SHE-GODS OF SHARK REEF (1958)

As soon as I saw "Directed by Roger Corman," I knew I was in for a rough ride. Though it clocks in at just 63 minutes, SHE-GODS OF SHARK REEF seemed longer than FANNY AND ALEXANDER. (Yes, I do watch good movies on occasion.)

Filmed in Hawaii, it follows brothers Chris (Bill Cord) and Lee (Don Durant). Lee is on the run from the law after killing a security guard in a failed heist. Chris, being a loyal sibling (and not overly sensible), aids and abets his brother's escape by boat. They encounter a storm and are shipwrecked on an island inhabited by mostly nubile Polynesian lasses, who spend their time diving for pearls and engaging in odd rituals. Chris becomes romantically entangled with Mahia (Lisa Montell), who just happens to be the next sacrifice to the shark god the island women worship. Needless to say, our man Chris ain't about to let that happen to the girl he loves! Meanwhile, Lee gets it into his head to steal the women's cache of pearls. When all is said and done, Lee is eaten by what has to be the smallest killer shark in history, while Chris and Mahia leave the island together.
The film is in color — rare for the '50s-era Corman. For some reason, though, the production process never allowed for more than three color tones at a time. Other items that caught my attention: during the scenes on the reef, the ocean's roar damned near drowns out the dialogue; a dead shark will never seem alive, no matter how hard you push it through the water; one of the shark scenes is repeated later in the film; I think the stock footage of lightning used here also turned up in the opening of Gilligan's Island; and for fans of 1950s beefcake, the two male leads spend the entire film bare-chested.

To Corman's credit, he drew passable performances from his cast of unknowns. And the footage of the Hawaiian Archipelago is quite lovely, despite the color limitations noted above. SHE-GODS OF SHARK REEF is not bad enough to be entertaining, nor is it good enough to be watchable. But at least it didn't bring out the visceral hate that Corman's NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST aroused in me.