Republic Pictures released Barracuda on 16 October 1978 in Sweden. It didn’t make it to the United States (or anywhere else) until the following year.

I love Barracuda. Sadly, I have yet to see any “critic” who understands it. It combines two great trends at the time. First, it is a Jaws ripoff. Second, it is a 1970s paranoia film. (Thank you, Richard Nixon!) The film starts as a standard monster movie with environmental elements. The conspiracy stuff comes later.

But just the monster element is enough. The attacks are visceral. They hit me stronger than those in Jaws, for example.

The film is co-written and directed by Harry Kerwin, the younger brother of iconic psychotronic actor William Kerwin, who also stars in this film. Wayne Crawford co-wrote and directed the underwater sequences. Kerwin and Crawford worked together quite a lot. (Crawford went on to mainstream success with Valley Girl.)

Besides William Kerwin, the film stars a couple of psychotronic actors. These include Cliff Emmich and Jason Evers, the mad doctor in The Brain That Wouldn’t Die.

“Critics” hate this film. At least they do when they consider it at all. Mostly, the film has simply been forgotten. The fact that it premiered in Sweden says a lot.

So this 47th anniversary of the film’s release is a great time to watch it. That’s especially true since even most psychotronic fans have never seen it. If I’m wrong, I’ll give you all your money back from this free copy I dug up!

Other Psychotronic Birthdays and Releases

Filmmakers

• Angela Lansbury (1925-2022): Actor best known for the TV show Murder, She Wrote but was in a number of psychotronic films like Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
• Barry Corbin (1940-): Actor best known for the TV show Northern Exposure but he was in psychotronic films like WarGames and No Country for Old Men.
• Jeff Lieberman (1947-): Director of unusual horror films like Squirm and Blue Sunshine.
• David Zucker (1947-): One of the founders of Kentucky Fried Theater who went on to make The Kentucky Fried Movie, Airplane!, and much more.
• Tim Robbins (1958-): Actor known for Jacob’s Ladder, The Hudsucker Proxy, and more.

Films

• The Boston Strangler (1968): Police search for a serial killer.
• Slumber Party Massacre II (1987): Young women go away for the weekend and are attacked by a man with a driller.
• Candyman (1992): A student studying the Candyman “myth” accidentally brings it to life.
• Bride of Chucky (1998): The clue is in the title.
• Practical Magic (1998): Young witches make a mistake they must fix.
• Witchhouse 3: Demon Fire (2001): A woman flees an abusive relationship to friends and the three of them summon a witch.
• Return To the House on Haunted Hill (2007): Sequel to the 1999 film featuring the sister of the original protagonist.
• Paranormal Activity (2007): Unlike The Blair Witch Project, this one is real!
• The Confessional (2009): Disturbed man pretends to be a priest in a small town.
• Crimson Peak (2015): A new wife is haunted and learns disturbing secrets.
• Tales of Halloween (2015): Horror anthology.
• Bad Hair (2020): Haunted hair.
• Love and Monsters (2020): Humans survive in a world of giant reptiles.

Barracuda (1978) poster via Wikipedia under Fair use.