Zombie Shark was the fifth of seven movies to make its debut on the SyFy channel during Sharknado 3 week. It aired on Monday, July 20, the second half of a double bill with 3-Headed Shark Attack. It’s the first full-length feature to be directed by Misty Talley, who had previously worked on over a dozen films as an editor or in some other editorial capacity.
Written by Greg Mitchell, whose only other solo writing credit is 2014's Snakehead Swamp, the movie’s title creature is “Bruce.” an experimental shark who has escaped from a research lab to feast on people around a small secluded island. Like a typical zombie, it’s come back to life after being killed. It can’t be killed unless its brain is destroyed. It infects anything that survives its bite. If a normal shark feeds on zombie-infected anything, it turns into a zombie shark as well. Just not as clever a zombie shark as Bruce.
Zombies are among my least favorite subjects for horror and monster movies. They rank just above the gore and torture porn sub-genre of vomitous dreck like Hostel, Saw, and The Human Centipede. I usually avoid zombie movies, but this movie had the sharks.
This is where I warn you that there are...
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie gets started when four friends take a cheap weekend trip to Redplum Island. We have Jenner [Ross Britz], girlfriend Amber [Cassie Steele], Amber’s kid sister Sophie [Sloane Coe] and well-endowed Bridgette [Becky Andrews]. Talley and Mitchell do a really good job developing these characters and making the human drama as important as the creature drama. Every major character has a story, though some are shorter than others.
Jenner? He’s a hard-working young guy of modest means. He has the respect of Amber and Sophie’s parents. But he’s young and doesn’t have the sense to stay away from the seemingly dead Bruce. When he gets eaten very early on, it becomes clear that Amber is the actual protagonist of the movie.
Amber was the wild older sister. Estranged from her parents since she had a baby at 15 and gave the child up for adaption, her only contact with her parents is through Sophie. Protecting her sister is job one for Amber.
Bridgette is the self-centered bimbo, if only at first glance. She isn’t fearless and self-preservation is her job one. But she isn’t dumb and she isn’t incapable of compassion. Indeed, she meets her end as a result of her trying to rescue a clueless TV reporter from a zombie shark. It’s a cruel moment, one of several in the movie. I’ll get back to the cruelty theme in a bit.
Every main character has their story. Lester [Roger J. Timber] is a “resort” owner on the bad side of Redplum Island, trying to make a go of it. He starts out as comedy relief, but shows some serious spine when things get deadly.
Dr. Diane Palmer [Laura Cayouette] created Bruce by accident. She was trying to create a means to allow soldiers wounded in battle to be tougher and heal faster. Her brother died in Iraq of wounds that would have been treatable had his fellow soldiers been able to get him to a proper hospital in time.
Paul [Carter Burch] is an ex-Marine who went into private security so he could spend more time with his wife and kids. He’s an heroic character, but Amber is the true hero of the film.
This movie is a whole lot better than I expected because of all the great human stories attached to the main story. But I’m not sure I actually like it because of the aforementioned cruelty. However, to explain why, I have to activate the highest warning announcement...
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
Dr. Palmer has developed a serum that can prevent the living from becoming zombies if they survive being bitten by a zombie shark or a human zombie. The plan is to lure the zombie sharks back into the research facility and blow the place up real good, destroying said sharks. With the doctor are Paul, Amber, Sophie and a still-bite-y shark head used to test the serum, which doesn’t work on already dead creatures. The plan works...with a few complications.
Palmer and Sophie go back to retrieve the serum before the base is blown up. Palmer gets bitten by the shark head and tells Sophie to get to the shore with the serum.
The facility blows up and the shock sends Sophie into the water and into the gaping maw of Bruce. The original zombie shark was smart enough not to get caught. This would be tragedy enough for the end of the movie. It gets worse.
Amber lured Bruce on to the beach and kills the shark. Something is still moving inside Bruce.
Shades of Sharknado!
It’s Sophie. Yes, It’s a derivative development, but I like happy endings, so I would have been okay with it.
Except...
When Amber cuts Sophie out of the shark, seemingly rescuing the one person she’d sworn to protect, her kid sister is a zombie. Sophie attacks Amber. To save her own life, Amber must put a knife through her sister’s brain. The serum bottle falls from Sophie’s now-still hand. My heart sank at the cruelty of that final scene.
As I have said, I’m not a fan of zombie movies. Maybe this kind of ending is common in zombie movies. But it soured me on this movie.
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
Zombie Shark is a good movie with some elements that bothered me a great deal. However, it’s an impressive directorial debut for Misty Talley. If she helms another creature feature, I would definitely watch it.
