SEA BEAST is a rip-roaring little B-movie that shamelessly rips off the likes of PREDATOR in its tale of a marauding sea monster that comes up on land to stalk and eat hapless human prey, utilising its ability to make its invisible in the meantime. Hell, at one point the hero even says "It bleeds..." and you can almost see the scriptwriters winking at the viewers.
Like most B-movies, this film has its problems. The direction is slightly meandering, but at least the director avoids that annoying and pointless shaky-cam so beloved of B-flick helmers in recent years. The script is hardly polished; we're subjected to padded lines like "If we lose our heads, we're dead" and "I saw it...with my own eyes" and the no-name cast hardly give remarkable performances.
And yet, and yet, SEA BEAST is a lot of fun, it's hard to deny. The pacing is spot on, with the viewer thrown straight into the monster action - none of that slow build up nonsense here, just mayhem and death. The CGI effects are pretty poor, yes, but you feel the animators have at least tried to do what they can with the technology available.
And it's GORY, damn it! Entrails are strewn asunder and heads torn loose, all captured with loving relish. It's hard to dislike this stuff. At one point, the chief critter gives birth to lots of little critters, like in a scene from Emmerich's ill-advised GODZILLA, but SEA BEAST definitely has the edge on that movie, as unlike GODZILLA it's a real hoot!
