Escape from Coral Cove

ESCAPE FROM CORAL COVE is an eclectic mix of genre references. Like many Hong Kong horrors, it leans into the supernatural, although the killer - despite some seeming shapeshifting abilities - very much fits into the 80s slasher villain role. Legend has it, Roy -  aka The Creature -  (Roy Cheung) drowned in liquid concrete just before he was to get married - so he is now doomed to stalk the recently completed resort (built on the location of his funeral) in retribution for … well, something. Presumably never getting his end away. The heavy-breathing Roy switches from seaweed monster to handsome teen for some reason not abundantly clear, but remains reliably homicidal throughout. 
 
The film’s biggest lift from HALLOWEEN comes when a middle-aged couple stop their car for the man to take a piss - during which he sings Julie Andrews songs from the SOUND OF MUSIC (!). Roy makes like the freshly escaped from Smith's Grove Sanitarium Michael Myers and races across the car before smashing the window in a recreation of the scene involving the nurse that accompanies Dr Loomis in Carpenter’s movie. The underwater photography - especially the POV shots of something or someone looking up at wiggling torsos on the surface - also brings to mind JAWS. Amplified by a scene near the beginning of the movie, where a naked female swimmer discovers a severed head bouncing around amongst the coral.
 
Whilst the film definitely kicks into slasher mode in its closing 30 minutes (with Roy employing his best slow-walking Michael Myers impression), it is front-loaded with aquatic theatrics for its first half. Those looking for sustained suspense might be disappointed with the long stretches of swimming, bro quarrels, beach volleyball, teenage strops, water skiing, and the like. However, it is all done with such a sense of fun and 80s exuberance that it's hard not to be swept up in the sheer nostalgia of the whole thing. It even features that 80s staple where someone breaks out a boombox, and we get a montage on the yacht to the film’s pop theme song. The film isn’t afraid to revel in its absurdities, such as the scene one of the girls fakes her own death lying face down in the sea on the off chance that her boyfriend will find her! There is also a delightfully silly moment when the group gatecrashes a hotel buffet, and one of them is accosted by a tipsy woman in a feather boa who invites Dak to go skinny-dipping.

There is one regrettable scene where a real goldfish is injected with a hypodermic needle that should have been left out. Which leads to a - thankfully fake-looking - goldfish exploding. Where this special fish exploding serum is leading will be immediately apparent to anyone who has ever seen a JAWS sequel or any of its rip-offs. Incidentally, this is the lone directorial credit for Terence Chang, who later found major success as a producer on action titles such as John Woo’s BROKEN ARROW (1996) and FACE/OFF (1997).
 
ESCAPE FROM CORAL COVE scores a little higher because I am a sucker for 80s cheese - and this has it in abundance. It also has that all-important sense of fun. However, your mileage might vary if you want something a little less zany. 

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