Frankenfish (2004) (TV)

Director:

Mark A.Z. Dippé

Writers:

Simon Barrett
Scott Clevenger

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Welcome to the bottom of the food chain.

Plot:

When the body of a man is found completely destroyed in the swamps in Louisiana, the medical investigator...

Plot Keywords:

Hunter | Fish | Biologist | Louisiana | Swamp

Cast

Tory Kittles	...	Sam Rivers
K.D. Aubert	...	Eliza
China Chow	...	Mary Callahan
Matthew Rauch	...	Dan
Donna Biscoe	...	Gloria Crankton
Tomas Arana	...	Jeff
Mark Boone Junior	...	Joseph
Reggie Lee	...	Anton
Noelle Evans	...	Bobbi
Richard Edson	...	Roland
Muse Watson	...	Elmer
Steven Ritzi	...	Pilot (as Steve Ritzi)
Ron Gural	...	Coroner / Sheriff
Eugene Collier	...	John Crankton
Sean Patterson	...	Abrams
Raoul Trujillo	...	Ricardo
Marco St. John	...	Chief
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mitch Bryars Jr.	...	Locations Manager
Tim Considine
Al Holt

Directed by
Mark A.Z. Dippé		(as Mark Dippé)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Simon Barrett
Scott Clevenger

Produced by
David Hillary	....	producer
Tae Jung Kim	....	line producer
D. Scott Lumpkin	....	line producer (as Scott Lumpkin)
Timothy Wayne Peternel	....	producer (as Timothy Peternel)
Ash R. Shah	....	producer (as Ash Shah)

Original Music by
Ryan Beveridge

Cinematography by
Eliot Rockett

Film Editing by
Drew Hall		(video)
Dennis M. O'Connor		(as Dennis O'Connor)

Casting by
Anne McCarthy
Jay Scully

Production Design by
Leslie Keel

Art Direction by
Gen Quintanilla

Set Decoration by
Chris Maynard

Costume Design by
Andrea Sweet

Makeup Department
Christopher Burdett	....	creature effects designer
Timothy Considine	....	special makeup effects artist
Robert Hall	....	creature effects designer
Robert Hall	....	special makeup effects artist
Allan B. Holt	....	special makeup effects artist
Dean Jones	....	key makeup artist
Starr Jones	....	special makeup effects artist
Debbie Mezera	....	office manager: Almost Human Inc
James Ojala	....	lab technician: Almost Human
Cerina Silvestro	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Douglas Salkin	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jasmine Alhambra	....	second second assistant director
Colleen Casey	....	second assistant director
Nicholas Lee	....	first assistant director
Daniel R. Suhart	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Gino Azurmendi	....	on-set dresser
David Betancourt	....	carpenter
Christopher Dumas	....	set dresser
Leia Dunlap	....	swing gang
Tom Humphrey	....	property master
Jared Larsen	....	swing gang
Bruce Morgan	....	scenic painter
Kevin Naugle	....	swing gang
Michelle Rolland	....	assistant property master
Joachim Seisay	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Garret Bever	....	assistant sound
Matthew T. Duncan	....	sound recordist
Christopher Eakins	....	sound effects editor
Christopher Eakins	....	supervising sound editor
Bill Henderson	....	sound re-recording engineer
Melissa Lee	....	foley editor
John Marquis	....	sound designer
John Marquis	....	supervising sound editor
Patrick McNulty	....	dialogue editor
Patrick McNulty	....	sound editor
Whit Norris	....	sound mixer
Eryne Prine	....	foley supervisor
Terry Rodman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Scott Solan	....	boom operator
Pablo Solorzano	....	adr mixer
Pablo Solorzano	....	foley mixer

Special Effects by
Jason Collins	....	creature effects
Scott Fields	....	lab technician: Almost Human
Josh Hagen	....	special effects crew
Allan B. Holt	....	special effects makeup
Mi Na Jeong	....	programmer
Elvis Jones	....	animatronics: Almost Human
Greg Landerer	....	mechanical effects supervisor
Richard Landerer	....	mechanical effects
Min Su Park	....	special effects director

Visual Effects by
Young Lim Choi	....	compositor
Man Hong Han	....	lead animator
Yong Whan Jang	....	lead modeler
Jong Han Kim	....	lead programmer
Seung Yong Lee	....	lead compositor
Youngki Lee	....	CGI supervisor
Hyun-young Song	....	compositor

Stunts
John Evanko	....	utility stunts
Roel Failma	....	stunts
Lex D. Geddings	....	stunts
Henry Kingi Jr.	....	stunt double
Henry Kingi Jr.	....	stunt rigger
Henry Kingi	....	stunts
Michael Li	....	stunt coordinator
Vicki Phillips	....	stunt double: Noelle Evans
Danny Rogers	....	stunts
Rose Sias	....	stunt double
Buddy Sosthand	....	stunts (as Buddy Love)
Glenn R. Wilder	....	utility stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Chris Antignane	....	electrician
Lou Chanatry	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Lou Chanatry	....	director of photography: second unit
Eric Damazio	....	key grip
John Estes	....	still photographer
Larry Gianneschi IV	....	assistant camera
John Johns	....	digital imaging technician
Marvin Lee	....	second assistant camera
Chris Lumpkin	....	grip
David McLean	....	gaffer
Kelly Price	....	dolly grip
Jonathan E. Robinson	....	camera utility
Jacob Ross	....	best boy grip
Thom Shepard	....	grip
Louis Smith	....	assistant camera: "b" camera
Steve Sudge	....	best boy electric
Mike Tyson	....	electrician

