THE BERMUDA DEPTHS

 

Publicity poster for The Bermuda Depths (© Tom Kotani/Rankin-Bass – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Several weeks ago, I watched a most unusual American/Japanese co-produced TV movie entitled The Bermuda Depths.

Directed by Tom Kotani, released in 1978, and filmed entirely on location in Bermuda itself, The Bermuda Depths was for a long time a surprisingly difficult to track down monster/fantasy movie, until, following popular demand, Warners finally released it on DVD in their Archive series.

Future Dallas soap actor Leigh McCloskey stars in The Bermuda Depths as troubled young man Magnus Dens, who has returned to Bermuda after having been taken from it in a highly traumatized state many years earlier following the death of his scientist father and their home's destruction in a torrential storm.

Soon after arriving back on the island, Magnus meets, greets, and teams up with Eric (played by Carl Weathers), a good friend from those long-ago days who is now working with Dr Paulis (Burl Ives), a scientist colleague of Magnus's late father, in trying to track down a gargantuan sea turtle. Intriguingly, this fully-grown, inexplicably colossal chelonian may, or may not, be the very same individual as the tiny infant turtle that as a young boy Magnus had watched excitedly as it hatched from an egg on the beach here, but that is not all.

Transforming this movie from standard monster-hunt fare to unsettling fantasy is an accursed young woman (Connie Sellecca) who takes a shine to all-grown-up Magnus, having (albeit unbeknownst to him) already kept him safe from harm when he was a small lonely child on Bermuda by assuming the guise of a young girl, Jennie, to befriend and play with him, and who was with him when the tiny turtle hatched.

In stark contrast, however, Jennie has brought death and devastation to others on this island, who therefore greatly fear her appearances. Yet Magnus refuses to heed such dark claims, believing her to be nothing more than a dear friend all grown up now, just like himself. Nor does he realize that unless she wills it, Jennie cannot even be seen by anyone other than him.

Indeed, no-one other than Magnus had ever seen her when she had played with him while adopting the form of a young girl during his early childhood days. Consequently, when he had mentioned Jennie to anyone, they had simply dismissed her as an imaginary friend.

Jennie may fool Magnus, but anyone into cryptozoology and mythology will no doubt guess straight away that this enigmatic character, who can even seemingly exert power over the gigantic sea turtle, is not what she seems. After all, as revealed in the plot's gradual unfolding, her full name is Jennie Haniver...

I'll leave you to watch it for yourself to discover and follow the curious twists and turns taken by this strange movie's plot. Speaking of which: if you click here, you can watch or even download the entire movie legally on Archive.org and free of charge too.

Alternatively, you can click here to view a dramatic preview clip from it on YouTube (but beware, the clip contains a major spoiler), and here to listen to its haunting theme song accompanied by a selection of brief segments from the movie.

And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE!