The Last Shark (1981)
"L'ultimo squalo" (original title)

An enormous and angry 35 foot Great White Shark takes revenge on humans when they build a beach just for swimmers by a coastal town. After several shark attacks, and the Mayor does nothing ... See full summary »

Director:

Enzo G. Castellari

Writers:

Vincenzo Mannino (screenplay), Marc Princi,

Stars:

James Franciscus, Vic Morrow, Micaela Pignatelli

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Franciscus	...	Peter Benton (as James Francicus)
Vic Morrow	...	Ron Hamer
Micaela Pignatelli	...	Gloria Benton (as Micky Pignatelli)
Joshua Sinclair	...	Mayor William Wells
Giancarlo Prete	...	Bob Martin (as Timothy Brent)
Stefania Girolami Goodwin	...	Jenny Benton (as Stefania Girolami)
Gian Marco Lari
Chuck Kaufman
Gail Moore
Joyce Lee	...	Kelly Michaels, fourth victim
Don Devendorf
Bill Eudaly
Bill Starks
Rita Martin
Lance Hilliard

Storyline

An enormous and angry 35 foot Great White Shark takes revenge on humans when they build a beach just for swimmers by a coastal town. After several shark attacks, and the Mayor does nothing to stop it, James Franisscus and Vic Morrow sail in pursuit to stop it.

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Plot Keywords:

shark | shark attack | mayor | giant animal | blood stain | 

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Taglines:

A quiet, restful summer in the lazy coastal town of Port Harbor is abruptly about to end.

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Genres:

Adventure | Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Great White

Filming Locations:

Malta

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Ventures International (FVI), Horizon Film, Last Shark

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shortly before the film's release, Universal Pictures filed suit against the producers, claiming the film was too similar to Jaws, and the Australian distributors, for breach of copyright regarding Peter Benchley's book "Jaws". Universal won an injunction, and the film was pulled from theaters.

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Connections

Edited into Cruel Jaws (1995)

User Reviews

I'll never get out of this water alive

The backstory about The Last Shark is more interesting than about half the film. It was released in 1982, where it was quickly pulled out of theaters after Universal Studios sued because of its striking resemblance to their 1975 blockbuster, Jaws. It's a direct clone. Clearly, Universal was proud to own Jaws and resented this movie for its plagiarism. They had every right, but that doesn't mean this is downright terrible.

But it definitely is cheap, uninspired, tame, questionable, and, face it, not too suspenseful. The Last Shark is not only a copy, but an unsuccessful attempt to market off of one of the biggest horror films of all time. This did get a minor cult following, but not because it was good, because it was lame. If anything, this is pretty much a clone of the disastrous Jaws the Revenge. I'm sure Universal would say "by all means" if you were going to remake that. They'd add a "good luck" to that idea as well.

The storyline is typical shark film fare. A windsurfer winds up disappearing because a thirty-five foot monster that is the Great White Shark plagues the waters of Port Harbor. The self-centered, idiot mayor wants to keep silent because he fears that this will greatly kill visitors. In walks a shark-novelist (Franciscus) and a grumpy sea-lover (Morrow) who are determined to stop this beast in its tracks.

The Last Shark takes about forty minutes to get going, and once it does, it's like a halfway broken light. On, off, flicker, flicker, on for a few seconds, off for a few, on, off, flicker, flicker, blink. In the dark. Some scenes, most notably the one where a scuba-diver goes underwater to stop the shark, are interesting, while others, lack suspense and are simply provided for an odd mix of comedy and horror. The shark itself looks like a blow up doll at a fish enthusiast's ninth birthday party. It's larger than most likely any other shark in the world. Real Great Whites are only between eighteen and twenty-one feet long, and this one, is thirty-five feet.

If there is anything that disappoints the most about this film, it's the end. The ending is without a doubt the cheapest, and most ineffective way to end a shark film. I was hoping for an ending like one in Tremors 2: Aftershocks, a very well-done, exciting, worthwhile ending. You don't get that here.

Certain things about this amuse me, though. Some underwater shots are very good (when you can see past the dark and gloom), the opening music about "living on cocaine" with people wind-surfing like you are about to watch some cheap, eighties, wind-surfing tutorial, and certain shots of the shark underwater tend to spark the slightest eerie feeling inside you. But ultimately those are only minor perks that still can't make an eighty-eight minute long film suffice to a level of creepy film-making. The Last Shark is a good b-movie film to watch late at night, when you're about 2/3 of the way through a case of Bud Light with some buddies. That's about it.

Starring: James Franciscus, Vic Morrow, Micaela Pignatelli, Joshua Sinclai, Giancarlo Prete, and Stefania Girolami Goodwin. Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari.