Deep Blood (1990) by Raffaele Donato

Director: Raffaele Donato (Joe D'Amato uncredited)
Year: 1990
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Sangue negli abissi
Genre: Sharks

Plot:
Still together as adults, a group of childhood friends is brought back together when a series of strange attacks in their seaside town is thought to be done by a massive shark, but when the authorities fail to stop it, they realize a blood-oath taken as kids might be useful in stopping the bloodthirsty creature once and for all.

Review:

There wasn’t a whole lot to this one. Among the film’s better features is the rather enjoyable and unique setup that comes across differently from most killer shark efforts. Taking the idea of a childhood blood-oath triggered by stories from an Indian chief aware of such a creature existing in the area and then utilizing the returning-creature-in-the-present idea so that they can reunite to fend off the creature is a far more creative idea here for a killer shark film. That this in effect turns the film into a workable imitation of the genre storyline involving the missing persons’ cases that are thought to be resolved once the shark has been caught. Once it comes back around to involving that aspect in the story things pick up nicely where it generates some nice ideas where it’s useful for bringing a different taste to the hunting scenes.

As well, there’s also the films’ decent enough attempts at suspense before the shark attacks strike. Featuring lengthy scenes of the camera prowling through the water to signal the creatures’ point-of-view before finally zeroing in on the victim floating on the surface or swimming unaware of the danger around them before the fateful attacks are carried out in bloody, graphic fashion. Since these are more realistic in that there’s no decisive killing blow immediately after the creature attacks as the majority of these scenes feature a bit more carnage and interaction than usual, there’s a nice bit of realism here even with the sharks’ supernatural origins offered as a means of introducing where it came from. With an energetic finale that brings about some enjoyable action underwater with the sunken wreck being a fine source for combating the creature, this one does feature some good parts to it.

However, there are some big problems with this one. Among the main issues here is that there are no original shark sequences placed throughout the film, relying almost exclusively on stock-footage shots of sharks for its time and then editing that around the actors which results in choppy, discordant attack scenes. Not only are the scenes obviously unconnected with no visible wounds or biting on the victim and then having everything obscured by a cloud of red and orange churning water with no shark visible since it’s all taken from various sources. With no visible marks anywhere and no sequences later on showing the impact and damage the creature had on the victim to give us an idea of what’s going on and how powerful it is, this one somewhat misses the boat when it comes to the main shark rather strongly.

The other issue with the film is the relaxed and generally bland pacing in the first half that rarely brings about much excitement or interest. The scenes of the friends returning and reuniting have the potential to be a great reconnection factor but it completely misses out here when it brings up a series of plotlines to utilize them but does nothing with them. The interaction with the bullies is dropped after two brief sequences and the reluctant father angle goes nowhere since he brings him out immediately after a conversation rather than continually declining until forced to do so at the end of the film which makes more sense. These interactions are laden with conversations about their preppy lifestyle and childhood oath that are just boring and bland taking up time from the shark attacks which would’ve been far more enjoyable. These elements here hold this one back the most.

Overview: **/5
While it has a worthwhile setup and a realistic sense of the shark attacks, there’s not enough of them and they tend to come from outside sources anyway which end up not being all that enjoyable to watch alongside the general boredom on display from the rest of the film. Only give this a watch if you’re a hardcore killer shark film enthusiast or curious about this type of film, but those who are more strict about their watches or not a fan of this style of production should heed extreme caution here.