Doll Shark (2023) by Mark and Anthony Polonia

Director: Mark Polonia, Anthony Polonia

Year: 2023

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Sharks

Plot:

After killing a sacred shark, a fisherman gifts his estranged son a shark toy from his favorite show as a present, but when a series of deaths around them occurs come to believe the doll is possessed by the spirit of the shark he killed and is out for revenge forcing him to save his son from the creature.

Review:

This was an exceptionally goofy and cheesy genre effort. That starts with the opening premise here where the means of bringing the sharks' spirit into the doll plushy is so inherently goofy and silly that it's nearly impossible not to think how ludicrous the whole thing is. That extends nicely into the means of how the bits involving its possessed nature continue to go unnoticed as this setup plays out with the doll eating food unknowingly, scaring away others from the property, or appearing in areas where no one last left it. Given a snide remark to signal the next victim, this creates a perfectly endearing setup.

As well, that carries over into the attack scenes which are just as goofy and cheesy throughout here. Not only keeping the same style and energy of action as the other scenes here, the silliness of a puppet coming to life and killing people, but the outcome of these scenes also provides such outrageous scenes like the attack on the swingers, the massacre of the robber who breaks into the house or taking out the group of dates arrive looking for a fun time. Providing some goofy gore effects to go along with this type of action, these all manage to provide quite a lot to like here featuring this style of content.

The main factor here for the film's cheesiness, though, beyond all of this is the wholly cheesy and silly effects featured here. The main shark is obviously a normal plushy puppet manipulated by camera movements and other handheld tactics which is exactly the kind of work necessary here due to the type of film this is. It only enhances the overall cheesy atmosphere by showing off the cuddly plush toy as the main creature, either as the normal version of the creature or as the demonic version that appears once it changes form, that may or may not be an enjoyable factor for some who might not like the overt cheesiness.

Outside of this feature, there are some rather big issues to be had with the film. Outside of the aforementioned cheesiness, there's the usual assortment of factors in these types of films ranging from nonsensical editing choices, bizarre technical factors that showcase a rushed guerilla-style production value, and just a general favoring absurdity at the expense of any form of logical human behavior. Some of this might be completely off-putting due to the shoddy nature of it all, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the content within, but it's all to be expected here as it falls in line with other work of this type.

Overview: ***.5/5

A perfectly fun and enjoyable genre effort hurt only by forces expected of it, there's quite a lot to like here which gives this the kind of straightforward appeal it was always going to be. Simply put, those who appreciate this brand of indie effort or are fans of the creative crew will want to seek it out while all others should heed caution if not outright avoid it.