Dinoshark

Dinoshark (2010)

Roger Corman presents. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? I’m a huge fan of Roger Corman from back in the day and thought it was pretty cool that he started producing a few cheesy movies for the Sci-fi channel (for new readers I refuse to use the new trendy name…). So when I saw the DVD sitting on the shelf at the store with Roger Corman presents emblazoned along the top this became a must buy for me. So lets get to the review starting with the plot synopsis.

An egg or something like it falls off a glacier and we see a bunch of tadpole looking things swim away from it. Then 3 years later the dinoshark shows up and starts eating people. The first is off the coast of Alaska, but it swims south for warmer waters. Our main characters are in Mexico and that is where they do battle. Though by battle I mean fly around the water on a series of boats as the dinoshark chows down on the locals and tourists. Eventually with the help of a scientist (played by the legendary Roger Corman) they figure out that they need to shoot it in the eye. One spear gun later it is all over. Or is it?

This is just about what I had expected when I grabbed this one off the shelf. A creature gets loose, we meet our hero, something happens that makes him want to kill the shark (it is never a good thing to be the friend in one of these movies!), and he eventually kills it. Along the way we get several kills set up for our viewing pleasure. Many bikini-clad ladies become dino chow, as well as a para sailor, surfboarder, and even a couple of sail boats. There is also a fun bit with a crocodile getting the tables turned on it. I suppose I could go into the many plot holes and/or silly things that make no sense, but the movie is called Dinoshark. If you wanted logic then you are watching the wrong movie.

Though this isn’t a perfect movie. The deaths are pretty tame and are done mostly with CGI. We do have a nice severed head ala. Jaws and there is a ½ woman washed up on the beach, but these are after the fact. All the kills are basically the same. CGI shark swims up, the person screams, and then the water is filled with “blood”. Though once in a while we do get to see a fake shark head grab them, but that is so far out of scale with the CGI creature that it is more distracting than anything else. But then again much like the lack of logic continuity issues is pretty much par for the course in a flick like this.

As a big fan of creature features I did enjoy what I saw here. It isn’t terribly memorable and the creature isn’t as much fun as say Sharktopus, but it works. Plus for a Sci-fi channel monster movie it is way better then most of the rest. Heck we even get to see Roger Corman act a bit. Not terrific, but a must watch for fans.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer