The Treasure of Jamaica Reef was originally released in 1976 as Evil in the Deep, and then eventually re-released under its current title. Its leading lady, Cheryl Stoppelmoor, went on to fame and fortune a few years later as Cheryl Ladd. She is, however, virtually unrecognizable here and our guess is that she doesn't look back on this, her first starring role, with fond memories. Treasure also stars Chuck Woolery, who had just given up his day job hosting the then marginally successful TV game show Wheel of Fortune. Former football player Rosey Grier also has a part here, fresh off his Oscar-caliber performance in the unforgettable Thing With Two Heads. What a cast!

Okay, The Treasure of Jamaica Reef is laughably bad. There's a screenwriter listed but we get the feeling that they really just made it up as they went along. Four friends, all of whom are stuck in office jobs, set off for Jamaica in search of sunken treasure. They then scour the bottom for the wreck of a Spanish galleon supposedly holding a treasure chest, exploring numerous other wrecks along the way. Naturally, there are bad guys bumbling about but we only see them for ten seconds or so at a time, scowling, spitting, and saying something nasty before disappearing again until their next cameo.

The storyline is a little tough to follow for a couple of reasons. First, the actors mumble a fair percentage of their lines. Second, the cuts from scene to scene are incomprehensibly fast and seem to follow no logic whatsoever. The movie does, however, contain more than 30 minutes of underwater footage, some of which isn't bad. In the end, though, Treasure isn't good enough to be enjoyed on its merits and isn't bad enough to qualify as So Bad It's Good. We just can't recommend it. It is available on DVD.