Frankenfish (2004 TV Movie) User Reviews

Fish Food

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 17 August 2007]

When the body of a man is found completely destroyed in the swamps in Louisiana, the medical investigator Sam Rivers (Tory Kittles) is assigned to investigate the murder. He travels with the biologist Mary Callahan (China Chow) to the location where the victim lived in a floating house and he meets his family and friends. They find that Chinese snake-heads genetically engineered that belong to a wealthy hunter are attacking and killing the locals. While the group fights to survive, the hunter Jeff (Tomas Arana) arrives with his team to hunt the predators.

"Frankenfish" is a very reasonable B-movie, with a good story, acting and special effects. Alternating action with suspense, horror and dark comedy, there are many good moments, like for example when the biologist is shot. The conclusion is very funny and this flick is a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Frankenfish - Criatura Assassina" ("Frankenfish - Assassin Creature")

Surprising, I actually did have fun watching this movie

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 26 May 2012]

I was not expecting to even like Frankenfish, but I did. The story is ridiculous on the whole, in the script there is a sea of corniness and eye-rolling cheesiness amid the odd sprinkle of wit, the characters are on the annoying stereotypical side and some of the effects are cheap. Despite all this, I did enjoy Frankenfish. The editing was not as choppy as I had anticipated and some of the locations are great. There is enough suspense and tense fun to make up for the ridiculousness of the story, the fish although not great in design(though I have seen far worse) are menacing and great to watch and while the lead is uncharismatic the acting is reasonably good. On the whole, not great, but I sort of liked it. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Loved The Fish, Hated The People

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 9 May 2007]

This reminded me of two movies: "Tremors" and "Anaconda," but this film was a Class B version and cross between those two "higher class" movies. This film had no known actors - and it showed - and the dialog was pretty stupid, too (not that it was intelligent in those other films.)

However, I have to admit the killer fish were cool. The special-effects on them were very good. These suckers were ugly, scary and life-like. Since most of the humans in this film were unappealing to me, I rooted for the fish. There were several of them, pretty good-sized and pretty tough to stop.

This also was like those sci-fi films of the '50s with the genetically-altered spiders or ants or whatever, making something many times larger and deadly. Here, it was some fish in the Bayou swamps. Some of the action scenes were shocking and were, frankly, the best part of the film. Don't expect much for the first 35 minutes, but once it kicks in, it gets pretty intense.

The language is profane; the people (except for the hero, of course) are pretty scuzzy and stupid. Recommended for those who want to be frightened for an hour and aren't discriminating about the quality of their film-watching!

Greatest giant snakehead fish movie ever made

[Dr. Gore · 19 December 2004]

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

My friend and I watched this one the other day. Three cheers for "Frankenfish"! Wow. We needed that. Most B-movies we see end up causing us much distress. This one got a standing ovation. Bravo "Frankenfish"! You made our night.

I can't tell you how many times we rent a monster movie hoping to actually see a monster and then get ripped off by the lying video box cover. Fraud on a video box cover is a recurring theme of mine but I wish it wasn't. We often wonder why they put a monster on the cover and then don't bother to show one in the movie. "Frankenfish" has learned from other's mistakes. The fish monster is on the box and in the movie.

"Frankenfish" also gives us the return of China Chow. I always wondered where she went to after "The Big Hit". That was a pleasant addition to the horror flick. But the real stars of "Frankenfish" are the giant snakehead fish monsters. China and company go into the swamp and are pinned down by the Frankenfish on a couple of houseboats. The Frankenfish are ruthless beasts who relish the opportunity to chew on anyone they can nail.

Very fun monster flick. Good stuff.

What a name for a film, too bad they take the film somewhat too serious

[tvalstar99 · 4/10 · 30 December 2004]

Look at the title of the film and nothing good can come of this. Who came up with this name? He should be fired.

The writers have studied Jaws and tried to make an own version it seems. Big Chinese fish are the stars this time. It is just a shame that the writers didn't try to take the film as the name. Not serious I mean.

The actors do a miserable job (with miserable lines I must say), the environment is not convincing and the fish are a joke. I looks like a crossing between Jaws and Tremors sometimes. It just isn't good enough and too cliché to pass on for a good film. The ending is just terrible and it is clear that this is just a B-film. Too bad the writers and director didn't put in something of their own. Then you could laugh en enjoy the stupidity and it would be more original. Now it is somewhat stupid. This is one of those movies you watch with your friends while having a beer night and irritate and laugh a bit on the film. Although I wanted to see how it ended, so they did something right. I give it 4 stars.

Beware the Dangers of Very Large Fish

[gavin6942 · 5/10 · 31 March 2007]

A man gets eaten in the swamps, so the government sends in a cop and a medical examiner. They find a group of people with eclectic qualities, and one of the meanest and biggest fish ever to try and eat a human being. (This review should have a "Jaws" reference, but it won't... I'm not even going to write "they're going to need a bigger boat".)

Despite this film being incredibly cheesy (and this cheesiness leading to my lower rating), it was also really fun in the sense of a 1950s b-movie where things always had to be bigger. Backwoods swamp people are fun, as are hippie Rastafarians. And then we have Chinese mafia people working for a big game hunter who have women at his beck and call. It's really silly if you think about it (so just don't).

Some great effects are in this movie, as well as some really awful ones. The bad ones pretty much revolve around the CGI of the fish... although I still appreciate blood and guts in any form. The best effect for me was a shotgun blast scene (I won't say who gets it) that literally made me jump from my love seat and cheer. Yeah, maybe I'm deranged. You'd be deranged, too, if your idea of a good time was staying up all night watching "Frankenfish" and "The XXXorcist".

