Movie Info
Movie Name: Up from the Depths
Studio: New World Pictures
Genre(s): Horror/B-Movie
Release Date(s): June 29, 1979
MPAA Rating: R
Hey, I’m up….from the depths
Something prehistoric has been released from the depths in the Hawaiian archipelago. The shark-like monster has found a new food source in a the tourists that are visiting the area. As the beast makes meals of the tourists, it is up to a con-artist boat scuba guide Greg Oliver (Sam Bottoms), the resort’s director Rachel (Susanne Reed), and a scientist Dr. David Whiting (Charles Howerton) to stop it before it is too late.
Directed by Charles B. Griffith, Up from the Depth is a B-Movie horror film. The movie was critically panned.
After Jaws, animal attack movies were huge (in particular shark movies). The movies seem to follow the Jaws format and try to do it at a much, much lower budget with actors that are pretty much accordingly B-cast.
I always catch the best things!
The plot for the movie is paper thin…the monster shark attacks the resort and then everyone tries to kill it. There is a lot of “humor” in the movie but it isn’t very funny or delivered. Despite being a short movie, it drags with no pacing.
The acting in Up from the Depths is pretty poor. Watching the movie, you aren’t sure who the “stars” of the movie are for a long time since there is no character development. Slowly the movie tries to push a couple of the actors forward as the leads including Sam Bottoms of Apocalypse Now and The Outlaw Josey Wales, but none of them are charismatic or strong enough to hold the film…and the movie’s special effects aren’t going to bring you in.
Oh no! A Scooby-Doo monster is after you!
Jaws might have been a nightmare to make and the shark may not have always worked, but the movie looked and sounded fantastic…now imagine Jaws with a shoestring budget, murky underwater shooting, and a goofy looking prehistoric shark (I mean two fins are scarier than one fin).
Up from the Depths is a bad Jaws rip-off…even in the terms of Jaws rip-offs. Most of the attacks and the shark are blurry and attempts at humor are more groan-worthy than laughable. I can say that movie probably does get the “so-bad-it-is-good” rating, but other than that, the movie has little merit.