I’ll be back on Thursday with my review of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and, as a bonus, my thoughts on the Archie vs. Sharknado comic book. See you then.
© 2015 Tony Isabella
Written by Greg Mitchell, whose only other solo writing credit is 2014's Snakehead Swamp, the movie’s title creature is “Bruce.” an experimental shark who has escaped from a research lab to feast on people around a small secluded island. Like a typical zombie, it’s come back to life after being killed. It can’t be killed unless its brain is destroyed. It infects anything that survives its bite. If a normal shark feeds on zombie-infected anything, it turns into a zombie shark as well. Just not as clever a zombie shark as Bruce.
Zombies are among my least favorite subjects for horror and monster movies. They rank just above the gore and torture porn sub-genre of vomitous dreck like Hostel, Saw, and The Human Centipede. I usually avoid zombie movies, but this movie had the sharks.
This is where I warn you that there are...
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
SPOILERS AHEAD
The movie gets started when four friends take a cheap weekend trip to Redplum Island. We have Jenner [Ross Britz], girlfriend Amber [Cassie Steele], Amber’s kid sister Sophie [Sloane Coe] and well-endowed Bridgette [Becky Andrews]. Talley and Mitchell do a really good job developing these characters and making the human drama as important as the creature drama. Every major character has a story, though some are shorter than others.
Jenner? He’s a hard-working young guy of modest means. He has the respect of Amber and Sophie’s parents. But he’s young and doesn’t have the sense to stay away from the seemingly dead Bruce. When he gets eaten very early on, it becomes clear that Amber is the actual protagonist of the movie.
Amber was the wild older sister. Estranged from her parents since she had a baby at 15 and gave the child up for adaption, her only contact with her parents is through Sophie. Protecting her sister is job one for Amber.
Bridgette is the self-centered bimbo, if only at first glance. She isn’t fearless and self-preservation is her job one. But she isn’t dumb and she isn’t incapable of compassion. Indeed, she meets her end as a result of her trying to rescue a clueless TV reporter from a zombie shark. It’s a cruel moment, one of several in the movie. I’ll get back to the cruelty theme in a bit.
Every main character has their story. Lester [Roger J. Timber] is a “resort” owner on the bad side of Redplum Island, trying to make a go of it. He starts out as comedy relief, but shows some serious spine when things get deadly.
Dr. Diane Palmer [Laura Cayouette] created Bruce by accident. She was trying to create a means to allow soldiers wounded in battle to be tougher and heal faster. Her brother died in Iraq of wounds that would have been treatable had his fellow soldiers been able to get him to a proper hospital in time.
Paul [Carter Burch] is an ex-Marine who went into private security so he could spend more time with his wife and kids. He’s an heroic character, but Amber is the true hero of the film.
This movie is a whole lot better than I expected because of all the great human stories attached to the main story. But I’m not sure I actually like it because of the aforementioned cruelty. However, to explain why, I have to activate the highest warning announcement...
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
SUPER SPOILERS AHEAD
Dr. Palmer has developed a serum that can prevent the living from becoming zombies if they survive being bitten by a zombie shark or a human zombie. The plan is to lure the zombie sharks back into the research facility and blow the place up real good, destroying said sharks. With the doctor are Paul, Amber, Sophie and a still-bite-y shark head used to test the serum, which doesn’t work on already dead creatures. The plan works...with a few complications.
Palmer and Sophie go back to retrieve the serum before the base is blown up. Palmer gets bitten by the shark head and tells Sophie to get to the shore with the serum.
The facility blows up and the shock sends Sophie into the water and into the gaping maw of Bruce. The original zombie shark was smart enough not to get caught. This would be tragedy enough for the end of the movie. It gets worse.
Amber lured Bruce on to the beach and kills the shark. Something is still moving inside Bruce.
Shades of Sharknado!
It’s Sophie. Yes, It’s a derivative development, but I like happy endings, so I would have been okay with it.
Except...
When Amber cuts Sophie out of the shark, seemingly rescuing the one person she’d sworn to protect, her kid sister is a zombie. Sophie attacks Amber. To save her own life, Amber must put a knife through her sister’s brain. The serum bottle falls from Sophie’s now-still hand. My heart sank at the cruelty of that final scene.
As I have said, I’m not a fan of zombie movies. Maybe this kind of ending is common in zombie movies. But it soured me on this movie.
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
SPOILERS OVER
Zombie Shark is a good movie with some elements that bothered me a great deal. However, it’s an impressive directorial debut for Misty Talley. If she helms another creature feature, I would definitely watch it.
I’ll be back on Thursday with my review of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and, as a bonus, my thoughts on the Archie vs. Sharknado comic book. See you then.
© 2015 Tony Isabella
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