Sci-Fi Channel Original Hammerhead: Shark Frenzy Review

At the very least, this is a movie involving a shark, and it's not a Great White. Then again, it's not exactly a Hammerhead either. This is a stem cell born beastie with the features of a Hammerhead and a human. It seems that DNA experiments gone wrong aren't "in" anymore; it's time to enter the era of stem cell experiments gone wrong.

As is the norm for a Nu Image made-for-TV flick, the title creature is a mix of average CG and a rubber suit. Neither is very effective, and there are very few full shots. Bloody people-being-eaten scenes are rapidly stitched together just long enough for the viewer to figure out that an appendage is being ripped off. That's the only thing right here, as the predictable high and bloody body count continues to climb in between the rest of this torture.

Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) plays his usual mad scientist role with little enthusiasm, adding to the laughable dialogue. His experiments, shown with little explanation as to how he funded this or managed to find humans to participate, aren't just limited to mutating humans. He also created man-eating plants, if only to recreate far better scenes from the Evil Dead.

Certain scenes seem to have no purpose or explanation as to why they're happening. Padding takes the form of generic, cheesy, action sequences that last far too long. They also feature the world's worst marksmen, as they're able to hit everything other than the people they're aiming for.

Even for fans of gore, there's no possible way to find this enjoyable. It's not the worst junk the Sci-Fi channel has used to fill their Saturday night slot this year; it's just borderline close. You know you're watching a classic when they don't have the budget to a spark as a bullet ricochets off an object, instead opting for blatantly obvious CG. That's how the entire film feels: Cheap and lazy.

Comments (2)

stevie sullivan:

when are you going to be playing this movie again, it looks really good. and there not using a great white shark. so email me back and let me when it is playing again and what time it will be please

Me personally? I don't plan on showing it again at all. The Sci-Fi Channel on the other hand, they don't have have it scheduled at all for the next month. Just keep checking their site, www.scifi.com

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

Blog Hosting by Meancode Media



Breaking Windows is © 2003
by Ken Edwards and Matt Paprocki. Some Rights Reserved.
Contact Ken: ken [at] meancode [dot] com
Contact Matt: videogamer [at] bex [dot] net

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of any corporation, business entity, group or club the author has ever been associated with. Feel free to quote anything I say but do me the courtesy of a link back (see Creative Commons license).

Blogcritics Magazine

Social Networking

Mac Headlines

Read up-to-date headlines on everything Mac.

Content provided by prMac.

ESRB Search

Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Enhanced with Snapshots