Animation Department
Jae Lyoung Choi	....	animator
Sung Oh Moon	....	animator

Casting Department
Joshua Kopple	....	local casting
Colleen Harrison	....	extras casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sara Walbridge Castro	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Sara Walbridge)

Editorial Department
Matt Barber	....	assistant editor
John Paul Horstmann	....	assistant editor
Philip Pucci	....	first assistant editor
Kelly Reese	....	colorist: high definition

Transportation Department
Jon Bergholz	....	driver
Mike Coley	....	driver
Ricky Damazio	....	transportation coordinator
George Mills	....	transportation
John H. Stephens	....	driver

Other crew
Jim Busfield	....	production coordinator: Los Angeles
Ricky Damazio	....	marine coordinator
Chris Denk	....	assistant to director
Garrick Dion	....	creative consultant
Shawn Dyrdahl	....	key set production assistant
Allan B. Holt	....	puppeteer
K. Lynn Martin	....	script supervisor
Maggie Means	....	accountant
Holly Murray	....	production assistant
Tony Niknejadi	....	key set production assistant
Karen Payne	....	assistant production coordinator
Sam Rhymes	....	craft service
Peter W. Root	....	assistant location manager
Laura Rosaly	....	production assistant
Horst Sarubin	....	location manager
Deborah Taylor	....	production coordinator:Alabama
Laura Warner	....	executive production consultant

Production Companies

• Silver Nitrate Pictures

Distributors

• Sci-Fi Channel, The (2004) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (2004) (Argentina) (all media)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (2004) (Brazil) (VHS) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• RTL Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing) (RTL7)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (UK) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Almost Human (creature effects)
• Difarm Inc. (cgi effects)
• FX Digital (cgi effects)
• Girl Studio (cgi effects)
• Hammerhead Productions

Other Companies

• Film Finances  completion guarantor

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/gore, language, sexual content and some drug use

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 | USA:R | UK:15 | Norway:15 | Germany:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company:

Silver Nitrate Pictures

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Sheriff's jackets clearly shows a patch stating county, when in actuality, Louisiana is made up of Parishes.

Quotes:

Mary:I really doubt they issue a licence to do that, fisting a catfish?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

Tremors on the bayou with huge Snakehead fish

The makers of Frankenfish, the title being derived from an outlandish nickname that's been attributed to the Snakehead breed, made a smart move by not just making another Jaws wannabe. Well, to be honest, for about the first 35 minutes, that's exactly what Frankenfish is. For the most part though, Frankenfish is Tremors on the bayou with big, smart, genetically engineered man-eating Snakehead fish in place of the Graboids and with people trapped on backwater houseboats instead of creaky homes out in the desert. With a bit more budget and one more rewrite, it could have been just as entertaining as Tremors, too. It doesn't quite succeed to that degree; but as far as low budget, made-for-video monster movies that are forced to premiere on a channel that seems hell bent on giving its namesake as bad a reputation as humanly possible, this one is surprisingly fun.

This isn't to say that the film is a complete success. Clichés are still abound, characters are mostly one-dimensional albeit likable, and it still takes about a half-hour before the movie really kicks into gear. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the explanation behind the enormous Snakeheads and how they got into this Southern bayou. It's one of the worst explanations I've ever heard in a b-movie. It's so moronic that I almost wonder why they even bothered to offer one. Perhaps with a bit more follow-up it could have been somewhat palpable, but when you hear it you're probably going to be appalled by the lameness. Even worse, this explanation leads to the introduction of a couple new characters that figure prominently in the third act, which is based around several people trying to capture alive a 25-foot killer Snakehead with a tranquilizer gun and their bare hands. I don't think so. Also, if you've just witnessed a person getting devoured by something in the water, I don't think you'd go back to tell their loved ones and stick around to have a casual dinner with them before notifying the proper authorities that there's something big and hungry on the loose.

So what is it that makes Frankenfish entertaining despite relying on a lot of clichés and one-dimensional characters? For me, I just liked the Snakeheads and the way they went after their victims. For one thing, they didn't just use cheap CGI, as everyone else seems to do these days. Yeah, there are numerous scenes of CGI Snakeheads, but most of those scenes are brief or are seen in quick blurs of fast action. The filmmakers wisely made the decision to mix the CGI with animatronics, making the illusion of these huge Snakeheads more believable by being more tangible than just a computer effect. I don't know about you but I've had it with 100% CGI movie monsters that look like escapees from a Playstation 2 video game. The Snakehead effects may not be as realistic looking as the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, but at least when they appear on-screen they won't appear so fake looking that you're inclined to roll your eyes or begin groaning.

You got heads being bitten off, people being bitten in half, faces being blown off, and my personal favorite, let's just say people and airboat fans don't mix. There's a lot of red viscous on display here and I have a hard time believing much of it will get past the channel's censors. I'm not much of a gorehound myself but I do admit that there are movies where blood and guts can help matters and this is one of those movies. So many of the recent slate of killer animal movies have been so tame in that department that seeing some of the gore is actually refreshing, assuming one could describe a body exploding in an airboat fan using the word refreshing.

Hey, if nothing else, Frankenfish is still better than Anacondas.