Omoo-Omoo the Shark God (1949) User Reviews

Fish and octopuses

[vitachiel · 2/10 · 20 December 2018]

There is only one thing noticeable about this movie. No, it's not the b-movie chic, the exotica, the dramatic musical score, the thin love story, the wild animals or the clumsy fighting scenes. It's not the lousy acting, the fake English-speaking natives, the mysterious pearls or the childish storyline. No, the special scene to look out for is the one in which two of the characters look out from the ship into the sea. Next we just see fish and octopuses going after each other, minutes long, while one of the characters gives a description of what happens there in the depth of the sea (which is clearly visible as an aquarium).

How on earth...

Fair adventure movie based on a novel by the author of Moby Dick fame...

[dwpollar · 4/10 · 18 February 2007]

1st watched 2/18/2007 - 4 out of 10(Dir-Leon Leonard): Fair adventure movie based on a novel by the author of Moby Dick fame, Herman Melville. This movie is about the captain of a ship who had stolen the eyes(that were extremely rare black pearls) from a native tribe's God sculpture and hidden them somewhere that only he knew about before leaving the Island of Tivi. He got very sick and was on a secret voyage to go back to the island to retrieve the pearls for himself while others(like his daughter) thought that he was going back to be treated by the local medicine man. Others didn't know the reason for the voyage. A stowaway actually knew the real reason for the trip -- to return the eyes to their God. The silly part is that the pearls were hidden very close to the statue and all this time the natives ran their tribe without their God having eyes(causing them all kinds of problems). Along the way, we are treated(for some reason) to a short underwater nature show with an electric eel fighting a local octopus(I guess only Herman Melville knows what this was all about). Once they get to the island, the Captain dies but passes the whereabouts of the pearls to his daughter but she also gets the sickness curse as well. One of the bad guys finds out where the God is housed and convinces the daughter to go there and steal back the pearls but at this point the good guys find out what's going on and a fight ensues. I won't tell you the results of the fight or the ending, I'll leave that up to you to find out if you want. As I said earlier, the movie was OK, but some very silly things that I've already mentioned lessened it's impact. I wonder if that new "Pirates of the Caribbean" got some of it's plot from this one ---hmm… black pearls, a curse( I wonder…) Well, it doesn't matter, those elements didn't make for a very good movie in this case or the other. It seems they would learn they're lesson, but with the money rolling in on that newer movie I'm sure they won't. Oh well.

Oh, I think that you can spare an hour for pure silliness.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 22 February 2016]

Saturday afternoon matinées were filled with Z grade bunk like this, and with a temporary end to the Tarzan series, Jungle Jim and Bomba would take their place. But, there are 52 Saturdays in a year, so there had to be more than those films, the Bowery Boys and various Z grade westerns to get the young juvenile crowd in. So Abbott and Costello, Ma and Pa Kettle and Francis the Talking Mule had a predecessor to their screening along with the last of the comedy shorts and serials, these otherwise un-bookable third tier films would never have seen the light of day.

Made with a low budget that couldn't have topped $50,000, this comes from a poverty row studio that I had never even heard of up until now yet starring actors I was fairly familiar with, this is silliness taken to the max, the often "uh oh, there goes the neighborhood" theme of greedy civilized explorers out to hunt pearls and wild life without regards to the islanders whose lives they turn upside down. This was done so much better and on higher budgets (in color) featuring such lovelies as Dorothy Lamour, Maria Montez and Yvonne de Carlo, who while not acting school graduates, offered sincere (or at least campy) performances. The same cannot be said for vixen Devera Burton who has the drama education equivalence of Acquanetta.

Plenty of stock jungle footage as old as Trader Horn is used to show the wildlife of the jungle, so if the kids weren't being entertained, at least they got a crash course in biology. I've seen a ton worse than this among the Z programmers and it gave me a few laughs. So an hour was worth it, and in coming from public domain DVD king Alpha Video, the price was right as well.

It's Called Camp

[Michael_Elliott · 29 February 2008]

Oomo-Oomo, The Shark God (1949)

** (out of 4)

This year I'm trying to track down some of the rarer horror movies and I'm not going to lie when I say I've seen a lot of horror films. However, I believe this little rarity is perhaps the lowest budgeted film I've ever seen. I'm not sure what the actual budget was but I'd be shocked if it were over a couple grand. A ship full of men head to an unknown Pacific island so that they can steal the diamond eyes of a sacred shark god. This god is protected by voodoo folks and you know what happens when the diamonds are stolen. I'm giving this thing two stars simply because I just watched it in amazement at how many corners the producer's took to keep the budget down. All the "horror" items are kept pretty much off screen and we're only told about them through narration. The sound effects are cheap as hell as you can tell it just seems like a record being played in the background. The only good moment is some nice stock footage of underwater scenes including an octopus being killed and eventually eaten by thousands of fish.

