Killer Shark

RELEASED TO TV IN 2011 and directed by Griff Furst, "Swamp Shark" chronicles events in the Louisiana bayou when an exotic shark that's nigh invulnerable due to being used to low depths is released into the swamp. Kristy Swanson, Sophie Sinise & Jeff Chase play the sibling owners of a restaurant whose livelihood is threatened due to the creature. Jason Rogel plays an overweight-but-intelligent Asian worker with eyes on the younger sibling. Robert Davi appears as the corrupt sheriff while D.B. Sweeney is on hand as a gung-ho game warden.

The low reviews are hilarious because "Swamp Shark" works for what it is, a made-for-TV nature-runs-amok flick. The tone is generally serious, but comic booky with campy/amusing elements (e.g. the sheriff & his deputies). True, it's hackneyed and rips-off elements of "Jaws" (so what else is new?), but you can't help but root for the five protagonists and you can't beat the authentic Louisiana bayou locations. Moreover, there are a few decent cuties, including Sinise. Speaking of which, Natacha Itzel has an unexpected and suspenseful strangling scene, which is well done.

THE FILM RUNS 85 minutes and was shot in Henderson & Lafayette, Louisiana. WRITERS: Jennifer Iwen & Eric Miller (also Charles Bolon).

GRADE: Borderline B/B-

The middle part of 2011 is proving to be a good period for the SyFy channel and their originals. Earlier this year SyFy's 51 (see review here) and BEHEMOTH (see review here) were promising, but both failed in their respective executions. BEHEMOTH promised a huge, planet-destroying creature but simply gave us a lazy, Lovecraftian-influenced beast who was attached to a mountain. But then last weeks ICE ROAD TERROR really surprised me with how fast-paced, gory, and fun it was (see review here), and now SWAMP SHARK, premiering on Saturday, June 25th at 9pm (ET/PT), once again proves that when the boys and girls over at SyFy really wanna make an entertaining flick, they can do it.

SWAMP SHARK stars the original BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Kristy Swanson as Rachel Broussard, the owner of the Gator Shack restaurant located right next to the swamplands of the Atchafalaya Basin. She runs the restaurant with her younger sister Krystal (Sophie Sinise, Gary Sinise's daughter) and her older brother Jason "Swamp Thing" (Jeff Chase). Everything's going really well as the town prepares for their yearly big event, Gator Fest, until crooked sheriff Watson (Robert Davi), who sells illegal exotic animals (??!!!?) accidentally releases a shark into the swamps. Yeah I know; it's a silly and completely absurd set up, but it actually fits the entire campy world created in SWAMP SHARK. Swanson is one of the first people to spot the shark and instead of balling up into a panicking, hysterical woman, she grabs her hunting rifle, a boat, and anyone else who believes her and goes out to hunt down the swamp shark. I loved Swanson's character and since her best known film is the original BUFFY, it would've been hard seeing her as anything other than a butt kicking hottie.

And what self-respecting SyFy Original would forget to include some kind of 1980's pop culture reference? Not too worry; SWAMP SHARK has Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs as a red neck deputy. I would've like to have seen him in a bigger role, but his role is pretty fun.

One of the people Swanson recruits to hunt the shark down is Charlie (D.B. Sweeney; where's he been?), a mysterious man hanging around the town. Their first hunting party doesn't, as you can imagine, go very well and they loose their boat and are forced to regroup. But in the meantime the town is preparing for Gator Fest and the shark has really gotten a taste for human flesh. Of course we get tons of nods to the granddaddy of shark films (and arguably all "giant creature" flicks), JAWS, but everything in SWAMP SHARK is done with such a fun spirit that you just sit back and go along for the ride. Davi's sheriff Watson is so sleazy that you can't help but smile every time he's on screen. The man knows there's a shark in the swamp (because he's the one that accidentally released it) but does nothing to try and fix the situation. He doesn't send out a hunting party and he doesn't prevent people from swimming in the swamp even after the dead bodies start piling up (in pieces). I loved Davi's character and it's nice to see he still "has it"!!

And maybe I'm just getting completely desensitized to bad CGI, but I thought the shark looked pretty good!! SyFy actually exhibits some restraint and doesn't show off the beast at every opportunity. We see flashes of it here and there and get teased way more than SyFy usually does. Of course there's the standard, "must have" scene of the shark jumping out the water to kill someone. This is the best look we get of the shark (until the final reel) and it was actually pretty cool looking. The body count could've been higher for my tastes, but the killings we do get were well-filmed. Director Griff Furst (who also directed last year's flaccid SyFy flick LAKE PLACID 3), takes his time here and sets up some pretty suspenseful kill scenes. And if you're like me you'll wonder why the two twenty-somethings, who wanted some privacy to have sex, took a canoe out into the swamp not 20 feet away from their friends. Sex in a canoe? Hey why not!!

