The Bermuda Triangle

This movie was poorly directed. For example, there's the scene with the pillars falling - instead of swimming away from them, or over the pillars that had already fallen, they swim in between those that haven't fallen yet, putting themselves in more danger as they fall.

Was the killing of the sharks and actual beheading the small birds necessary? I wasn't expecting to see the killing of sharks for no reason other than some kind of cruel entertainment.

Some of the acting was very bad too. Even John Huston did not perform well.

There was, however something I liked about this movie, namely Gloria Guida, who was as beautiful as any actress in the world at that time.

You have to hand it to Rene Cardona Jr.--maybe his films aren't very good, but he was always able to make them the way he wanted to in Mexico and successfully distribute them internationally (as opposed to today where most Mexican filmmakers manage maybe one acclaimed art film before they're swallowed whole by the Hollywood whale). This film seeks to exploit all the publicity surrounding the Bermuda Triangle at the time. A deep sea diver (John Huston)and his much younger wife and family sail into the Bermuda Triangle to explore some undersea ruins. Along for the ride is his bickering half-brother and sister-in-law and a superstitious crew of Mexican sailors. Strange things begin to happen. They find a creepy doll floating in the sea and give it to the youngest daughter who feeds it raw meat (which, hilariously, no one remarks on)and become possessed by it, accurately predicting the demise of various cast members. There are freak storms, bizarre accidents, and perhaps most creepy they keep hearing distress calls from the ships and planes that have disappeared over the years, including even their own transmissions.

This movie is pretty effective and has a surprising amount of character development. The cast is Cardona's usual mixture of washed-up Americans (Huston), Mexican regulars (Hugo Stiglitz and Andres Garcia) and a little delectable bikini-filler imported from Europe (Gloria Guida). Since this was marketed as a low-budget disaster movie, it is fairly family-friendly (although it's probably too violent and scary for little kids), so don't expect the usual sex and nudity from the director of "Tintorera"--in fact, this is the only movie I've seen with Gloria Guida where she does NOT take her clothes off (she spends most of the movie in bed, literally, after a diving accidentally). It is a testament to the effectiveness of this movie though that I really didn't mind. The only real negative here is the atrocious dubbing: the dubbed dialogue of the black cook, in particular, would be offensive if it wasn't so ridiculous--he comes off like a throw-back to Step'n Fetchit.

Still I would definitely recommend this. Even if it's not much of a compliment, this is definitely Rene Cardona's Jr.'s best movie.

Rene Cardona, Jnr was arguably the most recognisable Latin exploitation film maker in the late seventies through mid eighties, and his brand was easily identifiable through his use of fading American character actors and gory special effects. Disappointingly, that brand is conspicuously absent here, with John Huston in a relatively brief supporting role, the only 'marquee' import, and little to none of the gory special effects usually synonymous with a Cardona picture.

The plot concerns the usual spate of mysterious disappearances converging on the Bermuda Triangle, while research vessel inadvertently sails into a maelstrom of intrigue and bizarre occult activity that seems to centre on a creepy-looking doll that is found floating in the ocean. It soon possesses the youngest child and in turn manages to wreak havoc amongst the rest of the crew, until, mysteriously, just a handful of weary survivors remain.

Perennial Cardona leading-men Stiglitz and Garcia make an amiable cinema coupling, and they continue their reliable presence here, with the once-sultry Marina Vlady and former bombshell Claudine Auger largely wasted in shallow supporting roles. Miguel Fuentes as a chiselled, Neanderthal looking mechanic is unintentionally hilarious at times, as he randomly emerges from the small engine room door to taunt the spooked passengers with doomsday prophecies, before returning to the ship's bowels to inhale more petrol fumes and envisage even more facile tales of terror for his next appearance.

While not totally inept - some unsettling suspense, good sets, colour and sound in particular - the special effects are profoundly amateurish and the dialogue is at times, painfully puerile. The possessed doll on which the story centres however does convey a certain Argento 'esque feel which is plainly scary (watch for those unnerving close-ups of the doll's face - creepy). Not your typical Cardona-style picture, and probably more accessible as a result. Average, but worth a look.

Bermuda Triangle, The (1978)

* (out of 4)

Incredibly bad film from Mexican director Rene Cardona, Jr. A family goes off to the Bermuda Triangle to see what the big deal is and guess what happens. This film tries to be mysterious and creepy but fails on both levels because the screenplay is all over the place and never really makes a bit of sense. Character enter and exit the film without any explanation and the "mystery" of the Bermuda Triangle is never resolved or even talked about much, although the film tries to play claim to a cursed doll, which causes all the problems. There's some wonderful underwater photography but this too get hampered by three real sharks being killed on the screen for no reason. John Huston, Andres Garcia, Gloria Guida and Claudine Auger star.

Cheese and ham, uniquely baked into a mess but somehow watchable. Completely overdubbed and bizarrely so. There are two young children in this. Their overdubbed voices sound like non-actors 10 years older with English as their second language, while dictating a script they are unfamiliar with. Crazy film making. The story is simple and linear but the acting and dialogue, OMG.

The characters are dumb in this. It's strikingly obvious to most characters what the problem is but no one takes the easy step to solve it. Geeez.