For a Sunday afternoon cable movie, this was actually pretty good. Nice scenery. Bruce Boxlietner (who looks more and more like Bill Clinton...spooky) and former supermodel Carol Alt gave decent performances. And there were a few clichés that were avoided. Doc (the actor who was the Cigarette-Smoking Man on X-FILES) was behind the whole mess but he wound up arrested instead of being fed to the fish. The sheriff and the scientist didn't fall in love. Best of all, the sort of dopey deputy who had a crush on the scientist didn't get fed to the fish either. The mayor (who had really neat eyebrows) channeled Murray Hamilton long enough to give his little speech about how the town needs the tourist business so the beach must not be closed) and then vanishes from the plot.
Sure, this wasn't that original. The writer and director have obviously seen JAWS many times. The scene with the upside-down boat proved that (and there's no way I'd ever fire a gun while standing on an overturned boat but I guess a good guy's gun doesn't have recoil). There were some major plot holes in that this seemed to be a rather tiny town but people like the guy from the local newspaper and his photographer could go missing and people didn't think it strange. The final siege in the house was very much like THE KILLER SHREWS, but that may have been coincidence. And the ending was lifted whole cloth from JAWS 2 except the electricity went to the critters instead of one critter chomping down on a bazillion watt power line.
But in its own way it was fun. And compared to the usual Sci-Fi Channel movies it was a work of brilliance. With the exception of TERMINAL INVASION most of their original movies haven't been just tired, they've been exhausted.
Maybe with this one the actors had a nice vacation and got in some boating and fishing on their days off. And for a made for TV movie there's a surprising lot of blood and gore, both fish and human. The shot of the headless corpse spurting blood on the windshield was memorable, to say the least.
Best of all, this wasn't so dependent on computer generated effects. I've seen too many movies on that station that looked like video games.
Look for the appearance by the singing wall-mounted fish in the house where the final siege takes place. It sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy," and is a very nice touch.
Turn your brain off, get some snacks (or some sushi if you really want to get into it) and enjoy.
Sure, this wasn't that original. The writer and director have obviously seen JAWS many times. The scene with the upside-down boat proved that (and there's no way I'd ever fire a gun while standing on an overturned boat but I guess a good guy's gun doesn't have recoil). There were some major plot holes in that this seemed to be a rather tiny town but people like the guy from the local newspaper and his photographer could go missing and people didn't think it strange. The final siege in the house was very much like THE KILLER SHREWS, but that may have been coincidence. And the ending was lifted whole cloth from JAWS 2 except the electricity went to the critters instead of one critter chomping down on a bazillion watt power line.
But in its own way it was fun. And compared to the usual Sci-Fi Channel movies it was a work of brilliance. With the exception of TERMINAL INVASION most of their original movies haven't been just tired, they've been exhausted.
Maybe with this one the actors had a nice vacation and got in some boating and fishing on their days off. And for a made for TV movie there's a surprising lot of blood and gore, both fish and human. The shot of the headless corpse spurting blood on the windshield was memorable, to say the least.
Best of all, this wasn't so dependent on computer generated effects. I've seen too many movies on that station that looked like video games.
Look for the appearance by the singing wall-mounted fish in the house where the final siege takes place. It sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy," and is a very nice touch.
Turn your brain off, get some snacks (or some sushi if you really want to get into it) and enjoy.