La nuit des requins

NIGHT OF THE SHARKS begins with shots of a shark swimming languidly along, while David Ziegler (Treat Williams) and his friend Paco (Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargus) sun themselves on a nearby beach.

Oh no!

The shark wakes up and kills an unknown extra! David and Paco continue to relax. We discover that, in addition to sunbathing, David likes to yell at sharks.

Meanwhile, seemingly in some other movie, David's brother has absconded with something from "the mob". So, these two storylines intersect, which somehow makes this movie even less intriguing.

Unfortunately, there's just not enough shark action, especially considering the title. Mostly, this is about the brother's troubles being brought down on David and poor Paco, interrupting their relaxation to the nth degree. Fans of Mr. Williams and Huggy Bear will be ecstatic. Everyone else will probably need a cranial enema...

Until near the end, this movie cannot seem to decide what it is. Is it an action film, a horror movie, or a crime movie? It won't take you long to figure out what kind of movie it is, it's a boring movie! Good cast is completely wasted in one of the most contrive and lazily produced Italian films I've seen. Good fight scenes and some gore, but that is basically it. Nothing else worth mentioning, besides the cheesy soundtrack. Treat Williams... I don't believe I've ever seen him in a movie that didn't have lots and lots of water in it. Sheesh. Avoid this flick, not worth the trouble.

David Ziegler (Treat Williams) is an American beach bum living on the Mexican shore with his buddy and business partner Paco (Antonio Fargas). Unfortunately, a lot of melodrama is about to be dumped in Davids' lap because his brother James (Carlo Mucari) got mixed up with a shady businessman, Rosentski (John Steiner), and figured to get rich by secretly recording the phone calls that Rosentski had made to the President of the U.S.! James mails David a CD he's made of these incriminating phone calls. The bad guys recruit Davids' ex-wife Liz (Janet Agren) to try to persuade David to hand over the CD, holding her debts over her head as a means of motivating her. David must ultimately battle the goons that Rosentski sends after him, and *also* do battle with a local one-eyed great white shark (named "Cyclops" by the natives) which has become a kind of personal nemesis for him.

Mediocre, fairly dull time waster could possibly have been more entertaining on a "so bad it's good" level, but very crude direction (by Tonino Ricci) and even cruder editing (by Gianfranco Amicucci) prevent the movie from being more fun. That isn't to say that there aren't some very amusing moments here and there, and things do pick up a little during the whole fight / pursuit sequence in the jungle. The music score by Stelvio Cipriani is fun even if it's not one of his best. The use of locations, at the least, is adequate. Williams doesn't look too happy to be here, but Fargas is rather engaging, Swedish beauty Agren offers some appreciable eye candy, and Steiner, the ubiquitous Brit character actor of so many Italian exploitation items, is a passable villain. And as one can see the story is pretty damn silly.

By the way, unless the word "shark" is used for its multiple meanings, the viewer should be aware that there's actually only one killer fish in this thing.

Five out of 10.

"James Ziegler" (Carlo Mucari) is a young man who likes to live dangerously and as a result decides to blackmail a rich and influential mobster for approximately $2 million in diamonds. Upon receiving the payment he then double-crosses them and flies to Mexico to see his brother "David Ziegler" (Treat Williams) who lives on a beach near shark-infested waters. Unfortunately, as soon as James arrives in Mexico he is murdered and the mob subsequently targets David who they believe now possesses the disk that implicates them in criminal activity. And these mobsters are more than willing to kill everybody associated with David to get what they want. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this wasn't a great movie by any means and could have been better if it had a bit more depth or attention to detail. For example, in one specific scene a bomb was placed on a boat but it didn't show who actually put it there. So for a moment it inadvertently appeared that David's loyal friend "Paco" (Antonio Fargas) and possibly the village priest "Father Mattia" (Christopher Connelly) were the guilty parties. Likewise, a couple of the conversations involving Father Mattia were almost inaudible as well. Even so, it was still entertaining to a certain degree and because of that I rate it as just slightly below average.

Just a few years before this movie, it seemed that American actor Treat Williams was becoming a major star. So it's seems puzzling as to what he is doing in a low budget Italian movie. Despite the different environment, Treat does seem to be trying hard, but his valiant efforts aren't enough to save the movie. Though it's only 86 minutes long, it feels much longer, with barely a plot on display and scene after scene passes by where little to nothing actually happens. There also isn't that much action, and the little there is isn't for the most part particularly exciting. The movie does look somewhat better than other Italian B movies made around this time - it's nicely shot (both on land and under water), the scenery looks good, and the remaining production values are somewhat slicker than usual. But as you may know, a good look does little when you are saddled with a sorry script.