House Shark (2018) by Ron Bonk


Director: Ron Bonk
Year: 2018
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Sharks; Horror/Comedy

Plot:
After a tragic accident in their house, a man and his son come to believe that a rogue species of shark that lives on land may be responsible and is hiding out inside killing anyone who comes inside, forcing him to turn to a rag-tag team of locals that understand his plight to stop the sharks’ rampage.

Review:

Overall, this one was a lot more fun than expected. Among the film’s greatest strengths is the surprisingly grounded nature that is presented for such a ridiculous concept. The central idea of having a shark capable of living within the walls and indoor plumbing facility of a house manages to give the film a wholly goofy scenario which is played far straighter than expected given the true attempts at comedy present. A backstory given for the creature dating back to a connection between the original appearance of the species alongside the Indian tribe, itself a wholly ludicrous and over-the-top tale, manages to give the universe a decidedly ridiculous setup that’s quite adept at the style of film this becomes later on. The ridiculous nature of the antics within the final half are directly responsible and feel tonally at home here due to this starting point.

That also provides the film plenty of solid action complete with that setup. The opening attack on the toilet gives this a goofy and genuinely silly setup as it comes from underneath to take out the unsuspecting victim resulting in a crazy, bloody death. The later scene of the couple getting devoured has a lot to like as the suspenseful scenes of the shark stalking them before the attacks is quite nice, and the full-on finale here is just insane over how crazy and absolutely silly the action gets. Featuring the trio working together to try to get the shark out of the house in a complete ripoff of other segments in that film and then upping the ante in terms of sheer lunacy displayed by featuring action suited to the goofy setup here, this is goofy, fun, gory and an all-around blast to watch.

As well, the film manages enough genuine and intentional comedy to really offer a lot of laughs. Not only is the central premise of a shark species living on dry land that everyone can believe exists without question a major part of that but by ripping off and homaging major scenes outright there’s some fun featured throughout here. The fun it has with the bodily fluids or the characters being complete characterizations of the genre yet thrown a loop with several decidedly unnecessary personality twists in who they’re poking fun at are fine enough as well, but the finale that brings the utterly ridiculous shark costume onto screen that is over-the-top cheesy is a fantastic addition to how goofy and fun this one gets. That’s also one of the few flaws here since the amount of cheese present watching that costume attack the characters or perform what it does might be a tad too ridiculous for some viewers here. The length might be a turn-off simply for the duration, but beyond that, there isn’t much to dislike here.


Overview: ***.5/5
Featuring plenty of solid and enjoyable elements while only managing a few minor setbacks that will mostly be dependent on the viewer, there’s enough worthwhile elements here to make for a fun time here. Give this one a shot if you’re a fan of these goofy and silly over-the-top killer shark films or looking for something of that nature while those unwilling to dive into this style should heed caution.

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