The Treasure of Jamaica Reef

It can't be a thriller because everyone on the planet knows they are treasure hunting ... it can't be a love story because there are no lovers ...someone said it was great because you got to see cheryl ladds boobage ... i've seen them in the raw and they don't look near as good as propped up by an underwire bra ... someone else said the underwater photography was fantastic, compared to what ? ... every foot of the film i saw was out of focus on land as well as in the water ... where you are diving is never a big secret as air bubbles always give you away ...if you want to see a treasure dive film that is beautifully done, see the deep (1977) with nick nolte and jacqueline bisset .. at least she has the real goods to show and you can rely on eli wallach and louis gossett to be the really evil crooks

This was released on a widescreen VHS tape by Anchor Bay a few years back, and if you're a fan of silly, slowly-paced, violent 70's films, you may find it to be fun.

This is a fairly standard treasure hunt film in which some decent people decide to photocopy a supposedly cursed map ("If there was a curse, it could hardly go through a copy machine," the narrator confidently explains) and go looking for the sunken cache of gold. Nice underwater footage of rotting old boats, sharks, coral, and various kinds of grody sea scum. It seems that the diving footage was captured first, and the script then written around it; the film subsequently made with actors wearing diving suits that matched those of the divers in the original footage. At least, that's what it looks like to me. If that is the case, it's pulled off fairly well.

Film is notable, or maybe not, for its 70's-style mean-spirited violence, which provides for some fairly graphic and shocking moments, including sharks munching on a girl, and a face burned on a barbecue. This was before sophisticated gore effects were in vogue, and so most of the violence is achieved with simple makeup and bright red opaque 70's blood poured all over the place. The intent to startle is clearly there.

As mentioned in another review, there is a G-rated cut of the film available, in case you'd like to see the treasure-hunt stuff without the gruesome, gory violence. This shorter cut isn't too bad either!

Not high art, but it's not a bad movie, really, just a bit of low-budget exploitation.

"The Treasure of Jamaica Reef" is a terrible film from start to finish. It is cheap, poorly made and dull....and those are among its better qualities. The story often is told through narration instead of actually showing or doing anything and the movie just looks cheap and awful.

The story is about a search for a sunken galleon in the Port Royal area of Jamaica, a town that sank into the sea during the 17th century. Much of it filmed in nearby Falmouth as well as in the reefs nearby.

The only interesting aspect of the film was interesting to me because I got to see what diving in the 1970s looked like AND I just visited Falmouth the day before I watched the movie...and I still gave it a 1! For the average person, it would only be worse!!

"The Treasure Of Jamaica Reef" has some interesting attributes. It has a once in a lifetime cast - what other movie has Cheryl Ladd, Darby Hinton, Rosey Grier, Chuck Woolery, and Stephen Boyd all together in one movie? The movie also boasts an unusual musical score, mostly electronic music. Also, the narration and the direction frequently give the movie a documentary-like feeling. All this stuff does make the movie interesting here and there, but as a whole, is the movie entertaining? Unfortunately, it isn't. The best I can say for the movie is that it has some nice underwater photography. It's a real slow-moving movie, and even in a couple of instances when it realizes things are boring and adds some action, it still isn't that exciting. Another problem is that the characters are really thin, and it's hard to care about their treasure quest. Though the movie doesn't sink like a stone, it's definitely very waterlogged.

The original working and first release title (co-feature with "Witch Mountain") by Buena Vista was "Secrets Of Jamaica Reef".

Cheryl Ladd was credited as Cheryl Stoppelmoor, because that was her name when working on the film. She met David Ladd -=on=- this film and married (after his divorce) later! Not that the film is any better for it, but the original was almost totally filmed on location in Jamaica. It was 'spiced up' with later 'additions' such as those commented upon by the first review.

Daily'd, Sync'd and Edited in Jamaica.

JA - Production Sound Mixer