Its the title that you'll remember

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 12 August 2009]

A ship heads to Tahiti in order to recover some hidden pearls. The captain of the ship is sick, a native stowaway insisting that the illness is tied to the captains stealing of two huge black pearls that were the eyes of the natives' shark god statue. Its greed, romance and spliced in nature footage as some of the crew seek to make things right while others are looking for the treasure. Nominally based on a Herman Melville story this is mostly a concoction of Hollywood story telling with a Bengal tiger figuring prominently into the story (wasn't this about a shark god?).Creaky set bound film best known for its unique title rather than for any quality or lack there of. Neither good nor bad the film just sort of is. It's the type of thing that one used to run across at 3am on the Late and then half remember in the daylight. In this case it's the sort of thing that you remember the title of because it sounds so silly. Worth a look only if you need to know what is hidden behind the legendary title of the film. All others are advised to look elsewhere. (and if you do pick this up with the intention of doing so make sure its part of one of the numerous multi-film packs that it appears in so you get maximum bang for your buck)

Oh, jeeees.

[thethrill · 1/10 · 11 November 1999]

Oh, Man, talk about the effect of advertising. Apparently, all that you have to do to enjoy box office succes is title your movie after a revered 19th century novel. Horrendous acting, directing, and cinematography in this sham of an effort.

Cheap....really, really cheap.

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 22 March 2019]

In the 1930s-50s, double features were the norm. The A-picture was longer, bigger budgeted and drew in the audiences. The B-picture, on the other hand, was cheaper, shorter and were generally less refined. A few of the Bs were quite good--such as "I Walked With a Zombie" and many of the series films, such as Charlie Chan and Boston Blackie. But most were not so hot...quickly made and less memorable than the As. Many tiny studios rented space in major studio lots and filmed at night...and their products were mostly terrible. Among the terrible Bs, "Omoo-Omoo the Shark God" is particularly bad...yet inexplicably I watched it!

The story is based on Herman Melville's second novel I have never read it, nor has anyone else other than English teachers...but I assume this cheap film probably has little to do with Melville. The story begins on a crappy ship with a particularly crappy crew. Soon, the captain becomes ill--and no one seems to know what's the matter with him. A stowaway says he knows...the captain is cursed because long ago he stole the pearl eyes from their shark god. And, until they are returned, he and the people of this small island are cursed. Can the curse be lifted? And, can they find these lost pearls?

The biggest problem with this film is that it is jam-packed with irrelevant stock footage. A long series of mostly aquarium fishes are shown at one point as the narrator talks about them like they are killers of the sea. Most were cheap baitfish or a tiny stingray! Later, they show a tiger fight. The fight is very grainy and lousy...plus what are tigers doing on an island near Tahiti???!!! Filler...that's all this is. And, considering this B is only 52 minutes (very short for a B), it's amazing that perhaps 10 minutes of it consists of this crappy footage. As far as the acting, direction and look of the film goes, they are mostly second and third-rate. Overall, a film that deserves to have a much lower score than 3.2!

By the way, my friend Angelo thinks this is among the worst films ever made. Sadly, I've seen a lot more older films...and have seen many that make "Omoo-Omoo" look half decent by comparison. Try "Maniac" or "Sex Madness"...you'll see what I mean!

Bad Karma from the sharks

[bkoganbing · 1/10 · 14 April 2015]

Imagine my shock to learn that this film was based on a Herman Melville novel. I checked into Wikipedia and learned that Omoo-Omoo The Shark God was a sequel novel to Melville's first published work Typee. The film adaption of Typee was nothing to write home about. But next to this it is Citizen Kane. I'm sure the book was nothing like what we get here.

Now if you said this was an Edgar Allan Poe story I might believe it better. A schooner bound for the South Seas is on a mission to recover two stolen black pearls that Captain Trevor Bardette stashed before he could get away. Those black babies were the eyes of the native Shark God, Omoo-Omoo. And Omoo-Omoo has tossed some mighty bad karma in the direction of Bardette and later his daughter Devera Burton.

