House Shark

Fans of SHE KILLS or NIGHT OF SOMETHING STRANGE might be inclined to give this one a watch, but HOUSE SHARK doesn't rise to the same heights as those other movies.

This is much more obviously a parody of movies like SHARKNADO with plenty of allusions to JAWS. Unfortunately, it's a bit too self-indulgent. Some of the jokes land and they're hilarious; many others merit a chuckle, if that.

At an hour and 52 minutes, it overstays its welcome and needed to trim about 30 minutes off the runtime.

The performances and special effects were adequate for the tone of the movie. Wayne W. Johnson and Melissa LaMartina turned in commendable performances. I was disappointed in Trey Harrison's turn in the lead role, but perhaps that was due to the script (or maybe improvised takes?) that went too often for "jokes" that didn't work.

Judged solely on whether it's a good time, I would have to say, maybe if you're drinking. Otherwise, it's too inconsistent and needed ruthless editing.

According to Ron Bonk's comedy horror House Shark, herds of sharks used to roam the land in America until they were forced into the sea by hunters, although a few remained. It is one of these last land-dwelling sharks that terrorises homeowner Frank, forcing him out of his house to live in the garden. With the help of house shark expert Zachary (Michael Merchant) and drunken salty sea-dog Abraham (Wes Reid), Frank tries to kill the big fish.

House Shark is, as the title suggests, a dumb movie. No... scratch that. It's a very, very, VERY dumb movie, intentionally so. Unfortunately, Bonk's particular brand of comedy - goofball lunacy with lots of toilet humour - only occasionally hits the mark, with most of the gags floundering like a shark on a Chinese fishing boat. With the film running at nearly two hours long, the silliness gets really tedious, Abraham's drunken drawl proving particularly grating on the nerves.

The special effects range from the barely passable (I quite enjoyed the underwater scene in which things float on clearly visible wires) to the downright terrible (the shark itself looks like it's been made from chicken wire and papier-mâché). The film opens in promisingly trashy fashion with a naked woman pulled down a toilet by the shark, leaving a bloody mess in her wake, but the rest of the film is nudity free, with very little gore.

2.5/10, generously rounded up to 3 for the one line that actually made me laugh: "I don't know how many people died that day. 3....4... maybe none."

Beginning - 3/10

Ending - 4/10 (It was a lengthy epilogue, but I gave it a 4 because they defeated the shark in a comical, ridiculous way)

Acting - 3/10

Horror-Comedy - 5/10 (It was more towards comedy, or over-comedy)

Characters/Actors - 2/10

Overall - 3.4/10

It is entertaining to watch, even though it was ridiculous. The acting was horrible and the shark was not realistic. I still watched it through. Would I recommend it to anyone? No, but if you are up for a challenge to watch a weird, ridiculous film, then I would recommend this.

This fits more in the comedy category and not horror, or even horror-comedy.

The quinn wannabe was a bit irritating and the effects if you can call it that were pretty cheesy. if you wanna try and be as bad or worse than mulva zombie ass kicker as the worst movie ever might wanna try a bit harder. after 10 mins i was looking for the exit and should get a medal for finishing this one. i wouldn't recommend it even for a time killer and you have better things to do.

I had to pause this movie with about 12 minutes left til the end, and I honestly didn't think I could finish it. I purposely combed through the closing credits to see if there was an editor, because I didn't believe there was one. Surprise, surprise, writer/director Ron Bonk also edited his own movie. I would say, only he would leave in all the unnecessary dialogue, subplots that go nowhere, dead air, abandoned characters, and utter nonsense. House Shark runs nearly 2 hours! Is there a good movie in here somewhere? Probably not. I'm giving it 4 stars because on a few occasions, I either laughed out loud or said "that was pretty good." 3 laughs in 2 hours? It starts off promisingly enough, with full-frontal nudity and an outrageously gory shark attack. As a matter of fact, after a certain amount of time, I thought this movie hired exclusively slutty actresses. No way, the bulk of this film gives way to a sausage fest.

I understand this filmmaker wanted to populate his movie with OTT characters, to be as campy as possible. Problem is, they're *SO* OTT, I couldn't understand them half the time! My expectations were certainly dashed. From the title, the concept, the zero-budget creative nature, the exploitative nature, the indie nature, the front and back cover, and what you would normally expect from a film like this. So, it's possible I'm being unfair. But it did not deliver on any of those levels.