She Gods of Shark Reef * (1958, Bill Cord, Don Durant, Lisa Montell, Jeanne Gerson, Ed Nelson) – Classic Movie Review 3985

Director Roger Corman’s slack 1958 B-movie adventure thriller, filmed on location in Kaua’i back to back with Naked Paradise [Thunder over Hawaii] in 1956, is one of his weakest and worst.

Don Durant stars as young criminal Jim who stows away on his brother Chris’s (Bill Cord) boat after killing two men disturbing his gun running. They are blown off course by a typhoon and shipwrecked on an uncharted island populated by pearl-diving women who belong a cult who sacrifices virgins to the sharks in the ocean to appease the gods.

Village elder Queen Pua (Jeanne Gerson) wants the two off her island but Chris falls in love with one of the island beauties, Mahia (Lisa Montell),

It was distributed as a double feature with Night of the Blood Beast by American International Pictures, who insisted on adding ‘She Gods of’ to the original title.

It was shot in two weeks, with Corman taking only one day off after finishing Naked Paradise and starting She Gods of Shark Reef, which he recalls was his most enjoyable experience making movies to date.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3985

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com