I can think of only three demographics that "The Treasure Of Jamaica Reef" might possibly appeal to:1) Cheryl Ladd completists. It is indeed one of her earliest screen roles, and she already has some of the qualities she brought to her most famous role, Kris Munroe: she is cute, adventurous and infectiously enthusiastic. However, she is off screen for large sections of this movie.2) Fanatics of extended underwater sequences. They sure will get their fill here.3) Insomniacs. This movie will solve their persistent problem! Other than that, "Treasure Of Jamaica Reef" is a curio at best. Maybe the "Evil In The Deep" version (with sharks added!) is an improvement, but I doubt it. *1/2 out of 4.

I honestly don't get it! How is it possible that this movie was so dreadfully boring in spite of all the indicators of pure 70's entertainment? Look at all the potentially great stuff here: we have a plot about cursed treasures in sunken galleons, the robust macho actor Stephen Boyd, marvelously exotic Granada filming locations, Jordan Ladd's equally astounding mother Cheryl in a tiny bikini, shark attacks and boat explosions! Adventure movies like this are practically a guaranteed success, yet somehow director Virginia L. Stone managed to ruin the formula entirely. How? Through a combination of inexplicably slow pacing, completely inappropriate slapstick elements and a ridiculous Benny Hill-esquire score and the overuse of irritating clichés (like villains with atrocious German accents). At the scene of a crime, homicide inspector Hugo Graham finds an ancient treasure map that supposedly carries a curse with it. All the previous nine owners of the map died violent deaths, regardless of whether they even attempted to track down the treasure or not. Fascinated by the mystery, Graham takes a photocopy of the map and mobilizes four of his friends to go treasure hunting during his annual vacation. As if the film itself isn't boring enough yet, there's also Boyd's completely unnecessary and monotonous narration. The action sequences and stunts are poorly handled, stupid and too obviously fake. All the available budget for this movie clearly went to the waterproof camera equipment and location hunters. Admittedly the underwater photography is impressive and the Jamaica/Granada locations look like postcards, with their crystal blue waters, colorful reefs and tropical sandy beaches.

This was released on a widescreen VHS tape by Anchor Bay a few years back, and if you're a fan of silly, slowly-paced, violent 70's films, you may find it to be fun.This is a fairly standard treasure hunt film in which some decent people decide to photocopy a supposedly cursed map ("If there was a curse, it could hardly go through a copy machine," the narrator confidently explains) and go looking for the sunken cache of gold. Nice underwater footage of rotting old boats, sharks, coral, and various kinds of grody sea scum. It seems that the diving footage was captured first, and the script then written around it; the film subsequently made with actors wearing diving suits that matched those of the divers in the original footage. At least, that's what it looks like to me. If that is the case, it's pulled off fairly well.Film is notable, or maybe not, for its 70's-style mean-spirited violence, which provides for some fairly graphic and shocking moments, including sharks munching on a girl, and a face burned on a barbecue. This was before sophisticated gore effects were in vogue, and so most of the violence is achieved with simple makeup and bright red opaque 70's blood poured all over the place. The intent to startle is clearly there.As mentioned in another review, there is a G-rated cut of the film available, in case you'd like to see the treasure-hunt stuff without the gruesome, gory violence. This shorter cut isn't too bad either!Not high art, but it's not a bad movie, really, just a bit of low-budget exploitation.

Ok I know what you are thinking, why did i give this movie an 8, I'll tell you why. I saw this film on the big screan about four years ago, a theatre I worked at owned a copy of this awful film, but the underwater shots are very good, the plot very week, and it has a pre gameshow Chuck w. in it, the last scean is good when a guy runs over someone for the map, other than the scenery, it is a poor film,hard to find, but only see it on the big screen.