Director: John Shepphird
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Creature Feature
Plot:
After a rare species of shark are brought up from the depths due to the renovation undertaken at a small town on the New Jersey Shore, the colorful locals band together with each other to defeat the creatures after the authorities doubt their existence and keep the beaches safe.
Review:
This one is just so ridiculous and cheesy that it's worth the effort. So much good here comes by parodying the lifestyle portrayed exactly, from the spoofs of the characters from the show and its overall set-up, the mocking of the lifestyle and slang to finally the guest cameos that the utter joy gathered during those scenes provides plenty of laughs, chuckles and outrageous moments that are effective and truly funny. Beyond this, the film gets plenty to like here when it gets to the shark attacks as they're quite brutal and bloodier than expected so though it's still mostly the spreading-bloodstain-on-the-surface variety it does have some more fun stuff throughout with numerous limbs bitten off, dismembered appendages and ripped up bodies featured here which comes from some more big pluses from this one as the action is totally cheesy.
That comes from the numerous encounters here, ranging from the typically shorter scenes as the group's encounter with the sharks in the caves, the brief attacks on the boating fisherman and the paddle-boat couple come off nicely while the big action scenes here are all that much more fun. There's a lot of fun to be had from their attacks on the crowded boardwalk and at the beach where there's plenty of fun throughout the scenes while the film's biggest fun-factor is the finale where the sharks attack a massive yacht, grabbing passengers off the ship and leading to a thrilling rescue before the fun of the massive shootout to stop the creatures. That final attack in the cove where they all finally come together to battle the creatures which includes the need to stop them as well as rescue the trapped swimmer which adds a bit of suspense in the scene.
The cast here is great and really worthwhile. Jeremy Luke is fun and goofy as TC, who is quite endearing. His loyalty, sense of justice and desire to do right flies in the face of what goes on in the type of setting but he makes it work which is great fun. Joseph Russo does well as his friend Donnie, the slightly more hot-headed but still loyal right-hand man. He's right beside TC and ready to offer up assistance whenever he can or talk him down when needed which is a nice counterpoint. Their friend Balzac, played by Daniel Booko almost steals the show. As the wannabe of the group, his antics are somewhat hilarious and the idiotic decision-making is quite appealing as he tries to help his friends do the right thing. Melissa Molinaro is particularly stellar as Nooki so it's obvious who she's spoofing. That comes into play in nice form here with her attitude, clothing and overall personality but she works it nicely and looks even better so it's quite appealing to see her throughout here. Her friends Alex Mauriello as J-Moni and Audi Resendez as BJ also offer up the kind of fine homage to their obvious sources and aren't as memorable but still overall quite fun. The sharks look cheesy and the story is cliché, but that counts more than anything else against the few small problems.
While this is quite notable for trying to tie the legendary attack for historical legacy, the fact that it never actually occurred in that location is a minor stumbling block since it's an actual historical date that is rewritten into the film to account for their appearance at that point in time, yet this never really holds this down as it's not important to know this to affect the film. Far more damaging is the sharks themselves, which look cheesy through utterly terrible and atrocious CGI that never looks realistic and the fish-eye-view shots are distracting with the karma symbol flashing up on-screen every time. This is the real problematic area of the film.
Overview: **** 1/2/5
Certainly one of the cheesier efforts on the channel which offers up the kind of usual flaws to be found here, there's still enough to like here to offer up some enjoyable times. This is definitely worthwhile for those that enjoy the original material being spoofed or are undiscerning fans of the cheesy exploits offered on the channel in the past, while those that are utterly intolerant of either should steer clear of this one.
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