note: I originally wrote this for Grindhouse Purgatory. I'm posting it here as part of the Throwback Thursdays that I occasionally do. This is part movie review, part Blu-ray review, and part musings about my love for this movie and the late Sid Haig. - John
The Blu-Ray Report: Beyond Atlantis
by John Shatzer
When Pete had mentioned wanting to
do a tribute issue to the late Sid Haig, I immediately started thinking about
how I could tie him into my usual article here at Grindhouse Purgatory. He
appeared in so many great movies over the years that I was sure there was one
with a recent Blu-Ray release that I could cover. After a few minutes it hit me
that I had the new release of the drive-in classic Beyond Atlantis from the
fine folks at VCI sitting in my to watch pile. A movie that I’ve always been a
huge fan of. This might be the easiest decision I’ve had to make when it comes
to what to cover.
The action then moves to the city
where the same fisherman is selling the pearls to East Eddie, played by Haig.
Immediately realizing the value and rarity of the pearls, he attempts to pump the
man for information, but the fisherman gives nothing but where he lives. This
he will regret later. Later Eddie recruits a couple other Americans, Vic and
Logan, to help him locate the source of the pearls. Together they make plans
for their expedition and along the way are forced to bring along a woman named
Kathy. She overheard them talking and as a scientist trying to make her mark
realizes the pearls they have look much like some from an ancient stone mask
she has been studying. Making some connections she threatens her own expedition
including getting the authorities involved if she can’t join theirs. Along with
some of Eddie’s men and the crew from Vic’s boat they head off.
After a quick stop at the
fisherman’s village, where they rough him up for the location of the mysterious
island, they arrive at their destination. They find some abandoned huts, but
eventually do meet up with the natives. You have the odd-looking locals, those
fish eyed natives mentioned earlier, as well as the beautiful woman and her
father. We find out her name is Syrene and her father is Nereus. I’m jumping
ahead a bit here but since it is in the title it should come as no surprise
that they are descendants of refugees from the lost city of Atlantis. The
timing of their arrival couldn’t be better since it is time for Syrene to mate
with an outsider. Once that is accomplished then they can be committed to the
sea… which is a nice way of saying they are going to murder the hell out of
them! Some shenanigans go down with rejection, jealousy, greed, and a couple
other sins before we get the explosive and somewhat odd ending.
Let me chat about my personal
connection with Beyond Atlantis before I get into the general discussion
of the qualities of the movie. I’ve mentioned more than once in these pages
that I grew up with a lot of these films. This isn’t one of them. My first
exposure to Beyond Atlantis was at Cinema Wasteland, a convention that
I’m sure many of you readers are familiar with. They were showing the movie on
16mm film one Saturday night and I plopped down to watch it and was sucked
right in. The next morning, I went looking in the dealer’s room for a copy of
the movie to take home with me. The only thing available at the time was a
bootleg that I think was sourced from another 16mm print. I can say that
because I went right home and watched it again noticing different defects from
what I had seen the night before. For years this was the best version that I
could find, but I’ll save that discussion for later.
Now to the movie itself. The plot is
tight and quickly introduces our characters before setting them off towards the
island. It doesn’t feel rushed at all, but you still get a good idea who Vic,
East Eddie, and Logan are in just a couple scenes. This includes some killer
dialogue from Haig’s Eddie that lets you know where he is coming from right
away. The line to one of his working girls, “You go pop for papa” sums his
character up nicely. Toss in a fun bit of dialogue at the bar with Logan and
Vic to cement who is playing what role in the rest of the story. For the most
part the pacing of the story is perfect. Though as much as I love Beyond
Atlantis, I will admit that some of the underwater scenes do drag, but
the stuff surrounding them more than makes up for it. No matter how many times
I watch it I’m never bored.
 |
| The great Vic Diaz |
Finally, we come to Sid Haig’s
performance. The guy was awesome in just about everything that he appeared in
so there were a lot of movies to choose from. As much as I enjoy his
collaborations with Jack Hill and his renaissance as Captain Spaulding later on
this is my favorite performance/movie from his legendary career. From the
moment he is on screen Haig owns every scene he appears in. Not only is he
physically imposing but his quick dialogue delivery blows everyone else away. I
have a feeling that director Eddie Romero knew this as he basically gives him
all the best lines. This is the movie that made me appreciate who Haig was as a
performer and in my humble opinion also laid the groundwork for what was to
come. I think that East Eddie has more than a little bit of Captain Spaulding
in him.
Since I’m reviewing the Blu-Ray
release and not just the movie I suppose I should talk about the special
features. This is easy because there isn’t much offered on this release from
VCI. You do get a fifteen-minute-long short titled Remembering John Ashley which
I was very interested in. The guy did a lot of work and not much is out there
on his career but sadly this didn’t meet my expectations. If you have seen the
excellent Machete Maidens documentary, then you will recognize most of
this material as being recycled from it. There are interviews with Sid Haig,
Patrick Wayne, and Eddie Romero to name just a few. But sadly, they couldn’t
even give Ashley his fifteen minutes as halfway thru it becomes all about
working with Eddie Romero. I was bummed by this. The rest of the features are
the typical inclusion of television spots, theatrical trailer, and photo
gallery. Not much to it at all. Though I’ve saved the best for last.
 |
| Sid Haig was one of a kind. |
I’m dangerously close to totally nerding out here so I’ll stop. Clearly, I love Beyond Atlantis and this release made me very happy. For many years I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that this was my favorite drive-in movie. It also has one of Sid Haig’s best performances and just got a beautiful new release. Does it get any better than this? I don’t think so and highly recommend that anyone reading this go out and get themselves a copy.
This brings things to a close. As always you can email me at gutmunchers@gmail.com with any questions or comments on this latest installment of the Blu-Ray Report. Agree or disagree I’d love to hear from you. Though if you disagree on this one you had better bring your “A” game cause I’m ready! I’ll see you all again here on the pages of this fine publication in six months to either steer you towards or away from the latest release. And as always, I can’t thank 42nd Street Pete enough for the chance to participate in such a great project.
Ó
Copyright 2021 John Shatzer
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