The first rule when making a shark movie is to feature a shark. Honestly, that’s the only rule you need to follow. Everything else just kind of slides into place after that. For some reason the makers of Deep Blood – including director Raf Donato, who shot a bit of the film and grew bored and left and the true genius of Deep Blood, Joe D’Amato – didn’t get the memo and decided to make a movie about family drama, tough relationships, and whether a man should go to school or play golf professionally. The shark? The shark is an afterthought thrown into the movie so the filmmakers could make some bank on the success of Jaws. It’s a tough film to watch as it plods along with stretches of nothingness to lull the viewer into a gentle sleep. It isn’t all bad, though, as there are moments of sure ineptitude at play that keep you clutching at the hope something cool is going to happen.
The something cool in Deep Blood is the hilarious lack of caring when it comes to making a solid movie. Can’t afford to film in the ocean? Film in a swimming pool with exposed pipes and all. Can’t afford to make an actual convincing shark? Just use a load of stock footage and hope for the best. Worried that the 30 minutes between scenes of people pretending to be eaten by a shark are going to bore the viewers? Throw in a pointless backstory of Indian myths involving blood oaths and a magical arrow pouch that tells you where the shark will be. Genius!
I reviewed Cruel Jaws a little bit ago and that, my folks, is a great example of how to rip off other shark films and still be entertaining (funnily enough Cruel Jaws steals footage from Deep Blood but we won’t harp on that). Deep Blood is just filled with nothing and it makes it very hard to recommend, even to fans who love awful flicks.
Blu-ray
Severin Films knows how to polish a turd and Deep Blood is sparking. There are some spots of film damage, but for the most part, it looks great. Audio is provided with English and Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono tracks and I’m quite surprised by the lack of dubbing involved on the English track. I swear most of the actors were recording their actual dialogue on set, which when talking about these kinds of films, is a miracle.
The only extra feature on the disc is a trailer that spoils the entire plot in the span of 3 minutes. Actually, come to think of it, watching the trailer instead of the feature film would save you a ton of time.
Extra Features
- NEW 2K scan from original film negative
- Trailer (unrestored HD; 3:29)
Verdict
Deep Blood runs 91-minutes long and features under a minute of shark action. Mainly some stock footage and cheap shots of a shark model that I’m not even sure was done for this movie. However, if you’re in the mood for some unnecessary backstory on characters you don’t care about, then boy, this movie is for you! Everyone else can avoid it.
