Graveyard Shark

What a film! Going by the name and poster I had such low expectations, but I was in the mood for a trashy film and I was not disappointed. Yes is tacky, the acting is questionable and it's effects are poor. But it's a bunch of fun. Sometimes it misses the mark and the jokes just don't hit or are plain stupid, sometimes it keeps on and becomes funny because how ridiculous it is.

Obviously I can't say this is an amazing film, but if you are in the mood for a film you know will be bad, but in a fun way, then this is one you should definitely check out. So many bad films out there which are just plain bad!

Granted, I had zero expectations to this movie, as I stumbled upon it by random chance here in 2024. I mean, the title alone is cringeworthy; "Graveyard Shark". Not to mention the dubious cover.

But of course I opted to give writer and director Matthew A. Peters's 2024 movie a fair chance.

The storyline was pretty straightforward, although somewhat generic and not particularly innovative or anything. It was a semi-enjoyable movie, because it was cheesy and bad enough to sort of actually be watchable.

Of course I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. Some of the acting performances were fair, while others were wooden and questionable. Yeah, you're not exactly in for an evening of Shakespearian theater here. But then again, I doubt anyone will be expecting such from a movie titled "Graveyard Shark".

The special effects in the movie were sort of okay. Sure, the shark's face was inarticulate and obviously just a rubber mask. And I have to say that a muscular man's body with a hammerhead shark's head on it just didn't really come off as being particularly impressive. The movie has a sufficient amount of goofy blood spray effects during the shark attack scenes to keep the movie afloat - no pun intended.

And the intimate scene between a man and a mermaid wearing an insanely fake lower-body fish costume was some of the most cringeworthy stuff I've seen in a long, long time. And that laughably ridiculous song that played during the scene didn't help make it the least bit better. And why would such a interspecies union breed a sharkman?

"Graveyard Shark" was by no means a good movie. Nor is it a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time. Would I recommend you to sit down and watch the movie? No.

My rating of writer and director Matthew A. Peters's 2024 movie "Graveyard Shark" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Trying to get her show off the ground, a wannabe cryptozoologist and her cameraman arrive in a small town where the locals are convinced a humanoid shark haunts the local graveyard, and when they find the truth about the creature set out to stop its bloodsoaked rampage with their help.

There's quite a lot to enjoy with this one. Among its better qualities is a highly effective setup that manages to provide an endearingly cheesy setup in a shockingly atypical killer shark film. The main point of treating the creature not as a creature of the sea but as a cryptid that the community has encountered but has no evidence to prove the existence of the shark, which draws her to the location to prove its existence with the help of the other survivors who are sure the creature is alive. This is given a lengthy backstory about her struggles with the past involving a cryptid killing her father, which helps to ensure her viewpoint to help them out, and when placed alongside the wild origin story of the creature, it ties the story together nicely. That allows for the film to generate a ton of fantastic encounters with the creature. The initial idea of the creature being played as a slasher villain with a series of short, shock ambushes on victims in the graveyard and surrounding woods makes for a fun time here demonstrating the different encounters by the survivors of the club where they recount the attack that brought them together as survivors which end up producing a rather fun series of ambushes that are featured throughout here. Later scenes, with the creature attacking stragglers or fighting off the creature in the graveyard, there are some immensely cheesy attacks generating plenty of carnage and brutality in these scenes. As well, there's also the immensely fun series of cheesy elements present within this one, from the design of the shark to the involved backstory of its creation that explains how it's haunting the graveyard, all giving this one quite a lot to like. This one doesn't have too many wrong with it as it's mainly just small nitpicks. The overlong running time tries to infuse a bizarre sense of comedy that exists here, from detailed explanations of the extramarital affairs that spawned the creature in the first place to the psychedelic dream sequence showing her becoming awkwardly intimate with a guy in a cheap Bigfoot costume, which are more likely personal preference type of scenes than anything else. The attitude of the police officers who treat everything as a joke can be tiring despite the revelations that make it all make sense, and with everything coming about with the type of low-budget origins that are featured throughout here, end up being the few small factors with this one.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Nudity, and mild drug use.

I am the first one to admit that I did not have high expectations going into this, but then again, who does? Graveyard Shark, however, was much better and funnier than I thought it would be, and the characters worked quite well together.

I also liked the effects, which were quite effective and gnawing; also, the creative bodysuit for the shark is much better than one could expect for its budget. Kudos to M. Peters on that one. Shows he is committed to bringing his characters to life.

The story is itself relatively straightforward with a sense of enjoyability about it and offers up a fair few laughs, albeit cheesy ones, along the way. Trust me, they hit the note perfectly. Not forgetting the horror feast.

So, basically, to round it off, Graveyard Shark is a stand-up film, funny, chaotic, and mesmerising. It ticks all the hallmarks of a classic in the making and won't ruin anyone's weekend. Perfect Friday night movie.