Attack of the Feature, Episode 18: Blood Beach (1980) Review

On this edition of the Attack of the Feature web series, we’re resurrecting Blood Beach, a derivative 1980 Jaws clone that likely inspired it’s own eco-horror, Tremors, a decade later.

“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water — you can’t get to it.”

That’s because writer-director Jeffrey Bloom took the premise of a man-eating shark stalking the coastline and adapted it to a hungry sand worm slithering under the beaches surrounding the water. It’s up to a harbor patrol officer and police captain to get the beast above ground, but killing it proves more difficult than simply having Roy Scheider blow it to smithereens.

While it failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of its inspiration, Blood Beach features a capable cast and fun twist on the Jaws premise that has gained it a cult following.

Let’s “raise the dead” and celebrate this forgotten feature!

Blood Beach. Dir. Jeffrey Bloom. Perf. David Huffman, Marianna Hill, and John Saxon. Compass International Pictures/Empress Film Production Corporation, 1980.