Dream
of the Big, Huge Turtle
by Michael
Summers
For
nearly two decades, I was obsessed with a late 70s made-for-TV movie
about a giant turtle and a girl with glowing green eyes. If you
asked me to tell you more, I wouldn't be able to. There was a big
white house on a cliff by the sea, a childhood romance and a coral
(I think) necklace. That's all I remember. And for years, the only
one who could corroborate that I had indeed seen this movie was
my sister.
Like most people
who have claimed to see things, we were subjected to a healthy amount
of disbelief. We were also treated like idiots.
"Have you ever seen this movie about
a giant turtle and a girl with glowing green eyes?"
"Oh, yeah. That's Gamera."
We knew Gamera,
and that wasn't Gamera. A sort of validation did not come until
a few years ago, when a late night talk about obscure movies with
a group of friends revealed a kindred soul.
"Have you ever seen this late 70s made-for-tv
movie about this giant turtle. . ."
". . . and a GIRL WITH GLOWING GREEN
EYES!"
We stared at
each other in wonder and relief, like the characters in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
who discover that someone else shares this obsessive dream about
Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Unfortunately, this revelation didn't
fill in any blanks. No title. No plot details. Just a name. Jenny.
Who Jenny was and whether or not her eyes glowed was still a mystery.
But we did agree that whoever had directed the video for TOTAL ECLIPSE
OF THE HEART in the mid-80s was also haunted by this
flick.
It wasn't until
late 1998 that I discovered the title: THE
BERMUDA DEPTHS, aka IT
CAME UP FROM UNDER THE DEPTHS. And the girl with glowing
green eyes was indeed named Jennie, not Jenny. It was Bert
who found the title for me. I described the movie, he did maybe
10 minutes of research, and there it was. A 1978 made-for-TV movie
starring Burl Ives, Carl Weathers, and Connie Selleca.
I thought that
then it would just be a matter of time before a copy of the flick
was in my grubby hands. A quick check at all the usual places came
up with nothing. THE BERMUDA DEPTHS, aka IT CAME UP FROM UNDER THE
DEPTHS, wasn't available on video. I discovered that it had been
aired at least twice, in August '79 and in August '80. I discovered
it had been given a run on Polish television as late as Summer 1998.
I discovered that it wasn't totally, utterly impossible to find
an old used copy of the movie in French.
And on the
Internet, where nothing is deemed too small and obscure to care
about, I discovered a host of lost souls who were haunted by this
movie about a giant turtle and a girl with glowing green eyes. People
wondering if they were the only ones who had seen this movie. People
willing to buy used copies probably taped on a Betamax. People wondering
if the movie will ever be released to video again. . .
I doubt it
will be. But I've made a vow. I will see THE BERMUDA DEPTHS again.
Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it's terrible. In fact, if it turns
out to be any good, I'll be surprised. But who knows? For people
to remember that set of images for so long, and not much else about
the movie they came from, is a pretty strong testament, especially
for a made-for-TV-movie.
If anyone has a copy of this movie, for
sale rent or trade, please contact Michael
and end his twenty years of suffering! - Bert
Read another of Michael's Contributions
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