Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002) by David Worth

Director: David Worth
Year: 2002
Country: Israel/South Africa/USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Sharks

Plot:

When a large, prehistoric shark appears off the Mexican coast, a lifeguard from a local resort and a paleontologist race to stop it from wreaking havoc on the local population looking to use the area for their own personal use as the shark soon gives way to an even more dangerous and deadly threat.

Review:

This turned out to be one of the better killer shark films out there. One of the main reasons for that is due to the excessively high quality of cheese during the film, which is found in plentiful amounts during the film. Since there's just no shortage of big action scenes to utilize here, this becomes a major selling point here in the numerous usage of stock footage to depict the shark attacks, ranging from the classic bits of footage that are then superimposed over the new footage to show the creature's extra-huge size or just filler shots to showcase it interacting with its environment, with very few scenes utilized with prosthetics.

This makes for a jarring experience at times, but it's also quite fun to watch, especially once these allow for the film to go through some rather enjoyable scenes. This here comes from the attacks utilized almost constantly as the film moves at a very fast pace, as nothing is too silent or too still for very long. There's always an important plot point or an attack by the shark to keep things moving along, starting with the opening attack on the divers, the ambushes on the different couples around the resort, and a thrilling battle out at sea where they manage to tag it after a thrilling series of encounters or the group out on patrol stopping it from attacking only to go back out to sea where the fun of watching the oblivious couple going para-sailing get attacked which are highly entertaining as well.

Of course, the course change to showcase the mother Meg's first appearance is pure cheese all the way, and the most fondly-remembered part of the movie in a particular pick-up line but is so much fun regardless of the cheese here that there's even more on offer here regardless of the shark. It's also far more suspenseful at times than it really should be, from the multitude of beach stalking to the race to get it cleared before another attack occurs and the scene of them out hunting it down when in the middle of it all one goes retrieving her shotgun in the bow of the boat, then the Meg comes crashing through the side of the boat. When mixed with the graphic, gory carnage where not only do we see the usual blood trails that occur in many of the monster shark films, but also get to see limbs being bitten off on many of the victims, there's plenty to like here.

While there are a few flaws here, mainly in the cheesy nature as how this one gets getting slightly tired of the real shots of great whites being passed off as the Megalodon. The continued use of stock footage and the same pieces of stock footage no less of the shark used three seconds earlier is shown in the opposite direction to make the shark look like it was turning around, which was a big letdown as there really was only about four different scenes of the great white used. As well, it's getting very tired in these movies of the businessmen refusing to close the beaches, even after several shark attacks. These scenes have become a trademark of these movies, and all they do is come off clichéd which happens here as they're pretty flawed as a concept. Overall, this one was pretty enjoyable and entertaining.

Overview: ****.5/5
This movie has a little bit of everything for horror fans since there's enough suspense for old-school horror fans, blood and guts for gore fans, and it's not too mind-numbing for fans of the genre. This one is recommended for killer fish movie fans and those interested in the cheesier side of the genre but those looking to find the next `Jaws' should heed caution here.