Zombie Shark (TV Movie 2015)

Zombie Shark: Directed by Misty Talley. With Becky Andrews, Ross Britz, Carter Burch, Leslie Castay. A perfect getaway for four friends turns into survival when they fight an experimental shark.

“Zombie Shark was disappointing because it had a very interesting idea, one of SyFyu0026#39;s most original. Unfortunately, the execution was severely underwhelming, not just being visually cheap and poorly written and acted but what seemed like an original idea was executed in typical SyFy shark movie fashion, with no imagination whatsoever and only occasional splashes of fun.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe best thing about it is Roger J. Timber as Lester, Lester is a fun character, and Timber is amusing while never overplaying and always realising what type of movie heu0026#39;s in. Becky Andrews is sensual and doesnu0026#39;t overegg or underplay either, she actually gives the movie some heart, as does Laura Cayouette. The ending is also quite unexpected and poignant, as is the dynamic between Andrews and Cayouette.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSadly, the rest of the acting is poor, with the usual mix of overplaying and blandness. While it was laudable to try to give the characters back-story, some were written in an underdeveloped and overwrought way, and the movie never properly allows us to care or learn enough about them. Scripting is lazy and corny in a way that can only be achieved by SyFy, and the direction is flat.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut the worst assets of Zombie Shark are the story and the production values. Really wanted to like the story here because the concept was intriguing, but while it starts nicely the further the movie progresses the lazier, cheesier and more formulaic it gets, also making the mistake that most SyFy movies make of trying so hard to be over the top and stupid but in a painfully predictable and less than fresh way that it becomes tiresome, the scenes with the parents are pointless and bog the movie down pacing-wise. While I have seen worse-looking movies, that doesnu0026#39;t stop Zombie Shark from looking cheap, and the drab filming and sometimes sloppy editing arenu0026#39;t even the worst parts. That would be the shark effects, especially the very unfinished-looking mechanical ones. They exude little personality either, no menace, not even any unintentional goofiness, none of them even acted zombie-like, and the attack scenes apart from one mildly amusing one are sloppily edited, too brief and devoid of suspense or sense of horror. Such a waste of good potential! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall, has its moments but wastes an intriguing concept with underwhelming execution. 3/10 Bethany Cox”