original camera negative is\na wonder to behold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The extras are also enlightening. There\u2019s a discussion with\nGreek co-producer Nico Mastorakis. It\u2019s something of a soft and self-aggrandizing\ntalk, but the subject does offer interesting insight into how he managed to\nsell and finance low-budget features in the late 70s and early 80s. He\ndiscusses the various issues and challenges he frequently encountered, as well\nas his run-ins with talent and others who caused him difficulty in creating his\nfilms. Mastorakis also refers to other titles in his catalog, including Island\nof Death<\/em> and Blind Date<\/em>. His criticisms are frank, although he\u2019s very\nupbeat overall. The segment is enjoyable even if it does appear to only skim\nthe surface of his career and what was going on behind the scenes during this\nshoot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most intriguing extra is the commentary featuring\nAmerican writer\/director Richard Jefferies. This was his first credit and a\nfilm that he has mixed feelings about. According to the speaker, he did a great\ndeal of research on Greek myth, believing he had written a soldi script. And it\ndid generate a lot of buzz and interest from big name actors (which is likely\nwhy the movie ended up with such a fine cast). However, he states that he was new\nto the business and naive, signing up with a production company that weren\u2019t completely\nabove board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Money promised from one of the backers didn\u2019t come through,\noutside forces were causing him difficulties and insisting on unnecessary\nchanges to the script and he found it a struggle to get the footage he needed. Still,\nJefferies says he was positive about what he had shot, knowing he could edit\ntogether something strong. So, he was completely shocked to figure out that he had\nbeen removed from the movie after filmed ended without even knowing it. Over the\nfollowing year, while asking about getting together to cut the movie together,\nhe realized that producers had taken control and edited it themselves. As the\nfilmmaker watches the picture years later, he is distanced enough to not be\nupset, but still expresses regret about how the final product was assembled and\nhis lack of involvement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These extras are really fascinating and the background details\nadd more interest to the feature itself, explaining some of its defects. Admittedly,\nBloodtide isn\u2019t a high watermark horror film for its era, but it is unique, incredibly\nwell shot and will deliver a few smiles to the faces of genre picture fans. Additionally,\nthe background information from the writer\/director is also interesting to\nhear. If you remember and\/or enjoy this picture, this cleaned up Blu-ray is certainly\nfor you and presents the movie in a way that no one has ever or perhaps will\never see again.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Special Collector\u2019s Edition Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Video (www.arrowvideo.com \u2013 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[114,1836,3035,3036,3037,3046,3047,3048,3067,4176,4877,5531,8609,8612,9319,10223,11028,12817,13313,13355,14186,14905],"class_list":["post-20900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-114","tag-arrow-video","tag-blood-tide","tag-blood-tide-blu-ray","tag-blood-tide-blu-ray-review","tag-bloodtide","tag-bloodtide-blu-ray","tag-bloodtide-blu-ray-review","tag-blu-ray","tag-cheesy","tag-creature","tag-deborah-shelton","tag-greece","tag-greek-island","tag-horror","tag-james-earl-jones","tag-jose-ferrer","tag-lydia-cornell","tag-martin-kove","tag-mary-louise-weller","tag-monster","tag-niko-mastorakis"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}