Cyclone

In CYCLONE, a boat full of tourists, an airplane full of passengers, and a fishing boat are all thrust into a hellish fight for survival when they are hit by the storm of the title. Each group faces the disaster separately -though they start meeting up during the lengthy aftermath. This is all very dramatic.

Unfortunately, the storm ends at about the 30 minute mark, and the dullness ensues. Oh, there's the occasional interruption in the form of a shark attack, an act of doggy murder, human fish bait, or cannibalism, but mostly it's just waiting, bickering, and more waiting to be rescued.

Said rescue is launched, and is equally boring, with naval types lethargically murmuring their lines. The dubbed dialogue doesn't help, with some of the characters speaking as if they're performing a eulogy! This goes on for many days, and the viewers face the same relentless torture as the survivors!

Recommended only for the stoutest fans of cinematic agony.

Co-stars Olga Karlatos (ZOMBIE), Arthur Kennedy (LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE), Carroll Baker (THE DEVIL WITH SEVEN FACES), and the inimitable Hugo Stiglitz (NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS, NIGHTMARE CITY).

P.S.- This review is for the full, 2 hr (!) version of this movie...

Good effect for an old movie, good cast. Bad timing 5 star for the effort and remember Mexican movie

Well, fully fallen on the snout: I thought there was a disaster here with pretty shark attacks (yes, yes, that sounds morbid - and I mean it that way!). Unfortunately, there is very, very little predator action, but really just a bunch of people bumming around on various boats. The cast of "Tornado" is quite good - among others the Mexican acting legend Hugo Stiglitz takes part -, but there is really little action. In short: lame. There were and are dozens of better films like this.

René Cardona Jr made the overlong, boring and trashy shark flick Tintorerra a year before he went to make this overlong, boring and trashy disaster/survival flick with sharks thrown in. I can only imagine that the director was a real big fan of Steven Spielberg's Jaws as this is his second shark flick where sharks are not the main focus, and by rights don't actual have a real part to play in the story. I am thankful to say that he has ditched the soap opera elements of Tintorerra in favour of some more exploitative survival style elements, and it's slightly more interesting; although really the film is a mess and far to boring to entertain. The plot focuses on an airplane full of people that crashes during a storm. The survivors get themselves onto a small boat and are swept out to sea, but it's not long before hunger starts setting in, and this in turn sets off arguments between the survivors as they realise that they have to eat...something. However, their hunger isn't the only thing they are under threat from, as there's sharks in the vicinity too.

The plot actually sounded like it might lead to something decent, and I dare say it would have done in the hands of a decent director. However, René Cardona Jr is obviously not one of those and he manages to turn the whole thing on its head and ensures that nothing about the film is likable. The idea of people being forced into cannibalism is interesting; but the characters are boring and the overall atmosphere is far too impressive for the film to be enjoyable at the same time. There are some real unpleasant scenes in the film, and while this might have pleased some people; they are not done very well at all and a scene that sees a man kill a dog, for example, looks incredibly fake and stupid. The location used is just about the only successful element; as we see the people baking in the hot sun and this helps to get their desperate situation across. Anyone going into this film is liable to be extremely disappointed as there are no sharks at all for most of the film (excluding some stock footage) and they don't appear until the last ten minutes. By then, it would have taken something really special to create some excitement, but predictably; we are only served more disappointment.

Having seen this film twice now - which some might find unbelievable or even masochistic - I felt I had to comment on it. It's easy to pan. The music is cheesy. In fact, as my wife suggested, it sounds like a porn flick. The dialog is downright juvenile if not stupid. Its runtime is way too long. I could go on but you get the idea. So why did I watch it twice? Well, one of my guilty pleasures is bad movies and I am a devoted fan of Carroll Baker and this movie fit both bills. Strangely enough the second time around I found much to like. The underwater scenes were really well done, especially those of the corals which were absolutely spectacular. The sharks were awesome, shown in all their predatory splendor and captivating ferocity. The cyclone scenes were also really cool, especially the ones of the seawall breaking and subsequent flooding. My guess is they were filming a real cyclone as these were not studio or miniature shots. And of course it starred Carroll Baker, still a knockout at 47, even without a hint of makeup. And Arthur Kennedy, at 64, in another trademark performance. Seeing him in this megalomaniac turkey was akin to a pilgrimage. To be honest, had it not been for these two actors I would not have bothered to see the film let alone review it.