Zombie Shark

For those that like low budget movies this one would be too up market for you.

For those that suffer ultra low budget movies along with a beer and chips this would suit you. I thought it was a comedy but it is shown as a Horror Sci fi.

If you are aware of Sharknado it was a low budget film.

Perhaps the producers had some money (coins only) left over from the making of Sharknado and made the movie 'Zombie Shark'.

I have just sat through some of the corniest, dumbest, most idiotic comments, scenes and action sequences associated with a film .....EVER.

I actually missed a bit of the movie. I went away and did the dishes, came back and realised I had missed 'bugger all'.

It would be difficult to pick holes in this 'comedy, horror' movie as it is just one large hole although the ladies would be attractive to unmarried men I am told.

However, if you have 1 hour and 15 minutes of your life to waste laughing, shaking your head in disbelief while drinking (lots of drinking) I still might not recommend this movie unless you had started drinking beforehand.

To prepare yourself for the 'Zombie Shark' experience I suggest you watch "The Blob', 'Them', perhaps a teen movie and only then subject your last few working brain cells to 'Zombie Shark'.

For those that wish to suffer 'Zombie Shark' the movie you MUST watch the last 3 minutes.

In fact rent it if only for the last 3 minutes.

Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 had a scene where a zombie takes on a shark at sea. The strikingly most original thing about that movie. Maybe that was the inspiration for Zombie Shark or maybe it was the more recent Zombeavers which almost the Citizen Kane for this genre of films.

Three hot girls and one boyfriend go for weekend island getaway in the Gulf of Mexico. As Becky Andrews in a hot bikini she discovers a dead shark washed ashore that suddenly comes to life as Zombie Shark and attacks the humans around the beach.

It seems the island is near a secret research facility working on 'Project Bruce' involving regenerating human flesh based on shark DNA. However Bruce gets loose infects other sharks who become zombified. When they attack humans they come back as George Romero style lumbering zombies.

A mercenary joins to the girls to stop Bruce and other sharks in infecting the rest of the world

The story is mildly intriguing, it rolls along nicely. Andrews looks great in a bikini, there is some comic relief here and there. So far so Zombeavers. However the production values are on par with the usual SyFy channel output. The CGI sharks are cheap and nasty looking, the mechanical sharks are not much better and there is one rubber shark head that looks like plastic puppet. The story goes from being inspired (lumbering zombie gets head lopped off by a flying shark) to downright horrendous.

Still the movie is crazy, surreal, horrible even good in parts. Its worth watching with a lazy eye.

Before the credits, a beautiful woman is consumed by a shark while rafting. We (later) assume this happened at Red Plum Island, an isolated resort area. After the credits, prominently-figured barmaid Cassie Steele (as Amber Steele) and her likewise brunette little sister Sloane Coe (as Sophie "Soph" Steele) decide to go there for a vacation. Making it a quartet are Ms. Steele's boating boyfriend Ross Britz (as Jenner Branton) and beautiful, bosomy blonde Becky Andrews (as Bridgette), a friend looking to score a cabana boy...

After arriving, the foursome meet rotund, jovial host Roger J. Timber (as Lester). He tries to downplay the dreariness of the quarters and the lack of hot male companionship available for Ms. Andrews...

In an arousing bikini, Andrews goes down to the beach. She and the beach-goers discover a dead shark has washed ashore. With a ferocious taste for human flesh, it comes to life as a "Zombie Shark". The zombie sharks are being hunted by shark followers Jason London (as Maxwell "Max" Cage) and Laura Cayouette (as Diane Palmer). Directed by Misty Talley and written by Greg Mitchell, this combines the "shark" and "zombie" genres. An interesting variation, but the shaky camera and cheap editing make it look stupid.

*** Zombie Shark (2015-07-20) Misty Talley ~ Cassie Steele, Jason London, Roger J. Timber, Laura Cayouette

If you are thinking about watching this because of good special effects and/or nudity - well I have got news for you: do not. Because you will surely (and sourly) be dissapointed in what the movie will serve you.

If on the other hand you are aware of what you let yourself into.... you can have some fun with it. Again I may be a bit too leniant with it, but I kind of dig low budget movies ... even the ones that are not really that good. At least the acting does not suck as much as I have witnessed in other movies ... no Oscar performance of course either.

Zombie Shark was disappointing because it had a very interesting idea, one of SyFy's most original. Unfortunately, the execution was severely underwhelming, not just being visually cheap and poorly written and acted but what seemed like an original idea was executed in typical SyFy shark movie fashion, with no imagination whatsoever and only occasional splashes of fun.

The best thing about it is Roger J. Timber as Lester, Lester is a fun character, and Timber is amusing while never overplaying and always realising what type of movie he's in. Becky Andrews is sensual and doesn't overegg or underplay either, she actually gives the movie some heart, as does Laura Cayouette. The ending is also quite unexpected and poignant, as is the dynamic between Andrews and Cayouette.

Sadly, the rest of the acting is poor, with the usual mix of overplaying and blandness. While it was laudable to try to give the characters back-story, some were written in an underdeveloped and overwrought way, and the movie never properly allows us to care or learn enough about them. Scripting is lazy and corny in a way that can only be achieved by SyFy, and the direction is flat.

But the worst assets of Zombie Shark are the story and the production values. Really wanted to like the story here because the concept was intriguing, but while it starts nicely the further the movie progresses the lazier, cheesier and more formulaic it gets, also making the mistake that most SyFy movies make of trying so hard to be over the top and stupid but in a painfully predictable and less than fresh way that it becomes tiresome, the scenes with the parents are pointless and bog the movie down pacing-wise. While I have seen worse-looking movies, that doesn't stop Zombie Shark from looking cheap, and the drab filming and sometimes sloppy editing aren't even the worst parts. That would be the shark effects, especially the very unfinished-looking mechanical ones. They exude little personality either, no menace, not even any unintentional goofiness, none of them even acted zombie-like, and the attack scenes apart from one mildly amusing one are sloppily edited, too brief and devoid of suspense or sense of horror. Such a waste of good potential!

Overall, has its moments but wastes an intriguing concept with underwhelming execution. 3/10 Bethany Cox