Dark Force Entertainment delivers a Retro Drive-in, Blu-ray double feature of creepy, low-budget proportions with Mako: The Jaws of Death (uncut) and Bog!
Mako, directed by William (Stanley) Grefe, who cowrote with Robert W. Morgan, was filmed in Key West, Florida and surfaced in the wake of Jaws' mega success, entering the drive-in circuit in 1976. It twists the Jaws variables, however, making the underwater predators the misunderstood good guys, or at least the semi-sympathetic protagonists (more or less exuding the vibe of 1977's Orca: The Killer Whale).
The story revolves around a Vietnam vet named Sonny Stein, played by Richard (The Dirty Dozen/Starman/The Green Slime) Jaeckel. It appears that after a bungled, gold-smuggling skirmish, Stein came to commune with sharks, thanks to a shaman who bestowed him a telepathic talisman. (As a bit of trivia, a variation of this concept was nearly used for Jaws: The Revenge, but was abandoned during rewrites.)
To buffer Jaeckel's brooding lead, Jennifer Bishop costars, lending captivating, bikini-clad, aquarium scenes, and is joined by character actors, Harold "Oddjob" Sakata, John Davis Chandler, Ben Kronen and Buffy Dee.
The melodramatic mix is often contemplative, but when need be, vengeance-fueled, especially when Stein confronts those who dare harm his finned friends.
Bog, directed by Don Keesler and scripted by Carl Kitt, was made three years after Mako, in Oneida County, New York, though reputedly held from release until 1984.
The plot is reminiscent of 1950s creature features, as well as James H. Sullivan's Night Fright, Bill Rabane's Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake and John Frankenheimer's Prophesy: The Monster Movie (the latter produced the same year as Bog).
For the story, an ancient entity roams the modern landscape, with Marshall (It! The Terror from Beyond Space/Fiend Without a Face/First Man Into Space/World of Giants) Thompson as a scientist who tracks the bug-eyed beast, after the wives of two campers are slaughtered in what appears to be a botched, mating ritual.
Gloria (The Girl Rush) DeHaven plays Marshall's fellow scientist and love interest (in addition to an eerie, bog recluse), and the legendary Aldo Ray is the town's frustrated sheriff. Character actor/author, Leo Gordon, appears as an assisting ichthyologist, with Glen Voros and Rohay North as the distraught husbands, who commence the tale with levity, but their thirst for revenge soon dominates.
I must confess, I hadn't seen Bog before this Blu-ray release and was surprised by its similarities to my novella, "The Bog Demon Triumphant," featured in Devolution Z. Maybe that's why I found the movie a cozy fit. Alas, critic John Kenneth Muir spewed a different view, stating "They don't make movies like Bog anymore and we can all be grateful for that. This is a monster film made by people with only the most rudimentary knowledge of how to assemble a film. It is poorly acted, shot, written, and edited. It also commits the cardinal sin of being boring."
Call me uncouth, but I believe Mr. Muir misses the point. Despite its evident limitations, Bog is unpretentious fun and (for the sake of this Blu-Ray presentation) contrasts well with the haunting Mako.
The transfers for both movies are sharper than most prior releases, with Mako flaunting a 2K scan taken straight from the 35mm negative and Bog presented for the first time in hi-def.
As an extra treat, Bog includes a publicity gallery, which covers its hardy, drive-in ad campaign; plus, there are several, lurid trailers from other 1970s, horror movies, which accentuate the overall, drive-in experience.
The Mako/Bog package is a "double dose of shock" that all exploitation fans must own. Order at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BY1Z6V6Y?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
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