Jeffrey Bloom directed this land based copy of "Jaws I & II" that stars John Saxon as Captain Pearson, in charge of investigating a series of disappearances along a beach in California, where it seems people were sucked into the sand. When mutilated remains later turn up, it is obvious that some unknown creature is living under the sand, and now it is a matter of finding and destroying it. Burt Young costars as Sergeant Royko. Disappointing film has a distinct lack of imagination in its story, with far too much talk, though some atmosphere. Famous for the tag-line "Just when you thought it was to go back in the water, you can't even get to it!" Not yet on DVD; Perhaps Shout/Scream Factory is the most likely to make that happen?

Trying to capitalize on the Jaws 2 tagline "Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water…", Blood Beach hit theatres in 1980 with its tagline "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you can't get to it." Brilliant. Too bad the movie wasn't.Blood Beach is a hard to find horror classic about a creature attacking people on the beach. The creature (which is revealed to laughable results towards the conclusion of the film), would suck people through the sand where they would disappear without a trace. Police and residents of the small town are baffled by the stockpile of missing person's reports with the beach being the only link to the disappearances.The story generally follows Harry Caulder (David Huffman) and his investigation which draws him closer to an old flame, Marianna (Catherine Hutton) who is dealing with a personal loss due to the beach's, ummmm, appetite.These two will try to put their Sherlock Holmes' hats on to try and discover the source of the towns missing persons – between dinners and casual flirting, that is. And their keen knack for deduction will eventually result finding the location of the beast that looks like a giant flower yet can scream and make noises that would scare even Godzilla.Much of the cast will look unfamiliar with the exceptions of Burt Young (Paulie from Rocky) and John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street) who are both working the case. Burt has the best groan inducing lines as an Sergeant recently disposed from Chicago (My personal fav: "Hey, Harry! What color eyes your stewardess have... had?").Although the idea itself isn't at all abysmal, the execution in the case of Blood Beach is anything but laudable. Take away the dumb acting and the attempts to duplicate Jaws in as many ways as possible, Blood Beach stumbles on every level and is neither an entertaining horror nor a watchable thriller.What it does end up being is a Mystery Science Theatre riot that has more laugh out loud moments than the entire Scary movie franchise. By the time you get to the creature reveal and the subsequent human decision on how to dispose of the beast, either your sides will hurt from laughter or you will be too disgusted with your time investment in this crap to appreciate the tongue-in-cheekness.www.killerreviews.com

Los Angeles beach has something monstrous living within and it's up to the police(led by John Saxon, as Captain Pearson)to find out what it is. Burt Young is a slovenly, ill-mannered cop, Sergeant Royko(from Chicago, going on and on about how that city does things better than LA) who voices his opinion much to the chagrin of others around him(particularly his contemporaries), not the kind to be apologetic regarding his feelings even if they are more than a bit acidic(and bluntly honest). Otis Young's Lieutenant Piantadosi is often scoffing at Royko's opinions, and shows how the demands of the job take their toll. The LA police are weary and tired, feeling helpless as people continue to vanish(one victim does appear, pulling himself from a man hole)and seemingly unable to stop the creature from sucking down beachcombers. The question..where does the creature go with it's victims? It has to live somewhere. A condemned building's basement might just be the place where it frequents and disposes of it's bodies after each meal. Saxon, as the demanding police Captain, wanting answers, is fun, but the sub-plot involving Harbour Patrol officer Harry Caulder(David Huffman)and visiting San Francisco artist Catherine Hutton(Marianna Hill; HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER) is rather developed and abandoned about midway through, not to mention the monster is laughable and about as scary as Big Bird. BLOOD BEACH is one of those movies I actually consider worthy of a remake..I can just see victims being pulled into the sand, bodies breaking, and all that blood gushing like a geyser. As the 1980 film stands, it's a tame, tame, tame lil movie that has one really notably disturbing scene where a woman narrowly escapes a rapist when his crotch is attacked by the beach monster. This film has the "grand" reveal scene where Hill walks into the basement discovering all the dead bodies as they pop out of their hiding places. Harry and Catherine once had a relationship before she left for San Fran, their sparks reigniting upon her return to find out what happened to her relative, one of the monster's first victims. Lena Pousette is Marie, a stewardess lover of Harry's who chases after her hat which was caught in the wind as it moves across the beach..a big no-no."Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, you can't get to it."

It's very strange that some actors who have just done a major are doing a low budget that failed at the time being but became a cult favorite afterwards. This so called monsterflick is one of them. Burt Young just did Rocky, and continued doing that and after Blood Beach doing another classic Once Upon A Time In America. John Saxon, the same, Black Christmas and Nightmare On Elm Street, in between this flick. You are only 5 minutes into the movie and the boom appears. Not only once but a few times throughout the movie, not only that, the protection against lens flair due the sun onto the camera appears a lot too throughout the movie. The quality of the film used is poor too, a lot of drop outs are visual. It never had a good release, never went on DVD, and the transfer to VHS was poor too. So to find it you will only catch it on VHS from the US, all bad quality. But still, the movie is watchable, sometimes it's a bit slow and some scene's are too long but it has a bit of suspense. It never becomes gory or bloody, in some killings you see the result of the creature. The storyline itself is sometimes a bit to much about the love between the main actors. But if you like exploitation and grind house flicks than this one is for you, compare it with another one from that time Slithis. Only for Europeans it will be a little harder to get a grip on a copy but hey, the web will help you.