And just like in ICE ROAD TERROR, we get a little more blood than the usual SyFy Original. We get to see a lot of post-attack, ripped apart torsos and appendages, and we're privy to a lot of blood spraying all over various cast members. Yeah people, this one is pretty fun. Maybe it's because Summer's here? Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for a fun "beast attacks" flick? Or maybe it's just because the people over at SyFy are putting in some time and effort into their scripts!! But writers Charles Bolon, Jennifer Iwen, and Eric Miller give us a fun, light- hearted, and fast-paced script that despite the holes in logic keep you interested up to the end. And just wait until you see how they finally kill the shark!! I thought we were gonna get a very JAWS-like ending, but the writers took a hard left turn and gave us something original, fun, and very bloody. Nice job.

A great cast who're obviously having a really fun time, a solid script with some originality in it, and some well-crafted death scenes make SWAMP SHARK a really entertaining and fun summer flick. SyFy has renewed my love of the "attacking beasties" summer flick and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next!! Catch SWAMP SHARK this Saturday, June 25th at 9pm (ET/PT) on SyFy. Seriously!!

(2011) Swamp Shark HORROR

It has a bunch of teens boozing during "Gatorfest" until Sheriff Watson (Robert Davi) chases them away. Sheriff Watson then goes to see someone about illegal animal smuggling, and this killer shark that was held captive inside a tanker truck eventually frees itself by rattling it back and forth so aggressively that it rolled itself back into the water. The sheriff then instructs the person he was with to keep it quiet, and that is how the "Swamp shark" got into the area. The next scene then centers on another part of town, on the Broussard family owned business restaurant called "The Gator Shed" run by an older sister, Rachel (Kristy Swanson), the younger sister, Krystal (Sophie Sinise), and tall bulky brother, Jason (Jeff Chase) which the residents nickname him as Swamp Thing because of his football-like built figure. As they too celebrating "Gatorfest" with friend of the family and server/ helper, named Martin (Jason Rogel) while Rachel's boyfriend Tyler (Richard Tanne) works at the bar. When a known drunk who causes trouble became the first victim of Swamp Shark, the Broussard family also notice that the alligators were not responding and assumed they too were victims too as they have beepers tagged onto them.

One of the major problems with this film is the fact that the teenagers who were celebrating and so forth all have parents and so forth, and yet not a single one of them have like ever called or so forth. It is also kind of strange how the Swamp shark can swim to several places at once so quickly besides the corny CGI.

Given the last few killer shark crap fests that passes for movies SWAMP SHARK was actually one of the better killer shark movies, granted it was a tad on the silly side but it was a fun movie and CGI weren't really anything to talk about but then again this is a made for TV movie so its acceptable.

The shark itself looks pretty interesting, while watching the film I thought to myself if SWAMP THING was a shark this would probably be what he would look like (oddly enough the film is called SWAMP SHARK go figure) plus the acting in the film was actually very good, which one of the surprises about this film since the acting in all the other shark movies in the B variety usually sucked.

Overall, its a fun movie and I recommend it if you want to just chill in front of the TV and its way more entertaining than SHARK NIGHT 3D believe it or not.

I'll start off by saying I dislike a lot of SyFy movies, but the cast on paper didn't seem so bad. The premise was one that could've gone either way. After seeing it last night, I have to say while it is far from a perfect movie it is tolerable compared to a lot of what SyFy have done.

My feelings on the computer effects were mixed. They were not so bad underwater, which were quite nicely shot, but looked a little cheap elsewhere. That said though, SyFy have done much worse. The story is quite a decent idea, is well paced and starts off well with some suspense in the build ups, but there are some moments that come across as silly and unbelievable.

The script is not award-worthy, but apart from the odd cheesy line, it is not as terrible or as clichéd as I was expecting. The direction is efficient enough and the editing is not too slapdash.

Swamp Shark has some nice scenery and is generally well shot. It is also never too cheesy or overdone and doesn't take itself too seriously. The music is serviceable without being exceptional, it sets the mood alright which is something a lot of SyFy movies did not do.

The characters are likable, compared to the underdeveloped, stereotypical and annoying characters you often find, and the acting from Kirsty Swanson and DB Sweeney is surprisingly good. Overall, fun if silly, one of the movies in the sprinkle of tolerable SyFy amongst the sea of terrible ones. 6/10 Bethany Cox