Review: 'Shark Night 3D'

Film: Shark Night 3D

Director: David R. Ellis
Cast: Sara Paxton Dustin Milligan Chris Carmack Katharine McPhee Donal Logue Joshua Leonard Joel David Moore

Rating: *

 

Shark Night is about a typical bunch of motley teenagers who get upstaged by a swarm of razor-toothed sharks. Aimed at fans of creature horror movies where beautiful people (even the nerd is quite physically ripped) are dealt a cruel hand by nature, Shark Night may not be a cup of tea  for casual viewers.

 

The snore-inducing pacing, lack of interesting characters and highly predictable direction makes one wish that they were shark bait. The plot goes something like this: when the desirable Sara (Paxton), her friends Beth (McPhee) and Maya, the nerdish Nick (Milligan), his friend Gordon (Moore), jock studs Blake and Malik  and go for a trip to her family estate on a lake, they run afoul of locals Dennis (Carmack) and Red (Leonard).

 

But crazed yokels are the least of the problems for the kids when the fresh-water lake proves to be a lurking ground for you know what.

 

Apart from Logue as the genial sheriff who turns a blind eye to the kids’ flouting of the law, there isn’t much to look forward to in terms of performances. While most of them are hammy to acceptable, McPhee’s, in particular, leads o to think she was miscast.

 

Shark Lake has few redeeming features.  Without titillation via sex or gore as most horror think they ought to, the tale that does not serve chills or thrills. The film which is steeped in ludicrousness takes itself dead seriously (apart from the post-credits rap video), calling to mind the b-cinema of yore. However, with the mostly reserved style of storytelling prevents it from scaling the heights of OTT greatness.

 

Right from the get-go, Shark Night establishes itself as one night that is meant to be slept through, or watched on television on a sleepless one.