Neil Grice (Martin Cove) and his new wife, Sherry (Mary Louise Weller), travel to Greece to find Neil’s missing sister, Madeline (Deborah Shelton). At the same time, a cohort of Madeline’s, Frye (James Earl Jones), an explorer, accidentally releases an ancient monster into the world. Bloodtide tells the story of an age-old ritual coming back to life, one in which locals are forced to sacrifice virgins in order to keep themselves safe.
The whole world knows James Earl Jones for his world-renowned roles as Mufasa and Darth Vader in The Lion King and the Star Wars saga respectively. So, seeing him in another role, significantly different from those aforementioned roles, comes as a bit of a shock. It does take some time to get over the fact that he’s someone other than those quintessential characters, but, due to his impressive ability to convey emotion, particularly arrogance and conceit in this role, viewers are eventually able to accept him as Frye and appreciate his character.
Bloodtide is a low-budget film that effectively uses Greece’s beautiful scenery to boost the film's potential and create empathy for the characters in the film. The delectable architecture that exists in Greece could be recognized by most, and director Richard Jefferies uses his setting to the best of his ability, providing Bloodtide clout and entertaining its viewers along the way. The clean, crisp shorelines and uniquely pristine architecture pull viewers into the film, constantly piquing their curiosity and allowing the film to remain visually relevant throughout. Much like with our food, our eyes eat first when it comes to film, and the attractive visuals present in Bloodtide prepares viewers to dig in and anticipate something quite delicious.
Much like the landscapes and images present throughout Bloodtide, the soundtrack, too, is authentic. The authenticity of the film’s music allows all that occurs to feel just a bit more real and relevant. There’s little merit in a thousand-year-old sea monster coming back and putting the lives of many in danger, but the overlap of very real themes and semi-accurate renditions of traditions make these ideas feel more real, and sometimes even tangible.
I’ve found in my cinematic travels that many off-center horror films run multiple storylines parallel to one another, often refusing to connect and leaving viewers baffled as to why both exist. Bloodtide manages to break this odd tradition and connect those multiple storylines in a way that makes sense and entertains. What Bloodtide fails to make use of, however, is the dialogue. Sure, there are times throughout the film when the characters’ words are relevant to the overall story, but I found that the majority of what is said rarely affects the film. I struggled to wrap my head around a great portion of the dialogue or to appreciate the sentiment present in each of the characters as a result. It’s almost as if the ineffective dialogue and the beautiful scenery compete with one another in order to attract viewers. Fortunately the scenery prevails, but that poorly-written dialogue sure puts up a good fight.
Cove is wildly entertaining from beginning to end with his overly-expressive face and seemingly macho man demeanor. He’s a truly entertaining actor, but there is also an irony that exists within the appreciation I have for him in Bloodtide. The intendedly terrifying monster that lurks in the sea off the coast of Greece fails to live up to the hype created throughout the film. When the big reveal finally arrives, viewers are exposed to no more than a cheap Halloween costume, and the allure that had existed for sometime is immediately deflated, crushing many viewers’ hopes that the monster would, in fact, be ghastly as promised. Between the invigorating visuals, solid acting, and eventual seamless convergence of multiple storylines, Bloodtide does enough to even out the negatives that exist here, but they don’t go as far as to create something truly entertaining. While the film isn’t quite as tasty as some may have hoped based on the visuals, there is much to admire about this relatively unknown 80’s horror flick.
Directed by Richard Jefferies.
Written by Richard Jefferies & Nico Mastorakis.
Starring James Earl Jones, José Ferrer, Lila Kedrova, Mary Louise Weller, Martin Kove, Lydia Cornell, Deborah Shelton, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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