Beyond Atlantis

A somewhat family-friendly movie, the premise is interesting, and worth a watch, though the final result is a mixed-bag. The island of Artouri hosts the possible descendants of the sunken city of Atlantis. After centuries of inbreeding, the people are bug-eyed and able to live in the water as much as on land... except for the island elder, Nereus and his daughter, Syrene. It's up to Syrene to continue the race by mating with a human, and afterany inland trips to buy supplies, Syrene's one human acqauntance, ferryman Manuel, uses her rare pearl payments to unintentionally attract the attention of local hustler, East Eddie. Partner Logan convinces a boat owner named Vic to partner with he and Eddie to find this island and find more pearls. And here lays the rub, that one will be sexually assaulted for mating purposes while the others lust after pearls. Along for the ride is Dr. Vernon, an eventual love interest and a strangling survivor, a woman of science with an interest in the make-up of the pearls.

source: Beyond Atlantis

Beyond Atlantis_720p(480P)

source: Beyond Atlantis

Near the beginning of the movie, there is a rooster fight. I found the fast forward button handy and did not miss any of the plots. East End Eddie has an offer to buy a handful of pearls. Not being satisfied with just a handful of pearls, Eddie attempts to find the source and pilfer all he can. To do this he needs divers and equipment and obtains such. Unwanted but taking along is an anthropologist that thinks that these pearls will lead to the remnants of the people of Atlantis. Meanwhile back at the island the daughter of the chief is compelled to procreate for the purpose of extending the lives and culture of the post-Atlantean's. Will Eddie get his pearls or more than he bargained for? Will the chief's daughter, Syrene, do her procreating honestly or revert to her siren ways? If Patrick Wayne had not insisted on this movie being PG, no telling what we might've seen.

Needless to say that I had never actually heard about this 1973 movie from writers Charles Eric Johnson and Stephanie Rothman. I happened to stumble upon it by random chance here in 2024, and opted to give it a fair chance, as I had never seen it, nor heard about it. I figured that it was an adventure movie of sorts, given the movie's cover and synopsis. The storyline in the movie was fair enough. It made for adequate entertainment, but it was lacking a bit in the excitement department, because the movie had a rather monotonous pacing to it. I will say that the movie was off to a good start when I saw that it had Sid Haig on the cast list. Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with Sid Haig and Vic Diaz. But it should be noted that the acting performances were fair. The bug-eyed people were the source of a good laugh. It just made zero sense, and it was nearly impossible to take it serious. I can only guess at what the writers where thinking when they came up with the idea for that thing. The music in the movie was a bit too over-dramatic, and it sort of added a comical aspect to the movie. Instead of actually being suspenseful or exciting, or whatever they were aiming at, it just came out ridiculous, and it was a rather swing and a miss with the music. Watchable, sure, but not an outstanding or particularly memorable movie. Nor is it a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time. My rating of director Eddie Romero's 1973 movie "Beyond Atlantis" lands on a four out of ten stars.

A group of fortune hunters - diver Logan (John Ashley), pimp East Eddie (Sid Haig), and boat owner Vic (Patrick Wayne) - travel by boat to a remote island where they hope to gather a fortune in rare pearls from the seabed. Also along for the trip: sexy redhead boffin Kathy (Lenore Stevens) who is looking to make an important scientific discovery. However, with the island inhabited by strange mutants who don't take kindly to strangers, will the adventurers and the lady scientist succeed in their missions or die trying? Beyond Atlantis opens with chubby Filipino Manuel (played by chubby Filipino cult actor Vic Diaz) arriving on a tropical island with beautiful blonde Syrene (played by beautiful blonde Leigh Christian), where the lovely lady hands over a handful of pearls in exchange for supplies. Syrene then strips to a skimpy bikini, and heads for her village, arriving just in time to witness an intruder getting a spear in his back while bug-eyed natives look on. It's a promising start to what looks set to be an entertaining piece of trashy exploitation; however, it has been my experience that the presence of Vic Diaz is seldom the sign of a great film. Or even a so-bad-it's-good film. More often than not, he appears in virtually unwatchable junk. While Beyond Atlantis isn't the worst film he's appeared in, it definitely goes downhill after the opening sequence, with way too much in the way of boring underwater scenes, and not nearly enough in the way of a decent plot or exciting action. After much swimming - so much swimming - things do eventually pick up for a rousing final act, in which a native is eaten by piranhas, Haig blows up the islanders' temple, and Syrene and Kathy have a catfight (made all the more entertaining by being set to a piece of library music called The Awakening, best known to UK viewers as the theme to The News at Ten). A dumb final scene sees Manuel and his men trying to make off with the treasure, the box of pearls falling into the ocean during a scuffle (like the ending of The Italian Job, Logan can be heard coming up with a plan to retrieve the loot). 5/10. Haig is always fun to watch, but it was thanks to curvaceous beauties Christian and Stevens that I managed to make it to the end without wanting to hit the off button. And no, it's never explained why Syrene and her father don't have bug-eyes like everyone else in their tribe.

Definitely has that 1970s era feel of rugged men going on an adventure but the special effects and plot can't sustain aspirations. Still it's enjoyable enough if you like the genre. Warning: synopsis/spoilers - Two divers (basically Peter and Greg Brady) try to steal pearls from the bug eyed Atlanteans (supposedly in the Caribbean; movie tries to sell Philippines as Mexico). Way too much underwater boringness especially involving flips. 70s era pool of piranha. Main girl scientist Kathy has wardrobe changes depending on the level of adventure. The twitchy eyed background henchman is cool.

In the Philippines some Americans learn of valuable pearls on a remote island and form an alliance to get the treasure, but they have to deal with the inbred tribe that inhabits the isle. John Ashley, Sid Haig and Patrick Wayne star as the venal team members along with Lenore Stevens as a scientist. Leigh Christian plays an alluring blonde member of the remote society. "Beyond Atlantis" (1973) is an oceanic adventure that combines "City Beneath the Sea" (1953) with the women-in-skin-bikinis of Hammer's "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" (1970). Like the latter, it has a barely-a-B-movie vibe, but it's more entertaining due to the superb location shooting and quality cast. The director knows how to tastefully shoot women (no pun intended) and it's one of the flick's highlights. This could've been as good as "City Beneath the Sea" or "Mysterious Island" (1961), but more time needed spent on strengthening the (obviously) loose script. That takes time and time means money, which the producers regrettably didn't have. While this is a "bad movie," it's entertaining enough to check out. The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot in the Philippines. GRADE: C/C-

A motley group of folks go to a remote tropical island in search of a fortune in pearls. The group encounters an ancient tribe of primitive people who need a male from the group to mate with beautiful blonde Syrene (the extremely fetching Leigh Christian, who spends the entire film cavorting about in a skimpy bikini) in order to preserve their bloodline. Director Eddie Romero keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a snappy pace, maintains an engaging breezy tone throughout, and stages the exciting last reel action with rip-roaring aplomb. The solid cast of reliable B-pic regulars helps a lot: Patrick Wayne as nice guy diver Vic Mathias, John Ashley as two-bit conniving con man Logan, Lenore Stevens as foxy scientist Kathy Vernon, George Nader as imposing ruler Nereus, and Vic Diaz as amiable fisherman Manuel. However, Sid Haig easily steals the show with his delightfully energetic portrayal of smooth pimp East Eddie. Justo Paulino's bright cinematography provides an attractive sparkling look and boasts lots of impressive underwater photography. The inbred natives with their googly Ping-Pong ball eyes are a real goofy sight to behold. Entertaining drive-in fare.