The US TV version was compared to the uncensoed Australian DVD by Flashback Home Entertainment.

 

Neil and his wife Sherry take their boat to a sparsely populated Greek island to search for Neil's missing sister Madeline. The inhabitants react grumpily to their visit and recommend them to leave the island the quickest way possible. Neil can’t be bothered and finally finds Madeline with the adventurer Frye, who goes on a treasure hunt off the coast together with his girlfriend Barbara. Madeline seems to be in a trance and is currently working on restoring the paintings in a monastery on the island. Neil makes friends with Frye, who finally shows him that he has discovered a treasure chamber under water in a cave. When he blows up the entrance, he simultaneously awakens an ancient monster that demands a blood toll from the inhabitants. Among them, old rites begin to come back to life.

The fact that the movie was written and (co-)produced by Greek B-movie Maestro Nico Mastorakis (Devil’s Island) makes you sit up and take notice, as his cinematic output is in some cases of dubious quality. Well, Brian Trenchard-Smith (BMX Bandits) is another producer on board and Darth Vader’s voice James Earl Jones can be seen in one of the leading roles. Despite many mixed to negative reviews, Blood Tide is not so bad at all. The old mystical creature, which is accidentally brought back to life, as well as old cults that are brought back among the inhabitants in the fishing village, are familiar elements of the horror stories by H.P. Lovecraft. Sadly, this aspect isn't worked out carefully enough to be completely convincing, especially as the creature is not very visible and its design is also weak. Nevertheless, the basic mood of the movie fits, especially as the island scenario with the horror of the holiday paradise was also staged with a good atmosphere. Deborah Shelton as Madeline is, by the way, the victim of the driller killer in Body Double.

The question which release is completely uncut is a tricky one. The Australian DVD is very close to the US DVD releases. Only the VHS cassette by Skyline Video from the UK, which is supposed to have a runtime of 97 minutes, should be uncensored. This runtime seems to have been taken from the cover. I would now assume that this information on the cover is wrong and that the VHS contains the same version as the US DVDs. Due to this (supposedly) false assumption, it was assumed that all releases, except the Skyline video version, are probably cut. If one of our readers has the UK VHS of Skyline Video and would like to check the running time of it, we could finally solve this mystery.

As part of Saturday Fright Night, a slightly censored cut of the film was shown on US TV. A swearword was removed, Madeline's bathing scenes were shortened and the erect penis in the painting was also too much for TV.

[00:14:44][00:16:48]

Neil tells Frye: “Let's cut the shit out.”

US: 4 sec.


[00:25:27][00:35:27]

During Madeline’s dream, a short view of the painting on which an erect penis can be seen is missing.

US: 1 sec.


[00:27:49][00:38:55]

Madeline can be seen in the water a little longer and her breasts are clearly visible under the white dress.

US: 4 sec.


[01:03:26][01:38:12]

Madeline is frightened by the picture showing the erect penis of the monster.

US: 9 sec.


[01:07:15][01:42:01]

When the painting is shown, the TV frame zooms in so that the monster's penis is not visible.

No time difference (3 sec. each)