Blood Beach

In the opening scene, Ruth walks her dog along Venice Beach and is suddenly pulled under the sand by an unseen force. Her screams are heard by Harry Caulder, who reports the disappearance to LAPD detectives Royko and Piantadosi. The mystery is set into motion as the police start a murky investigation with no body to recover.

The next day, Ruth's estranged daughter Catherine arrives from San Francisco after Harry calls her about her mother's disappearance. She begins to search Ruth's house and becomes personally invested in the case as more disappearances occur around the same time. The arrival shifts the investigation from officers to a family-driven inquiry.

Mrs. Selden, who lives in the abandoned section of the Santa Monica Pier, witnesses the attack and disappearance but does not come forward. Her silence allows the authorities to miss crucial leads and keeps the threat unresolved. The mystery grows as more beachgoers vanish.

That night, Catherine stays at Ruth's house and the dog begins barking near Ruth's disappearance site. She investigates and finds the dog beheaded, a grisly clue that confirms something deadly is at work. The responding officers, including Royko and Piantadosi, struggle to determine the cause of death with the pathologist unable to provide a clear verdict.

The next morning, a teenage girl is buried in the sand and screams as her legs are attacked by an unseen force. The police conduct a nocturnal beach dig, but find nothing conclusive. The local media dub the beach 'Blood Beach' as fear spreads.

The following night, Hoagy, a harbor patrol coworker, closes up the office while his girlfriend investigates a noise under the pier and is assaulted. The unseen creature then attacks and castrates the would-be rapist. This brutal sequence adds to the mounting danger surrounding the pier.

Marie, a French airline stewardess living with Harry, chases her hat onto the beach and is grabbed by the unseen creature. The next morning, Harry finds Marie's hat and a sinkhole, and police recover Marie's disembodied eyeball. The evidence underscores the creature's bizarre and grisly methods.

Harry investigates an abandoned storage facility under the pier and discovers an access tunnel leading to an underground lair, but he misses a movement in a collapsed wall. Catherine and Harry later go to a nightclub to rekindle their romance, shifting some focus away from the search.

A man with a metal detector is dragged under the sand by the creature; his wife, Mrs. Hench, reports him missing. The next day Royko and Piantadosi find Mr. Hench emerging from a sewer manhole mangled and unable to explain what happened. The body count continues to mount.

Hoagy, hoping to persuade Mrs. Selden to leave the area, becomes the next victim and is pulled under the sand. The creature's rampage continues as investigators close in on the lair beneath the pier.

Catherine, guided by Harry, visits the storage facility beneath the pier and discovers all 16 of the creature's victims, including Ruth's severed head and Marie's remains. Captain Pearson arrives with officers to remove the bodies and set the stage for a final confrontation.

Authorities install motion detectors, heat sensors, and explosives as the creature finally emerges on camera. Royko detonates the charges and the monster is blown to pieces, ending its immediate threat. Dr. Dimitrios notes the lack of knowledge about its origins and ponders regeneration possibilities.

The beach reopens the next morning with the creature dead, and Harry leaves with Catherine to drive her home to San Francisco. The final scene hints regeneration as new sinkholes begin appearing across the sand, unseen by most of the crowd.