Ron Randell one of the crew of Bardette's schooner has made friends with Chief Pedro DeCordoba and he's working to recover the pearls without a finder's fee, just a chance to get away alive and with Ms. Burton. But the rest of that crew wants those pearls.

I can only imagine what Herman Melville would have thought of this. This one is cheap all around. No color which would have been a must for a story set in the South Seas. The players looked pained delivering the dialog probably because it was so bad and because they were worried their salary checks might not clear. Lots of stock footage from various jungle films used and some shots from an aquarium no doubt.

Probably they had no shark footage so a tiger which we all know is native to the Pacific Islands is brought in to do the shark god's dirty work.

Don't criticize Ed Wood for making bad films before you see this.

I wish there was a rating lower than "1"

[JohnHowardReid · 1/10 · 2 December 2013]

Camp? No! Well made? No! Good acting? No! Competent director? No! In fact this is the only film directed by Leon Leonard. Thrilling screenplay? No! In fact, this is also the only film written by Leon Leonard. Before he surfaced for Omoo, Leonard's only other association with the movies occurred way back in 1930 in which he acted in a Rudy Vallee short called "Campus Sweethearts" and was actually billed ahead of Ginger Rogers. Solid production values? No! Made on a shoestring budget? Definitely! Moody photography? Yes! Thank you, Benjamin H. "Tough Assignment" Kline! Based on the 1847 novel by Herman Melville? Sort of! Other info: Aside from a small, uncredited part in "The Threat" (1949), this is the only film appearance of its female "star", Devera Burton. The male star, however, Australian actor, Ron Randell who played the title role in "Smithy" (1946), went on to have a most distinguished career on the Broadway stage which, oddly enough, ran parallel to an extensive movie (mostly minor films) and TV career (mostly – except for the "O.S.S." series in which he played Captain Frank Hawthorn – "guest" roles). Available on a very good Alpha DVD.

Amazon Prime Filler

[JoeB131 · 4/10 · 16 October 2021]

Ah, yes, Amazon Prime does need it's filler, and what better than old Poverty Row exploitation films from the 1940's.

The movie claims to be based on a Herman Melville story, but one you probably never heard of so you can't check it.

The plots, such as it is, is that a sea captain stole two giant black pearls that served as the eyes of a shark god idol, and is now returning to Tahiti to get a "tabu" curse lifted from him. He hid the pearls, but members of his crew beat him to death and manipulate his daughter into showing them where they are.

Since this is a Poverty Row exploitation film, we have large chunks filled with nature photography, including fish in an aquarium being seen side on instead of overhead, and animals like tigers and orangutans which are not native to Tahiti.

But on it's good side, it's actually kind of enlightened for 1949. The natives aren't shown as being "Savage" and kind of in the right, while the white people are shown as the greedy villains who get their comeuppance. It ends with the pearls being returned to the shark god idol.

So, um yeah, not as bad as people are making it out to be.

Melville mashed - but forgotten sultry starlet Devera Burton entry

[Bofsensai · 2/10 · 1 September 2016]

More masochistic movie musings, because this is an effort almost hardly worth entering a review as there is little of note to keep your attention;

EXCEPT, that is, for the fact that this stars what seems to be the only film that sultry, dark eyed, full (bottom) lipped (á la A. Jolie style) forgotten starlet beauty Devera Burton appeared in: unfortunately the copy I saw seemed to be mostly shot too darkly in shadow and many of her appearances profile or mid distance; but about three quarters of the way through (c.45 / 6 min. mark) having come into possession (from gone mad dead dad, captain of the ship) - and thus been possessed herself - by the titular Omoo Omoo Shark God's black pearl eyes curse, she's given a full frame, lit face shot in which to emote almost in a M. Monroe style c. 'Don't Bother to Knock' era. And for that alone, it was worth the price of the time given to watch entry.

So, if you do decide she is worth catching (she deserves it; she's gorgeous!), you can also savour the scene where she staring out from the top deck of the eighteenth century schooner, over the ocean, joined by the obviously far more educated doctor, he warns her not to go for a swim (she's 'decked' out in eighteenth century attire: did such womenfolk really leap off the poop deck for a dip in those days?), since directs her attention to a battle between denizens of the deep below (Octopus and Moray eel) all of which is shown that as from their vantage point, they can see through the ocean down to the seabed in pristine (aquarium!*) detail. (PLOT SPOILER?: "For as long as that octopus lives - there can be no peace." - um, for the shoals of fish that is, which are then soundtracked to what seems to be the music usually used for attacking Indians in Westerns. - And to its music, there's also some occasional nice 'weirdy' theremin use, too.) Having got that far, there's also one or two more daft delivery lines to listen out for: check the quotes sidebar.

