This review is of the dubbed US version of the film, titled BLOODY SEA, and released here by K. Gordon Murray through AIP-TV. First of all, this is NOT a horror film, even though it was directed by Rafael Portillo, of the legendary Aztec Mummy films. It's an interesting combination of influences, at some times playing like TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, at other times playing like an early 60s European existential melodrama a la Antonioni. Take a bored, unsatisfied wife (always a staple of Latin American cinema of the 60s!) who is married to a useless alcoholic, and put her on a boat with three men with mysterious backgrounds and agendas; send them on a quest for some hidden treasure, and you've got an entertaining melodrama. There's some lovely photography of the Mexican coast, along with some jungle footage, some exciting twists and turns in the plot,and adequate English dubbing (from voices that are not as cartoonish as some of the regular voice artists used by K. Gordon Murray on his horror and children's films), so on the whole I feel that this English-language version of the film works quite well and was a pleasant way to kill 85 minutes. Good luck in finding a copy, however. The VHS version I have went quickly in and out of print. It's also nice to see Ariadna Welter in such a major and complex role--her character is central to virtually every scene, except for the underwater footage (which is quite good, by the way). As a devoted viewer of dubbed 1960s action films and melodramas, I'd rate this one as above average--it's a shame that more non-horror Mexican films did not make it into the international marketplace in dubbed form. It's also possible that one could find the original Spanish version of the film if you live in an area with a large Spanish-speaking population--I'll keep my eyes out for that too.
