1. The Bermuda Depths
During the 70s The Bermuda Triangle was a huge craze with countless books and television specials focusing on that mysterious region where ships and planes were said to disappear. ABC capitalized on that craze by paying Rankin/Bass (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus) to make a series of made for television "horror movies" set in Bermuda. Yes, the company best known for producing children's Christmas specials was given a stack of cash to make a horror movie. The 70's were something else. His first picture, The Bermuda Depth starred Connie Selleca (Greatest American Hero), Burl Ives (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ), Carl Weathers (Rocky) and Leigh McCloskey (Hamburger: The Motion Picture ) aired on Janyuary 27, 1978 and later in limited release in theatres including a1979 release in Japan as Bamyuda No Nazo, "Mystery of Bermuda." I first came across this movie as a seven year old boy. I had sprained my ankle and my parents had propped me up in their bed, plied me with pain killers and left me with the TV on. "What's the worst that could happen?" They probably thought. In the pre-television remote era, I was stuck in bed, a captive audience to my first ever horror movie. These things tend to stay with you. Highlights include:
The Plot
Is it a homage to Jaws or Moby Dick? Most of the plot revolves around Burl Ives and Carl Weather trying to prove the existence of a giant turtle lurking within the Bermuda Triangle. This aspect of the movie apes plot elemants of better known films; from Carl Weather's Captain Ahab like obsession with capturing the giant turtle, to the definite need for a bigger boat in the movie's climax. Is it a Japanese giant monster movie? Scenes of the giant turtle snatching a helicopter out of the air and toppling boats are thrown into the mix. Is it a ghost story? Connie Selleca's Jennie Haniver, is an ethereal, haunting presence, with Leigh McCloskey's Magnus as the only character who sees Jennie for most of the movie. Most of the characters are unsure whether she is a figment of his imagination, a ghost or something else. Magnus' history of mental illness is further used to create ambiguity about what is truly happening to him when he is visited by Jennie. Said to have been an 18th century woman "too young and beautiful to die," Jennie is said to have made a deal with "the one below" that saw the crew of her ship drowned, while she was spared and tied to the sea as an immortal spirit. Said only to appear to men about to drown, the link to the giant turtle is never made fully clear. Is it her transformed? Is it "The One Below?" Its all kind of vague, but doesn't deter from making the Bermuda Depths a FUN ride
The Special Effects
Tsuburaya Productions of Japan (Ultraman) handled the special effects and at no point are you EVER convinced by the special effects in this movie. With painfully obvious models taking the place of boats, toy helicopters suspended from visible strings to a creature that can best be described as Gamera's stunt double, it all adds up to a VERY goofy affair.
Carl Weather's Increasingly Shrinking Wardrobe
Movie reviewers will often refer to an actor who "in every scene, your eyes are drawn to them." Usually this refers to the actor keeping in character and enhancing scenes regardless of whether the camera is directly focused on them. Carl Weathers chose to take a different, yet no less successful approach. As the movie progresses, his shirts become tighter, his shorts become shorter and his disturbing predilection for mid-riff baring shirts soon becomes apparent. On the plus side, his wife is played by former Playboy April 1978 Playmate Julie Woodson, who while failing to display the same commitment to scene stealing by shrinking wardrobe, almost balances Carl Weather's behavior.
The Music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C75xNLBcVtk Composer Maury Laws (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Bushido Blade) beautifully sets the mood with the use of AntonioVivaldi's "Largo" and the cheesy yet memorable signature song "Jennie" stays with you (in a good way) long after the movie is over.
The Beauty of Bermuda
One of the real stars of The Bermuda Depths is the island on which the movie itself was shot. With gorgeous undersea footage, scenes set on picturesque pink beaches, to even the footage shot in a graveyard, this movie is a visual treat. It is perhaps the greatest unintentional tourism commercial ever made. (If potential tourists aren't deterred by the Bermuda Triangle Legend or the threat of being swallowed up by a giant turtle) As a "so bad they're good," movie aficionado, I'm always on the look out for ones I've never seen. Let me know in the comments what your guilty pleasure movies are!