Deep Blood

Deep Blood
Directed by Joe D'Amato (uncredited)[1]
Raffaele Donato[2]
Produced by Filmirage
Variety Film[1]
Written by George Nelson Ott[1]
Starring Frank Baroni
Allen Cort
Keith Kelsch
James Camp[1]
Music by Carlo Maria Cordio[1]
Cinematography Joe D'Amato (as Federiko Slonisko)[1]
Edited by Kathleen Stratton[1]
Release date
  • 1989 (1989)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country Italy
Language English[1]

Deep Blood, also known as Sharks and Sangue negli abissi (literally: "Blood in the Abyss"), is a 1989 Italian sharksploitation drama.

The credited director Raffaele Donato (as Raf Donato) only directed the first scene, while the remainder of the film was directed and lensed by Joe D'Amato,[2] who also co-produced the film through his company Filmirage together with Variety Film.[1]

Synopsis

On a deserted beach, four boys, Miki, John, Jason and Alan, are told by an Indian the story of the monstrous marine being Wakan and seal a blood pact, a bond of their friendship and mutual assistance in case of danger.

Ten years later, the boys reunite as young men and decide to go on a holiday together. But a killer shark ruins their plans. It attacks the beach community and kills John while he is swimming.

The three remaining friends decide to avenge John's death and hunt the beast. Their task will not be easy, since a legend says that the beast is an incarnation of an ancient hoodoo spirit that has taken the form of a killer shark. The boys set an underwater trap for the shark and lure it into an area in which they have planted powerful explosives, thereby successfully killing the beast.

Production

Joe D'Amato had got to know Raffaele Donato in 1975 on the set of Red Coats and had later used him repeatedly as English dialogue coach.[1] He found him again in the United States and wanted him on the project because he needed someone who could speak English well.[1]

In an interview D'Amato gave for the book Spaghetti Nightmares, he stated that Donato had wanted to direct a film himself, but had seen after directing the first scene, which also happened to be the first scene of the film at the beach, that this was not what he wanted. D'Amato had therefore finished the film on his own.[2]

The film for a time carried the working title Wakan.[1] It was announced under the title Sharks (The Challenge) and as directed by "David Hills" (one of D'Amato's pseudonyms), but D'Amato stated that he finally decided to credit Rafaelle Donato for the release since he himself had already shot many films during that year and wanted to avoid that it became apparent he was doing everything himself.[1]

The shark scenes are extrapolated from stock footage bought from the National Geographic Society.[1] In the scene of the explosion killing the shark, footage from Great White is used.[1]

Cast

  • Frank Baroni as Miki
  • Allen Cort as Allen
  • Keith Kelsch as Ben
  • James Camp as Jason
  • Tody Bernard as the sheriff
  • John K. Brune as John
  • Margareth Hanks as Elisabeth
  • Van Jensens
  • Don Perrin
  • Claude File
  • Charles Brill
  • Mitzi McCall as Keith Kelsh
  • Mike Peavey
  • Brian Ricci
  • John Mason
  • Robert La Brosse (uncredited)[1]

Release

The tagline on the cover of a VHS release titled Sharks reads, "Where sharks prey, the ocean is a bloodbath."[3]

In Italy, a VHS release was made by Avo Film.[1]

In Germany, the film was released by "VPS" on VHS titled Shakka - Bestie der Tiefe (literally: "Shakka - Beast of the Depth").[4]

In the Czech Republic, the film was released on DVD by "Řitka video" in 2009, under the title Bestie z hlubin. The DVD contains the Czech dub and the English original version with forced Czech subtitles.[5]

Reception

In 1999, Italian film critic Marco Giusti called the film a Z movie version of Jaws.[6] He thought that the dialogues were slightly ridiculous, but that the small film was likable.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Gomarasca & Pulice, p. 46.
  2. 1 2 3 Palmerini & Mistretta, p. 79.
  3. ↑ "Sharks VHS cover". Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  4. ↑ "OFDb - VHS: VPS (Deutschland), Freigabe: FSK 12 von Shakka - Bestie der Tiefe (1990)". Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  5. ↑ dvdsleuth - Joe D'Amato's Deep Blood on DVD in Czech
  6. 1 2 Giusti 1999, p. 395.

Bibliography

  • Giusti, Marco (1999). dizionario dei film italiani STRACULT [sic]. Cles: Sterling & Kupfer. ISBN 88-200-2919-7.
  • Gomarasca, Manlio; Pulice, Davide (2009). "Joe D'Amato. Guida al cinema estremo e dell'orrore". Nocturno. 78 (January) (Dossier).
  • Palmerini, Luca M.; Mistretta, Gaetano (1996). Spaghetti Nightmares: Italian Fantasy-horrors as Seen Through the Eyes of Their Protagonists. Fantasma Books. ISBN 9780963498274.

Deep Blood on IMDb


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