Sharkenstein

Sharkenstein (2016)

* (out of 4)

Towards the end of WWII a German scientist is working on a shark made from various shark parts. Nothing happens until the current times when a nut gets control of the shark and sends in on a killing spree.

SHARKENSTEIN is obviously a film that you shouldn't expect too much from. The title pretty much tells you what you're about to get into you and if you're expecting SyFy type of material then you've still got your expectations a bit too high. Some might find this mildly entertaining if you like really bad movies with awful monsters.

The CGI shark looks horrible but I'm really hoping the filmmakers knew this and purposely set loose a bad looking shark. It really does look like an ugly doll at times so I'm sure no one really expected it to scare people. In fact, my kid watched this and could tell something wasn't right with this shark. The CGI blood effects really aren't much better and there's no other bits of exploitation to make the film stand out.

As it stands, SHARKENSTEIN is pretty much a really bad movie but the badness of the shark brings some mild entertainment. The performances are pretty much bland, the characters silly and what plot is here isn't worth talking about.

I decided to give it a go, thinking it was going to be just another SYFY channel film that's cheesy but watchable, how the hell this got 3.7 stars is beyond me, I'd rather watch the contents of my daughters nappy. Unlike things like the "Mega Shark" films this has no redeeming qualities at all. It's filled with anachronisms like someone wearing Adidas trainers in 1942 among other things and the CGI was probably done on something like a commodore 64. Worse than the "special effects" is the acting. Seriously, it stinks so badly that I couldn't bear it any longer and turned off after 5 minutes. If you're thinking of watching this, save yourself the aggro. Any time you spend watching this rubbish is time you will never get back.

Initially, I was watching a Law & Order SVU episode. It was the episode where ADA Barba leaves the show after making a life changing decision of a comatose baby. I found that episode thought-provoking and sad; there really were no good decisions to be made regarding the baby.

After the SVU episode ended, my family was preparing to watch this movie, and I decided to join them. I had no idea what this movie would be except for the title. So, I assumed the film would be a "Sharknado" competitor...

Anyone that watches the first 10 minutes of this film will understand that this film is a comedy! Enough said.

Where do I begin? First of all, there is an attractive and capable female lead (Greta Volkova) and her hunky friend Coop (Titus Himmelberger). Then there's a third wheel named Skip who seems out of place. Oh, and our "hero" is named Duke. And then there's a shark. Not just any shark. But "Sharkenstein," which is exactly what you think it is. Frankenstein's brain transplanted into a shark. Clever, huh? Sharkenstein features lots of stock footage, tons of aerial footage of beaches, aimless shots of a lifeguard with his back to the camera, lots of white men with hairy forearms, and a posse with guns running through trees sporting fall foliage. Only director Mark Polonia would call this a movie. And he appears uncredited as the mute driver of a boat (did he have to pay himself less for not speaking?). His character's name, Hoskins, is mentioned more times than any of the four principals. Oh, and our director/editor must have run short of Wild Eye Releasing's requisite 70 minute running time, because there is a completely random scene of a long-in-the-tooth "model" getting photographed. The scene is completely unrelated to the rest of the "movie." It appears to be inserted to pad out the running time. The mercifully short running time.

I've seen TERRIBLE movies. Extreme emphasis on terrible. I need to wash my eyes out after this. It was five minutes in and I already had so much criticism about it. This looks like it was edited by a baby. 1. Submarines don't just go down directly, they submerge slowly. 2. Water doesn't look like that. 3. Props are terrible. 4. The acting makes me want to barf. 5. The camera is shaking. 6. Last but certainly not least the clothing, makeup, and hair is terrible? Who dressed them? The undead? I can see why they call it a comedy. I CACKLED at everything terrible. Can't see why it was a horror though. I'm 13 and I can act WAY better than them. The actors need YEARS of classes. The transitions were horrible as well.