Bull Shark

That title would probably go to the other 2022 shark movie The Requin. Bull Shark seems to be in a competition to top it but just falls short. One can also consider the newly released Beneath the Surface.

The directing here isn't the worst there is but everything about the movie is unfortunately dampened by a hackneyed and poorly developed script that spends most of its time ignoring the threat of the shark to focus on the story of a struggling alcoholic, which could be compelling if it wasn't instead so sloppy. One decent performance might have saved this movie, making it salvageable at least, but try as I might I can't find one to point out.

Schizophrenic cinematography is on display with plenty of pleasing moments for the eye followed with so many others that look like they were done by film students that I wonder if they were shot by the same person. Some decent visual effects on what was obviously a low budget saved this from being a 1, even though the shark we see on screen is a Great White instead of the Bull Shark that the title and characters indicate.

A movie about a Bull Shark let loose in a Texas lake could have been great. Unfortunately it wasn't left in capable hands. Hopefully somebody else may come along and attempt to right the wrongs.

First off this movie was a free release on the net and I got what I paid for...not much!

First the good news. The lead actor Thom Hallum is an experienced actor but his character was so clichéd that it dominated and eventually overwhelmed his part in the movie.

Derek Woodford, the Sheriff was in the same boat (pun intended) but he was underused. He'd pop in and out of the movie and that was pretty much it.

After that the thespian qualities becomes very thin on the water. And here's the rub, I haven't even gotten around to discussing the story itself. The problem here is that there's hardly any story to discuss.

Sure, it was a change to have a shark movie about a fish other than a Great White, which really does get a bad rap in virtually all shark movies. And like the Great White, the Bull Shark (once known as Bronze Whalers) doesn't exactly like human food. And the same can be said about most sharks and humans.

So what shark does have a particular taste for people...it's the Tiger Shark. They'll go for a human and they'll follow until they chomp their way through the targeted food source.

Now you might be wondering why I know so much about sharks? Well I live in Australia and surfed for around forty years and had a shark swim under my board at the age of fourteen. Also, I've done a lot reading on the subject. And therein lies the problem with this production...there was a lack of research.

The movie itself was reasonable until one hour and three minutes and then it completely went off the (boat's) rails. I won't give it away but I seriously cracked up and by the end of the movie I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Now this isn't a spoiler but if you're trying to attract a shark you can do a number of things. One is to throw fish bait into the water. Another is to throw blood and meat into the water and that will have the same results. And a third method is to jump into the water and splash around. See the movie and you can see which one they accurately go for.

OK, so after this analysis there must be someone or something to blame. Well the production company is ITV and they are a low rent mob that are little better (or maybe worse) than The Asylum.

The second blame magnet is Brett Bentman who wrote and directed this woeful story. I mean for crying out loud all he had to do was start off with Wikipedia and then go to some sea world people and possibly approach an expert on the subject. Nah, too much work so he just made it up.

I could go on and on about movie but it's just too painful. So where will this disaster end up? The same place that all ITV productions end up...Tubi of course.

Oh and you have to wait until after the credits for the final nail in this production's coffin. It's a real humdinger.

I gave this movie two stars and that was for the first hour or so and zilch after that.

Texas Game Warden Spencer Timms (Thom Hallum) battles a man-eating bull shark that has made itself at home in a Texan lake, feeding on unwary tourists.

The title of this low budget shark-in-a-lake horror positively invites the single-word summary 'Bull Sh**', but someone else beat me to it.

Written and directed by Brett Bentman, for whom a Spielberg-like meteoric rise to fame is extremely unlikely, Bull Shark joins the likes of House Shark, Ghost Shark, Sand Sharks, Jurassic Shark and Sharkenstein as one of the worst in a sub-genre that has churned out plenty of stinkers.

The terrible script spends more time on the protagonist's drink problem, his failing marriage, and a totally pointless subplot concerning a corrupt mayor than it does the shark, which isn't necessarily a bad thing given how crappy the titular fish is: the CGI shark effects are dreadful, and more often than not, it's just a plastic fin on a stick poking out of the water.

1/10. Have fun identifying the comments posted by the director's friends.

From acting of the xylemic variety, suboptimal sfx (not even Asylum level of film making) to the rickety camerawork, woeful script and shark aka a cardboard fin on a lollipop stick; much like the one the schoolkids used in Jaws II - perhaps the director was adding it as a homage to the original? Hmmm perhaps not, as his shark science was also totally inaccurate so I doubt he even watched Richard Dreyfuss in the original and that for me is unforgiveable as so much of the movie was a total carbon copy of Jaws right down to the rifle and bomb at the end; who knows but maybe it was a parody? Sadly the wobbly cardboard shark fin was not even meritorious of a giggle, just base derision with a soupçon of utter incredulity.

This one is a real cinematic stinkeroo, the kind of film you start to peruse the advancing timeline every few minutes and praying for it to move more rapidly - Never a good sign in my book!

The girl in the blue swimsuit with the terrible fake blood dribbling from her mouth at the beginning did have a nice gluteus maximus it has to be said but sadly even that is not enough to merit an extra star.

Just another shark dud movie to join the many others in Davy Jones' locker.

A game warden who answers to a county sheriff and a local mayor? Haha!

Not the worst rip off of "Jaws" that I've ever seen, but still not good.

At least they got the whole, bull sharks can live in fresh water, correct.