O Tubarão Fantasma

In the opening minutes, expect a trio of southern-accented boaters ("rednecks") to bite the dust. They kill a great white shark, which turns into a blue-glowing "Ghost Shark". Considering later events, the story might have been better off starting with the flashback which occurs near the end. For whatever reasons, the beach community "Smallport" is quickly terrorized. Ghost sharks need to eat, too. This one, being spiritual, is not restricted to the beach. It manifests itself wherever water accumulates...

A swimming pool party, bikini car wash, leaky sink and bathtub are among the areas haunted...

Versatile director Griff Furst handles this assignment very well. The likable cast is led by Dave Davis (as Blaise Parker) and Mackenzie Rosman (as Ava Reid), both going places. Creepy lighthouse keeper Richard Moll (as Darnell Finch) may be able to solve the mystery, if he can stay sober (and stop shouting) long enough. If spirits are real and all dogs go to Heaven, the world must embrace and accept ghost sharks. The story doesn't take full advantage of the possibilities, but the shark attacks are highly amusing.

****** Ghost Shark (8/22/13) G.E. Furst ~ Dave Davis, Mackenzie Rosman, Richard Moll, Sloane Coe

Don't expect much from Ghost Shark. If you've seen Super Shark, Sand Sharks, Jersey Shore Shark Attack and even Sharknado(do the Shark Attack movies count too?) you'll know that you shouldn't expect a SyFy channel shark movie to be particularly good. Ghost Shark is a long way from good, but it is better than the first three movies listed- and the Shark Attack movies- if not quite reaching hilariously bad guilty-pleasure status like Sharknado did. And it certainly isn't the worst SyFy movie. It isn't too badly shot and edited, plus the scenery is nice, while the gore is inventive and not too cheap and the acting is adequate(especially for SyFy), Richard Moll stands out in a creepy and over-the-top performance and the female lead is likable. That is a feat though, but the dialogue is cliché-ridden, underwritten and has too much of the cheese factor. The story- deriving from a silly but potentially fun concept- is much too rushed too, which doesn't give us much time to root enough for the characters(who are little more than just-there and poorly developed stereotypes). It also veers wildly between mildly credible at best to hilariously ludicrous, with the attacks more outrageous than suspenseful or scary. The shark does look very cheap and is not particularly menacing in design or personality, goofy is more like it. In conclusion, bad but hilariously so rather than infuriatingly. 4/10 Bethany Cox

After being killed by a couple of fishermen, a great white shark is resurrected from the dead and comes back to haunt the small town of Smallport which has had its share of mystical occurrences over the years. The problem is not only that the townspeople refuse to believe some teenagers when they describe it to them but also that it doesn't need much water to manifest itself in order to kill. Now, obviously any film with a plot as far-fetched as this one, needs to be viewed with a heavy dose of humor or at least a 6-pack of beer. Be that as it may, as far as overall "shark movies" are concerned this particular picture is not one of the better films out there as it gets more and more ridiculous the further it continues. Additionally, the special effects were elementary, and the script was pretty weak as well. Likewise, there weren't any big-name actors to give it any semblance of credibility either. In short, this wasn't a good movie and I have rated it accordingly.

Another one of those gut-wrenching horrible, but oh-so-fun-to-watch, bad monster movies from the SyFy Channel. This time it is a shark that comes back as a ghost to wreck havoc and terror on a small coastal village.

Yeah, that was basically the storyline here. And seriously, who comes up with these ideas. It is so far fetched that it is actually hilarious to watch, and the storyline is so bad that you can't help but take the entire movie to be nothing more than a spoof.

A group of rednecks are out fishing when they catch a great white shark. But unable to haul it aboard their fishing vessel, they decide to kill the shark using a gun, a crossbow and a hand grenade. Mortally wounded, the shark swims off to an ancient cavern where it finally dies. But the mysterious runes on the wall in the cavern bring the shark back from death, returning as an undead ghost shark with a ferocious appetite for human flesh. With its newfound ghostly powers, the shark can appear anywhere that has water - be it fresh or salt water (oddly enough!).

The effects in "Ghost Shark" were laughable, as with most movies from the SyFy Channel, but still, it is enjoyable, because the story is so out there. And there were some really hilarious scenes where the shark gobbles up people or maul them. Watch it for yourself, trust me, you will be laughing hard at times.

The acting in the movie was actually quite good, and I must admit that it was Richard Moll that initially lured me to this movie. But it turned out to be yet another of those goofy SyFy movies that you just love to hate and won't admit to have fun watching.

You know what you get here, given the title of the movie in itself.

Ghost Shark (2013)

** (out of 4)

A group of friends grow tired of a mysterious ghost shark eating their friends so they decide to stick together and try to figure out what's going on. Yes, the title pretty much tells you everything you need to know as SyFy is back with yet another "shark" movie. While they have shown countless shark movies over the years, this one here is the first to actually tell the story of a haunted shark whose ghost attacks people. You might think this is a stupid idea, and it is, but at the same time there's no question that you've never seen anything quite like this and on that level the film remains mildly entertaining. The idea that a ghost of a shark would go around killing people is just downright silly but the film takes it to a whole 'nother level by making the ghost able to go into any sort of water. This gives us some crazy, over-the-top and at times hilarious scenes where the shark attacks a group of kids inside a pool and even a water puddle isn't safe from this thing. I really hope people don't watch a film called GHOST SHARK and expect some sort of serious, Shakespeare-like drama. Those watching this should just be into it for some cheap fun and I think the film delivers on this level. There's still no question that the film contains quite a few flaws including the fact that it simply runs out of gas towards the end, which keeps it from being better. None of the performances are what you'd call great but they're good enough for this type of material. Fans of the silly should certainly get a few kicks out of this even if it falls short of SHARKNADO.