My review was written in September 1982 after a screening at Lyric theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.
"Blood Tide" is a monster film lensed in Greece as "The Red Tide" during the summer of 1980, which over-emphasizes the scenic beauty of its locale at the expense of thrills. Commercial prospects appear dim.
As with the competing horror release "Q", picture marks a return to monsters, born of ancient evil, worshiped by present-day cultists. Madeline (Deborah Shelton) is a young American artist in Greece, drawn to the ancient ritual wherein a local virgin girl is sacrificed to the sea god. Her brother Neil (Martin Kove) and his wife Sherry (Mary Louise Weller) are visiting her when the monster gets loose due to explosions in the underwater grotto set by local treasure hunter Frye (James Earl Jones).
Though there are some swift, gory killings, "Blood TIde" mainly dwells on lovely shots of the Greek coastline and attractive young bodies that seem to have wandered in from Randal Kleiser's "Summer Lovers". There's no horror atmosphere developed and no real scares.
The cast is willing but the script is weak. Things get off to an unpromising start when a very hammy, top billed James Earl Jones is introduced by girlfriend Barb (Lydia Cornell): "He played Othello once in college and never got over it". Jones proceeds to spout Shakespeare for the rest of the pic while doing some of the wildest double-takes since Mantan Moreland. Jose Ferrer and Lila Kedrova are strictly along for the ride as locals.
Of the handsome young principals, Deborah Shelton is a cooly sexy beauty capturing the ethereal fantasy aura of Jenny Agutter. Tech credits are very fine, but the sea monster designed by Vince Jeffords turns out to be a grey, rubbery piece of schlock that has wisely been edited down to just a few frames on screen.