the audience applauded

That was an excellent one.

Crappy film

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Sandwiched between 'Glen or Glenda' and 'Some Like It Hot' comes this early cross-dressing drama in which shipwrecked hunks Bill Cord and Don Durant spend most the film wearing abbreviated versions of the local girls' sarong skirts: "These will replace your trousers, sir. This is an island of women, we have nothing else."This reasonably engaging Pathecolor Corman quickie resembles one of those 'Star Trek' episodes in which Captain Kirk finds himself in an idyllic primitive paradise, sheds his shirt and drapes himself in a comely big-haired local maiden. Normally Kirk would end up having to literally fight off a jealous equally scantily-clad male rival; but this island paradise being populated exclusively by females, the opposition instead comes from the sternly watchful (with good reason) Queen Pua, played by Jeanne Gerson, who gives easily the best performance, and supplies the otherwise anodyne proceedings with a tasty sprinkling of vinegar.Corman himself retains fond memories of the two week holiday with pay in Hawaii this film provided, and sixty - yes sixty! - years later it retains a stupid charm, despite sadly existing only in rubbish public domain prints.

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 must be the smallest killer shark in history, while Chris and Mahia leave the island together.The film is in color—rare for '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.

Deliciously campy island adventure, this colorful tale of an alleged curse on an island of women is a hoot. A wanted killer and his pal (Bill Cord and Don Durant) are shipwrecked on the isle of beauty where the suspicious den-mother like queen (Jeanne Gerson) warns them of impending revenge by the shark god if they remain. Romance erupts between one of the girls (Lisa Montell) and the pal, leading the crone to drastic measures which comes to a possible tragic end. Complete with a lush theme song sung by Sylvia Syms, the film grabs at you like shark's teeth and never lets go. The scantily clad men leave little to the imagination, their loin cloths barely covering the flesh underneath. Impressive underwater photography also aids in making this rise above its low-budget status.

This is not a science fiction movie as the collection states. It begins with a theft of some guns. It looks promising. Who are these people the men are stealing from? How will they retaliate. They do their deed and off they go. The next thing, they are washed ashore on an island full of Polynesian women (well, most of them are). They are welcomed in and given some pretty cool swim suits. The hang around but realize that when "the boat" comes, one of them is going to have to face the music for his checkered past. The good brother falls in love with a young woman when he realizes she is going to be sacrificed to the shark god. He rescues her and then kidnaps the old lady who runs a pearl diving business on the island. She obviously does business with non-islanders but also continues to do these ritual sacrifices. Apparently, the population of the island is getting smaller. The young women seem to go willingly. The movie ends about as suspected. It's just an endless, talky, somewhat pointless piece of seaweed. Now where can I get one of those swimsuits?