The Bermuda Depths (1978)
Starring Leigh McCloskey, Carl Weathers,
and Connie Sellecca
Directed by Tsugunobu Kotani
Written by William Overgard & Arthur Rankin Jr.

 

THE BERMUDA DEPTHS is an American made-for-TV movie that was released theatrically in some foreign markets soon after its Stateside broadcast premiere under similar titles such as IT CAME UP FROM THE DEPTHS, LA LEGENDE DES PROFONDUERS, and LOS ABISMOS DE LAS BERMUDAS. Often sought out as the “giant turtle movie” or “that movie with the girl with glowing green eyes” by IMDB.com searchers who cannot remember the film’s title, it’s rarely seen anywhere anymore, and this is a great shame because it is unlike other films of its kind. During my youth it was not uncommon to find a gem of a film on a local television station during a weekend afternoon that would stay with you for years afterwards. With all of the channels available to cable and satellite now, I often wonder how a youngster would stumble across such movies as Robert Mulligan’s THE OTHER, Jules Bass’s MAD MONSTER PARTY, or John Newland’s DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK. Released on videotape in 1992 by a no-name company, THE BERMUDA DEPTHS has amassed a legion of fans who have been begging for a decent DVD release since the format’s inception. Fortunately, Warner Brothers has now released the film as part of their Warner Archive line, and while they have not given it a complete remastering and video makeover, the film looks better than it ever has.

Most obviously inspired by JAWS, THE BERMUDA DEPTHS benefits from a touch of myth from Ambroise Paré’s “On Monsters and Marvels” and plays out in a dreamlike fashion. Leigh McCloskey stars as Magnus Dens, a drifter who returns to the scene of his father’s premature demise hoping to find the truth of what really killed him. He meets an old friend, Eric (Carl Weathers), who works for the avuncular Dr. Paulus (Burl Ives) as he completes his master’s degree in Marine Biology. Dr. Paulus and Eric are both interested in giantantism in sea life, and are looking for any sea creatures that live in the deepest depths of the ocean to study them. At the heart of all of this is an enigmatic woman named Jennie Haniver (Connie Sellecca) who may or may not be real. Jennie lives in the ocean and comes ashore when Magnus shouts her name (as a side note, the term “Jenny Haniver” refers to a carcass of an underwater sea creature that has been modified and dried out to resemble a non-living and grotesque creature). Jennie and Magnus used to play together as children, and on the beach they found a large turtle which they inscribed their initials on. Now the turtle has reached enormous physical proportions and lives deep in the ocean, occasionally rising to the surface. The last third of the film concerns Eric’s futile attempts to capture the sea creature.

If THE BERMUDA DEPTHS is about anything that we can be absolutely sure of, it’s that highly successful films inevitably spurn imitations. This was certainly the case during the mid 1970’s when everyone and his brother was scrambling to make the next JAWS success. THE BERMUDA DEPTHS takes the unusual step of adding a supernatural love story into the mix and successfully creates a tragic tale of love and doom. Leigh McCloskey was a successful television actor by this point, best known for the “Rich Man, Poor Man” mini-series, and sports the natural Southern California good looks that make Magnus appealing to young women. Carl Weathers of ROCKY fame plays Eric with terrific zeal (although his ridiculous half-shirt near the film’s end has got to go), and Burl Ives is wonderful as Dr. Paulus, the elder who tries his best to get Eric to look at the situation through scientific eyes. Connie Sellecca, in her first film role at age 22, does an exceptional turn as Jennie Haniver. She possesses a magical, ethereal quality and is achingly beautiful. Julie Woodson, Playboy Magazine’s Miss April 1973, is also good as Eric’s wife. Ruth Attaway, who played the nurse in THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, is mysterious and eerie as Delia, the housekeeper and proverbial party pooper who warns Magnus about the Legend of Jennie Haniver and how Jennie lived during the 18th Century and, while aboard a ship in the Bermuda Triangle, she nearly died during a powerful storm. By praying to some creature in the ocean below her life was spared, and apparently so was her complexion, as she does not appear to have aged a day in over two hundred years (I guess the Sellecca Solution really does its job!)

The story was written by Arthur Rankin, Jr., and the film was produced by the Rankin Bass team, so notable for their wonderful collaborations in the Sixties and Seventies on the Christmas holiday television show specials that millions grew up on. There is a certain “Rankin Bass” feel to the film, especially in the special effects which today look quite amateurish: the helicopter crash sequence near the film’s end looks similar to the end of the MAD MONSTER PARTY explosion on the island, and close-up shots of the vessel’s propeller and the trawler crashing against the ocean waves in slow-mo look like they was filmed in a bathtub. Despite that, however, the low-budget effects add a certain charm to the film, a reminder of filmmaking from days gone by when less money and more ingenuity was considered an asset.

The film possesses more than its share of derivations: Dr. Paulus’s throwaway line about needing “a bigger boat”; Eric’s decision to pursue the turtle on the Fourth of July of all days; Delia’s unexplained disappearance from the second half of the film (was she silenced by Jennie or the turtle?); and Magnus’s inquiry with Dr. Paulus into his father’s death mirrors Luke Skywalker asking the same of Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom Dr. Paulus slightly resembles. Even in James Cameron’s THE ABYSS, made 11 years after this film with far more advanced computers and ROV’s, it was almost impossible for a human being to be submerged in 13,000 plus feet of water, let alone 20,000 to 30,000! Yet for all of it, these bête noires are just that, and are by no means confined to this film alone. Even the Crescent Butte, Colorado ski resort town in television’s SNOWBEAST (1977) put the tourist dollars of their winter carnival ahead of the safety of the townspeople.

Composer Maury Laws provides a beautiful score which I always wished would appear somewhere on a soundtrack album. Hopefully, some soundtrack label such as Percepto, Silva Screen or Film Score Monthly will give this score its due.

While the film does appear somewhat corny after more than thirty years, it possesses an innocent quality about it that is sadly lacking in most entertainment product of late. The slow and languid images of Magnus and Jennie on the beach and in the cave recall a time in American filmmaking, presumably inspired by the great and occasionally pretentious European art films of the Sixties and Seventies, when the audience wasn’t used to hyper-fast computer editing and could actually digest the images presented to them. Unquestionably there are those who will complain about the film’s slow pace, but there are plenty of treasures in this film to make it one that deserves a new generation of admirers: the eerie day-for-night photography; Maury Laws’ soothing title tune "Jennie"; and the use of Antonio Vivaldi's elegiac "Largo" from his "Concerto for Lute (Guitar), Two Violins and Basso Continuo in D Major" as the lovers’ theme.

The special effects laden ending almost ruins the intriguing supernatural and romantic mystery that precedes it. This is a case where the film's style almost outweighs its substance. Still, the film holds a special place in the minds of those who saw it when they were very young.

All in all, THE BERMUDA DEPTHS is a wonderful little film and deserves a new generation of admirers. Thanks to the Warner Archive, it can be had on DVD and enjoyed for years to come. The picture restores the washed out look that was so prevalent on the VHS tape. The deep blues of the ocean are strong, and Bermuda’s Natural Arches in the film’s opening look great.

Highly recommended.