Ice Sharks

Hunters disappear in the Canadian Arctic area near the open water. A bunch of pretty mean sharks is to blame for that. A research station sinks 80 ft below the surface when the ice breaks, and while their oxygen is running low, David (Edward DeRuiter), Tracy (Jenna Parker), Michael (Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau who looks like a surfer from Hawaii because he is a surfer from Hawaii) and Alex (Clarissa Thibeaux) are looking for a way to escape. Many sharks, no weapons, and then the extreme cold...

If you are willing to ignore the abysmal special effects, you get a decent thriller about a rescue mission. What is the last place where you'd want to be when sharks are in the water? Yes, locked in under water with them, and this movie manages to keep up the tension, the script is better than others of the genre (although I still wonder why the scientists tell the rescue experts how to do their job), and the acting isn't too awful, either. It obviously is a C movie version of 'Deep Blue Sea', but it is watchable.

Have made no secret in the past of intensely disliking, and even outright hating a lot, a vast majority of The Asylum's and SyFy's (near-universally maligned for good reason) output, though there is curiosity as to whether they are capable of making something good and compulsive about their output's badness. Admittedly, both The Asylum and SyFy do have a small group of watchable films and the occasional (big emphasis on that word) above average one, unfortunately outweighed by the lacklustre at best and often dreadful films they churn out.

Am not going to say that 'Ice Sharks' is a good film because it isn't. Far from it. At the same time, 'Ice Sharks' is actually one of the more halfway watchable low budget shark films, which in general do not have a good reputation. Especially those from either SyFy, The Asylum or a collaboration of both. Took 'Ice Sharks' for what it was and what it intended to be, as is the intent with every film watched by me, and in a way it was more or less what was expected, in terms of its problems, but also much better in overall quality.

There are certainly obvious strikes against 'Ice Sharks'. The low budget definitely does show, especially in the risible special effects which strictly speaking are not worth mentioning really at a risk at going on a rant about them alone all night. The script is weak, with cheesy humorous moments, mawkish serious ones that feel like padding and rambling gibberish (for a SyFy/Asylum collaboration that was not unexpected).

Story-wise, 'Ice Sharks' is incredibly silly with ridiculousness taken to extremes, its logical lapses in number and quality deserving another all-night rant of their own but that's another story. The music is very intrusive and repetitive, with the sound seeming at times to favour it over the dialogue. The characters are sketchy in development and pretty bland in writing, most far from convincing in their occupation with Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau especially looking out of place and like he accidentally boarded the wrong plane.

On the other hand, there were surprisingly enough elements that made 'Ice Sharks' watchable, as long as you judge it as a semi-guilty pleasure at best and not as a good film. The scenery is nice and, regardless of how they look and the lack of expert knowledge on sharks, the sharks have personality and some menace. The shark action is a sizable amount, and it is surprisingly more suspenseful and less overboard-goofy than one usually finds in low budget shark films, especially for one from SyFy/Asylum.

Although the story is far from great, it is not dull either and there is enough to maintain attention and intrigue. Enough is fun and suspenseful as long as it is not taken too seriously, most low budget creature films don't have that distinction so credit is due here. For this type of film too, the acting remarkably, considering the flawed character and script writing, is not too bad at all, they at least look engaged and look as though they were trying (when it comes to other low-budget films seen recently this was something of a refreshment).

Summing up, far from great, or even good, but one can do with far worse when taking into account the dubious general reputation of SyFy/The Asylum films and low budget shark films. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Its something to make fun about! It sparkes a lot of conversations because it is so far fetched

What we have here is another of the great "Sharks" series of movies. You will want to add this to your collection.

A group of scientists at a research facility based in the Arctic (Actually filmed in Utah, USA) battle a breed of sharks that have the ability to navigate ice.

Love To Eat Them dumb peoples, dumb peoples What I Love to Eat, Bite They Little Heads Off, Nibble on They Tiny Feet. Sorry B. Kliban.

This has all the action and even "stay in the car" scenes. You will find yourself rooting for the sharks.

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear And it shows them pearly white - Mack the Knife.

Right, well let's just be honest and agree to the fact that right from the very beginning then "Ice Sharks" doesn't really have the odds stacked to its favor, now does it? I mean, this is after all another shark movie set in an environment that normally does not encourage shark activity as such.

But hey, shark movies do come in an abundance especially in strange environments. There are "Swamp Sharks", "Sand Sharks", "Avalanche Sharks", "Atomic Sharks", and the list goes on and one.

So why do we watch these movies when they have the odds stacked against them? Well, personally I do enjoy the campy and cheesy movies like this. They usually turn out to be hilarious, just as they turn out to have more than questionable special effects.

And "Ice Sharks" is no different.

The story here is about a group of researchers or scientists working in the frigid Arctic, when they become prey to a particularly aggressive type of sharks.

The special effects in "Ice Sharks" were adequate, although you should take this with a pinch of salt. You know what you are getting into beforehand sitting down to watch a movie with a title such as "Ice Sharks".

As for the acting, well I will say that people were doing fair enough jobs with their roles, taking into considerations the restrictions and limitations imposed upon them by the script.

For a shark movie, then "Ice Sharks" turned out to be in the lower part of the enjoyment scale. It wasn't a particularly fun or entertaining movie, and there are far better shark movies available.