* another reviewer already noted how the Octopus tentacles clearly come up against some clear obstruction .. but which, if you like Octopi, provides good views of them, though - so credit due to presumably (possibly), from the title card credits, "Optical effects: Consolidated Film Industries".

Oh, by the way: yes, it's based (mashed up?) on a Herman Melville book=double bill it with Greg Peck's 'Moby Dick'!

I'd watch this agian just for the 15 minute octopus battle

[shannonpatricapratt · 8/10 · 21 January 2019]

I am a B movie whore and this film has it all! Let me tell you what it's done right. Drunken overly long explanations about 15 minute octopus fights brought to you by Mutual of Omaha and some guys fish tank. Old white guys pretending to be South Pacific Chiefs who talk like Tonto, burlesque inspired dances in front of hilariously innacurate stone idols. Bad acting from 1940's eye candy who obviously slept Ruth the dye tie yo get the role . Akwardly uncomfortable love scenes, lions, tigers and monkeys oh my! Campy wham, bam, gazzam fights with pirouetting gun slingers. Screamy weak willed women gone Smeagle under the influence of cursed pearls and a little mutiny. It's completely terrible and that what makes it so delicious. You find your self rooting for Omoo Omoo Shark God.

"On third night, not before, Shark God must again have eyes."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 17 January 2008]

With a title like "Omoo-Omoo The Shark God" I was making room on my Top Ten Worst Movie List for a possible contender, but you know, this wasn't all that bad. Just goes to show you that initial impressions can be deceiving. The first thing to get my double take reaction was seeing that the picture was based on a Herman Melville novel in the opening credits. If Omoo shares the same heritage as Moby Dick, it can't be all that bad.

The story has to do with a pair of stolen black pearls of great wealth; they were the eyes of the shark god on the island of Taviti, just off the tip of Sumatra. The shark god is represented by a large stone statue revered by the island inhabitants, but without it's eyes to distinguish good from evil, the islanders have run up a string of bad luck resulting in a drought and poor crops. The captain of the Schooner Julie is returning to Taviti to finally claim the pearls he tried to steal the first time around, but wound up abandoning when the island drums drove him mad.

The story adds intrigue by having the crew of the Julie take sides in the quest, with the Captain (Trevor Bardette) succumbing to an illness that is treated by a stowaway aboard ship. Tembo (Rudy Robles) is the son of the island Chief Tari (Pedro de Cordoba), and uses a combination of native medicine and mumbo jumbo to give the captain a temporary fix to make it to the island. However when the captain succumbs to his malady, the illness is passed on to his daughter by way of the voodoo like curse. It's up to good guy Jeff Garland (Ron Randell) to set things right by convincing Julie (Devera Burton) that the treasured pearls belong to Omoo-Omoo after all.

I wasn't expecting all the stock footage the film employs to display island wildlife the way it did, particularly the pair of tigers doing battle about midway through. At first I didn't think it probable that tigers would be part of the landscape, but Sumatra is known for it's own species of big cat, so I guess that wasn't so much of a stretch. Earlier, there was a scene where Julie and Garland observe an underwater battle between an octopus and a moray eel. The logistics of the scene don't work at all, but it was entertaining enough to gloss over the believability factor. If you watch closely though, you'll notice the tentacles of the octopus push up against the side of the aquarium glass that it was filmed in.

Anyway, taking the Herman Melville connection and combining it with the "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" flavor of the greed among the participants vying for the black pearls, you have an entertaining enough story for it's mere fifty eight minute length. Say now, Black Pearl, someone might be able to take that concept and really run with it. Hey, wait a minute...

Genuinely entertaining and amusing

[zacharymccorquodale · 10/10 · 27 July 2019]

First thing you need to know is that there a scene where a man runs out of ammo in his revolver so he just chucks the unloaded weapon at his enemy. Fascinating.

All these people are rating 1 star acting like it should've been a masterpiece. It's a 57 minute movie from 1949 about a shark god, it's gonna be cheesy. Go in expecting a cheesy old adventure movie and you'll come out having enjoyed it.