Killer Shark

A corrupt Louisiana sheriff named "Sheriff Watson" (Robert Davi) is buying rare and exotic animals and reselling them for a profit. In one particular purchase, a strange but exceedingly deadly type of shark is brought to him but manages to escape into the bayou. Not far from there is a family-owned restaurant called "the Gator Shed" which is run by "Rachael Bouchard" (Kristy Swanson) with the help of her brother "Jason Bouchard" (Jeff Chase) and younger sister "Krystal Bouchard" (Sophie Sinise). Naturally, since the shark needs to feed, and an annual celebration nearby called the "Gator Fest" just happens to have plenty of people frolicking in the water, things begin to get rather dicey for all concerned rather quickly. So much for the plot which is, of course, very similar to "Jaws" and several of its sequels and clones. Nothing really new. Along with that the acting wasn't that good, some of the scenarios bordered on the ridiculous and the special effects left much to be desired. On the other hand, this film had some decent suspense and a few attractive young ladies (like the aforementioned Kristy Swanson and Sophie Sinise) to keep things interesting. Even so, the good points simply weren't sufficient to overcome the flaws mentioned earlier and as a result it's difficult to rate this film higher than I have. Slightly below average.

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-

A small Louisiana town prepares for their annual summertime Gator Fest while a mysterious tanker truck arrives in town. For reasons not entirely clear, it is delivering a shark to nasty sheriff Robert Davi (as Watson). The shark breaks out and runs amok in the swamp. It begins to munch on people, leaving behind body parts to look gross for the camera, when discovered. The "Swamp Shark" also snacks on alligators needed for the Gator Fest. Taking charge of the unfortunate situation is gun-savvy blonde bar restaurant owner Kristy Swanson (as Rachel Bouchard). She is assisted by mysterious stranger-in-town D.B. Sweeney (as Tommy Breysler) and big, southern-accented brother Jeff Chase (as Jason)...

This is "Jaws" (1975) in a swampy southern setting. Producer Ken Badish and director Griff Furst pull out the usual bag of shark tricks. There are a couple of intriguing relationships that go nowhere. Original vampire-slaying "Buffy" Swanson is obviously having a sexual relationship with handsome younger Richard Tanne (as Tyler), reversing usual gender roles. Also, servile busboy Jason Rogel (as Martin) unexpectedly yearns for Swanson's sexy young sister Sophie Sinise (as Krystal). Having either of these end unexpectedly would have lifted the story. There is nothing too suspenseful, but Mr. Furst is very good at staging non-shark interplay, giving the characters and script more life than you'd expect.

***** Swamp Shark (6/25/11) G.E. Furst ~ Kristy Swanson, Robert Davi, Richard Tanne, Sophie Sinise

This is a SyFy production and it's a typical one. Again, it's a creature against humanity and here we have to do with a shark, sadly, the shark is as always for SyFy CGI and badly done. The acting is by some wooden and the movie doesn't starts at any moment. It all takes too long before the shark attacks and even that isn't bloody or gory. The shark comes and goes a few times before he bites of a head in pure CGI style. There are some weird things too, when it starts to rain it rains only above one boat. The other boat a bit further doesn't have any rain and stranger is that the boat that is in the rain , well, the people on it doesn't get soaking wet. Their clothes stay dry, maybe it's so hot in the swamps... Not my cup of tea, one to watch and forget. And just this, if the people behind this kind of flicks want to tease with nudity then show it but don't just cut it out. SyFy didn't convince me here...

(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.