Frankenfish

I first saw this years back on Sony Pix tv channel. Revisited it recently. I like horror n action films set in the bayou n swamps, especially Lousiana.

This is not bad for a tv movie. It has plenty of gore n kills. Simon Barrett is the writer of this film n this film n Dead Birds were his initial foray into horror films. Later he wrote many horror films. But as the poster claims, from the director (Mark A.Z. Dippé) of Spawn. Well, Spawn is his only good effort before this n after Frakenfish he went downhill. But his experience in special effects is noteworthy n this film does boast of some cool effects.

Also the poster is a rip off of Anaconda n whatever has been shown on the poster of this film, nothing like that happens in the entire film. In fact the lead actor never removes his shirt.

The film is about a genetically enhanced snakehead fish. Basically a voracious fishzilla trying to topple the croc, alligator, shark n piranha genre films. There is scene where a *ucktard stands so close to an edge knowing that there is an aquatic predator lurking in the water. We have a bad ass Ricardo, a war veteran who manages to get the the giant fish outside water so that viewers may have a glimpse of it.

It has some tits, especially that of the hottie Noelle Evans (Elizabeth Shue lookalike). I think she retired. Checked her Instagram n found her to be happily married, enjoying her bike riding.

The only actors recognizable r Tomas Arana Mark Boone Jr.

Something big and nasty is hanging out in the Bayou, so baaad it can bite a gator to pieces. Could it possibly be a scientific experiment gone awry? Might it possibly threaten a group of people trapped in the middle of nowhere? Is it conceivable that the above group would be offed one by one? In various bloody circumstances? Would you believe the hero and his babe will somehow survive? Is there any way a rich evil middle-aged white male might be responsible? Is there anything in this movie you haven't seen before? the fish are pretty well done, but too high a body count (and too much foul language) for me. Think of Deep Rising with a smaller budget. If you like that sort of thing--enjoy.

Take one part Jaws, one part Tremors and a hint of Creature From the Black Lagoon, mix well, and you get Frankenfish. Yes it's filled with stock characters (though its nice to have an African-American hero for a change) and some foolish plot twists, but, I liked it.

Why? Well, the characters were basically likable and well-acted by a largely unknown cast. Second, the story moves along at a good clip which is always important when the plot is clichéd. Third, the Frankenfish were terrific, big and scary. And, of course, there was plenty of blood and guts; surprising since the Sci-Fi channel usually edits this out.

Don't go in expecting too much, just your typical large, voracious monster on the loose and you should enjoy this one.

It's the name that does it. Not only does it fail to make sense in context, it just plain doesn't work. If they really wanted to go with some kind of Franken-animal they could have at least picked something that started with 'st', like... a stoat. Frankenstoat. Studios, are you listening?

Anyway. Against all odds Frankenfish is actually no worse a giant mutant creature romp than, say, Anaconda - I'd even go so far as to say it could have made a passable cinema release. Everything (with the standard exception of logic) is handled competently, from the acting to the effects, and the tiny bayou community setting of the whole thing actually feels quite novel. It's not even entirely predictable, I guarantee you won't see at least one of the deaths coming...

It's also a fine film for playing Name The Actor They *Really* Wanted. Robert Downey Jr. and Michael Wincott are lock-ins, while Anaconda veteran Jon Voight would have been a fine choice to play the hunter (who is, as it turns out, the most rubbish hunter in the world). Come to think of it, if they'd asked Jon Voight he'd probably have said yes - he usually does.

Overall, it's a surprisingly not-awful piece of work, which still manages to be entertaining despite its not-awfulness. I wouldn't say I'd recommend it, exactly, but you could do worse. Sci-Fighter, for instance. Now THAT's genuinely awful film-making (and as such comes highly recommended).

I was not expecting to even like Frankenfish, but I did. The story is ridiculous on the whole, in the script there is a sea of corniness and eye-rolling cheesiness amid the odd sprinkle of wit, the characters are on the annoying stereotypical side and some of the effects are cheap. Despite all this, I did enjoy Frankenfish. The editing was not as choppy as I had anticipated and some of the locations are great. There is enough suspense and tense fun to make up for the ridiculousness of the story, the fish although not great in design(though I have seen far worse) are menacing and great to watch and while the lead is uncharismatic the acting is reasonably good. On the whole, not great, but I sort of liked it. 6/10 Bethany Cox