Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf

For once, a SyFy original that's funny on purpose.

If we're lucky, one out of every 200 SyFy originals is decent entertainment because the people behind it knew what they were doing with direction, music, editing, and above all, the script. Sadly, most SyFy orgs feel like a near death experience.

Sharktopus vs Whalewolf is just as stupid a premise as any other SyFy flick, and the film makers embrace this, turning it into one of the funnier films. And yes, it's meant to be funny. Catherine Oxenberg is obviously having a blast as the hammy Kraut. Casper Van Dien (whose beard is somehow 30 years older than the rest of him) is the Errol Flynn type (the alcoholic Flynn, that is). Akari Endo, for whom this is not her first SyFy rodeo gets to shine as the take-charge badge on the beach.

The effects are slightly more polished in the CGI department, but it's still CGI and the Whalewolf looks more like a monster puppy than a man eater, but that's part of the charm.

Highly recommended but don't come into this expecting bad SyFy or even so-bad-it's good. Get ready to chortle!

For some odd reason I keep returning to movies like this, even though you know already that it is 99% likely going to be another stinker. And this whole genre is just loaded with questionable additions that outdo each other in one way or another.

But still, every now and then there are some of these movies that turn out to be entertaining and funny to watch. "Sharktopus vs Whalewolf", however, just wasn't one of those movies.

With movies such as "Sharktopus vs Whalewolf" you already know that you will most likely be in for some questionable CGI and special effects. But "Sharktopus vs Whalewolf" was not even trying. The CGI effects in this movie were among the top of most laughable and poor CGI effects that I have seen in this genre of movies.

The story in "Sharktopus vs Whalewolf" was also among some of the more outrageous and laughable of story lines, even for this particularly unique genre of movies. Why? Well, because it seemed like the writers weren't even trying to be serious.

"Sharktopus vs Whalewolf" is also filled with lame attempts at incorporating comedy in the movie; attempts which really failed at every aspect. And the movie suffered from that.

Catherine Oxenberg has the worst fake German accent ever and puts on one of the worst acting performances in the history of low budget creature features. But that might actually be one of the selling points to the movie, and why you should check it out. Trust me, it is worth watching, because it is bad on an epic scale.

Oh, and there was one scene where I counted 31 shots being fired from a handgun. That was just impressive. So at least there was something impressive to be seen in "Sharktopus vs Whalewolf".

The first Sharktopus was pretty bad but was an alright diversion. The second movie Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda was a big disappointment, being twice as stupid to the point it was too much and with none of the previous movie's fun. Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf is the best of the three to me, it isn't great and execution is patchy but generally there are things that it does better than the previous two.

Generally, Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf is the best-looking of the three. The scenery is lovely, and photography and editing are tighter than before. The score is the quirkiest, the most suspenseful and fitting of the series, while the movie clearly knows what it wants to be (which is campy fun) and doesn't overdo it to the point of being dull and who it's aiming at (which I didn't get so much with the previous two) and there are some clever jokes in the script. The final fight is pretty exciting if a bit short, and the Sharktopus is the best-designed and least-fake-looking of the series and is pretty cool and menacing in personality whereas it was just goofy in the previous two. Casper Van Dien clearly has fun and tries to inject some tragedy, while Akari Endo is winning too.

Catherine Oxenberg however is wildly over-the-top, the most over-the-top parts being embarrassing, and she is as believable as a German in the same way with Keanu Reeves as an Englishman in Dracula or Jon Voight as a Paraguayan in Anaconda (two of the worst accents ever attempted in film so that's indication of how badly overdone her attempt was). The characters have personality but not development with motivations and such being on the surface. The whalewolf was a missed opportunity, marginally better at least than the pteracuda but it's rendered cheaply, it's not much of a threat and is too underdeveloped to be able to root for it. While Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf works in the fun factor and is never dull, it fails as horror, the attacks are too random, too rushed and too goofy and it comes at the expense of tension and suspense, which is nowhere in sight (they are also predictable and not unlike anything seen in the previous Sharktopus movie and the Mega Shark franchise). Some of the dialogue is cheesy and inane, apart from some clever jokes, and while Sharktopus' death is cool Whalewolf's is anti-climactic.

Overall, Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf may not be great but it is the best of the Sharktopus movies. 5/10 Bethany Cox

No seriously? What do you expect from a movie with a title like that? Now I have not seen the previous entry into the Sharktopus ... universe I guess you can call it (there are apparantly another two of them prior to this one), so I can't say how this does compared to them.

What I can say, is that the CGI is as bad as one can imagine. Very obvious. So obvious though that the movie is winking almost all the way through it. Like when one character very late in the movie says upon seeing one of the creature eating another person, something along the lines of "that doesn't even look real". Yes the movie is aware of its flaws, the characters are too. Playing catch with a Whalewolf (great name btw)? I mean come on ... also the slapstick of the creature slapping Casper van Dien around? Or showing him on a map where he is, after he asks and wonders exactly that? That doesn't mean that all jokes work. Far from it. Some are just plain bad ... and almost hurt physically. But again, what to expect? Exactly! (although nudity would be something I reckon many did expect ... well you won't get that)

A funeral party gets eaten by Sharktopus. Drunken captain Ray Brady (Casper Van Dien) gets taken to jail. Dr. Elsa Reinhardt (Catherine Oxenberg) continues her anti-aging experiments. She mixes the genes of a killer whale and a wolf. The resulting Whalewolf starts causing chaos.

Who the hell dumps a whole coffin into the sea? Nobody. I get the attempt to camp it up. Instead of a coffin, they could wrap up a body and place a funny flag on top. Oxenberg with booby nurse is definitely going full camp and I appreciate that. I don't think Casper Van Dien is good although he tries after the voodoo. I am not sure about the voodoo. It has a bit of camp element, but not camp enough. It gets uncomfortable at times. This franchise needs to go full camp, but they don't always get there.