She Gods of Shark Reef
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Movie Reviews of She Gods of Shark Reef
Movie Review: 1958 Roger Corman quickie with girls in bathing suits
Summary: 2 Stars
"She-Gods of Shark Reef" was the 20th film directed by the prolific Roger Corman in 1958, the same year that he made "War of the Satellites," "Teenage Cave Man," "Machine-Gun Kelly," and "I Mobster...The Life of a Gangster." Actually this film was shot in 1957, because whenever Corman traveled to shoot a film on location, like to Hawaii, he would usually shoot two films. So "She-Gods of Shark Reef" was shot on the same location as 1957's "Naked Paradise" and then shelves by American International for a year until it was released on a double-bill with "Night of the Blood Beast." The plot, which is really just an excuse to shoot beautiful native women on and about beautiful beaches, involves Chris (Bill Cord) and Jim Johnston (Don Durant), who end up shipwrecked on a strange island. There the beautiful women do nothing but dive for pearls and engaging in strange rituals under the glaring eye of old Queen Pua (Jeanne Gerson). Periodically she sacrifices young maidens to the sharks so that they will protect the underwater Tiki god. Chris, who is handsome with blonde hair, falls in love with the lovely Mahia (Lisa Montell) while Jim, who is an ex-con and therefore has dark hair, is interested in making off with some of those pearls. Look at the title and take a wild guess at what is going to happen to him.
This film is just a bit over an hour long and while Corman does a decent job of providing not only cheesecake but two heaping slices of beefcake in "She-Gods of Shark Reef," this is a really bad print. I usually do not pay a lot of attention to print quality, but this one is bad enough that I have to knock off another star. Those who admire Corman's absolute pragmatism when it comes to making films will want to check this out to see yet another example of his celebrated approach to cinema, but this is no where near being a keeper. Final Note: The title song, "Nearer My Love to You," sung by Jack Lawrence and Frances Hall, actually received some airplay. He was the lyricist on "If I Didn't Care," "Tenderly," and "All or Nothing at All."
The song gets this back up to 2.5, but I am still rounding down because of the bad print.
Movie Review: Sharks Yes, She Gods No
Summary: 2 Stars
If you have ever wondered why Roger Corman was once considered a master of schlock, watch this movie. The plot is thin and the title is more than a little misleading.
Two brothers are apparently in the process of smuggling guns when guards catch them. One of the two guards is veteran actor Ed Nelson. After killing one of the guards, the two brothers are on the lam. Unfortunately their boat sinks when it hits a reef. Women from an island where there are only women rescue the two.
Now the movie gets really exciting. There is a romance between the "good" brother Chris Johnston and an island girl. "Bad" brother Lee Johnston learns that the women have been diving for pearls, and has a little theft in mind. Lee is also the brother that killed the guard. Queen Pua (Jeanne Gerson) catches on and signals for the police to come to the island and take the brothers away. The brothers learn about the police and leave the island. However, they are afraid of running into the police, so they land on a reef to wait until night. Lee returns to the island to steal the pearls, severely injuring or killing one of the women in the process. Once Lee returns, the curse of the Shark God apparently takes effect, and Chris and girlfriend Mahia (Lisa Montell) barely escape.
Mixed into this story are rituals and some mumbo jumbo about a god on the reef. The reef god appears to manifest as sharks. The women are not gods. Most of the women seem to be naïve. Many of the women are quite homely.
On top of all this, the picture quality was poor.
There are some movies that you watch once to say that you did, and then plan to not watch the movie ever again. This movie is one of those. This movie is so weak that even "Mystery Science Theater 3000" might have had difficulty with it. This movie is only for those collecting Roger Corman's movies or those who have a collection of movies about island gods and island women. Everyone else, stay away.
Movie Review: Best Thing is the Title
Summary: 2 Stars
Continuing my quest to see everything Roger Corman ever directed, the best thing about this obscurity is its title, opening sequence and location photography. One can appreciate the title without ever seeing the 60 minute movie itself, and the impact of Floyd Crosby's Hawaiian location photography has been greatly diminished by Alpha's poor transfer, which looks to be from a pretty good print but has been transferred to DVD with the brightness up much too high, making the few night scenes easier to watch than the many daytime shots. That leaves only the opening sequence, a suspenseful nighttime dockside robbery, nicely staged and edited with no dialogue. The rest of the film, minus Corman's usual stock company of actors or a script from ever-reliable writers like Charles B. Griffith, R. Wright Campbell, Robert Towne or Richard Matheson, is forgettable.Movie Review: Bait and switch
Summary: 2 Stars
Aside from having Roger Corman's name on the cover of this film there is a picture of a wet blond just wearing only a strategically placed lei.
No blonds.
No She Gods.
And the lei is broken.
Looks like Roger was distracted by the other movie he was making at the same time "Thunder Over Hawaii."
The basic story is bad guy (who gets into killing and gunrunning) flees authorities with his brothers help. A storm arises and they get shipwrecked on a mysterious island with native girls, sharks, pearls, and a nasty old woman.
So who gets the native girls, sharks, pearls, or worse yet the nasty old woman?
Movie Review: Tropical Sleeping Pill...
Summary: 2 Stars
Sounds like a good movie about girls on the beach, right? Well, it's okay in the babe department, but lacks any real excitement. Two brothers get shipwrecked on an island full of beautiful young pearl-diving lasses, controlled by an old woman with a permanent scowl. Our he-man heroes change into floral mini-skirts and the game is on! There are a couple of sharks swimming around at times, but not enough to cause any true fright or tension. SGOSR is not one of Corman's stellar moments! Watch it as a double bill with SWAMP WOMEN for added drowsiness...