I also wanted to say that this film stood out in my mind as a film with a strong black lead. Aside from Ken Foree and maybe Tony Todd, horror has a long history of marginalizing black characters and often kills them off as soon as possible. But this film places a black man as the hero, without using his "blackness" as any kind of joke. (It's actually sad I feel the need to point such things as this out, but horror films are one of the last genres to enter the modern world.)

Anyway, you're going to find cheesy effects and cheesy acting if you watch this movie. The plot is also strange (the connection between the mafia and the fish is really strained). But I honestly liked it, so maybe this will appeal to you if you like those sorts of films... think "Eight-Legged Freaks", but without David Arquette.

Fun for Saturday-night boredom.

[filmfanaticTX · 3/10 · 12 October 2004]

As a follow-up to the first film I saw with snakeheads, this one raises the bar, but still not high enough to limbo under. The action is quick, however, and that's good so there's never an extreme lull.

Some of the characters seem to die just for shock value, which works, but beware not to invest value in too many or develop a favorite...it's anyone's food for fish in this TV movie.

I watched this on a Saturday night when I had nothing to do and it was definitely entertaining. If you're looking for Masterpiece Theatre, look somewhere else. If you're looking for a good popcorn movie to watch with friends and enjoy some decent CG, Frankenfish just might be the right movie for you.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the...swamp? Enjoy!

Finally A Decent Sci-Fi Channel Movie!

[MetalGeek · 7/10 · 10 February 2006]

I came upon "Frankenfish" on the Sci-Fi Channel on a night when there was literally nothing else on TV and thought to myself "With a title like that it's got to at least be worth a look." I half expected to laugh myself silly but I was pleasantly surprised at how well done "Frankenfish" really was. Plenty of gore (even in an edited-for-TV version!), neat set pieces (I've never seen a "town" of floating house boats before) and man, when you say that "it hits the fan" in "Frankenfish," it LITERALLY hits the fan, as in a bad guy being splattered by the business end of a Bayou fan-boat. The creature effects are pretty obviously CGI in the long shots but aside from that minor complaint, I thoroughly enjoyed "Frankenfish" and wouldn't mind adding it to my video collection. Fans of Joe Dante's classic PIRANHA, the JAWS series, and other killer-aquatic-creature films should have a blast with this one. No, it's not a GREAT movie by any means, but it is a fun one. Give FRANKENFISH a try!

Prime B-movie chum

[paulnewman2001 · 4/10 · 10 February 2005]

From its first-rate exploitation title (although it could have used an hysterical exclamation mark) through to cookie-cutter characters, copious gore and gratuitous flashes of nudity, Frankenfish is a consummate B-movie.

Director Mark Dippé's still no better at telling a story than he was in 1997's dire Spawn but here in the cultural bargain basement that's more of a strength.

Down in the bayou, something big, mean and toothy is wolfing down fishermen and 'gators alike and the small party sent to investigate soon finds itself and a handful of oddball locals on the menu of a shoal of mutant amphibious mudskippers.

Like any good B-movie, it's awash in corny dialogue, thieves most of its ideas from better movies, has an unlikely serious subtext (genetic engineering's bad, m'kay?) and a cast of unknowns meaning anyone can (and does) get chomped.

It's also hilarious (both intentionally and not), has good creature effects and jams enough gung-ho popcorn entertainment into its lean 81 minutes to bear comparison with Joe Dante's 1978 Piranha.

Good stupid fun!

[rstef1 · 7/10 · 10 October 2004]

Take one part Jaws, one part Tremors and a hint of Creature From the Black Lagoon, mix well, and you get Frankenfish. Yes it's filled with stock characters (though its nice to have an African-American hero for a change) and some foolish plot twists, but, I liked it.

Why? Well, the characters were basically likable and well-acted by a largely unknown cast. Second, the story moves along at a good clip which is always important when the plot is clichéd. Third, the Frankenfish were terrific, big and scary. And, of course, there was plenty of blood and guts; surprising since the Sci-Fi channel usually edits this out.

Don't go in expecting too much, just your typical large, voracious monster on the loose and you should enjoy this one.

Biologically Engineered Swamp Sushi!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 6 May 2006]

Not that I'm complaining or anything, but...shouldn't have been a movie like this even cheesier? Sleazier? Trashier? With a title like "Frankenfish" and a striking DVD-cover that proudly shows a monstrous cross-breeding between a catfish and a piranha, the least I expected was a more over-the-top and completely absurd homage to old B-movies and/or low budget creature features. "Frankenfish" attempts and, admittedly, often succeeds in being a fun and vastly entertaining little flick, but still the production takes itself slightly too serious and should gave gone straight for pure shlock! The film is gory...but not gory enough! Some of the characters are quite insane...but not insane enough! One or two female stars appear naked...but not... You get the picture. The opening sequence is truly promising and bathes in the same atmosphere as all those deliciously awful monster-movies of the 80's. A lonely fisherman living in the swamps of Louisiana is devoured by some kind of new water monster and, by the time local authorities discover his body, there's not much left but a rotting torso. An expedition of two (only two?) specialists is sent to the small swamp-community where they quickly witness more and even bloodier attacks by immense fish that appear to be genetically altered snakeheads. The aggressive and extremely hungry creatures are owned by an eccentric hunting-freak who was looking for a new challenge. Don't you hate it when that happens? The most obvious mistake the producers of "Frankenfish" made was to opt for lame CGI-effects. The teenage audiences that fancy this type of hi-tech computer tricks don't care for small films like this. They go straight for over-hyped video game nonsense like "The House of the Dead" or "Resident Evil" and always ignore the lowest shelves in videostores, where modest releases like "Frankenfish" are usually put. The more experienced horror fans that are looking for possible new B-classics wish to see old-fashioned and cheesy effects and make-up art! Apart from that and some other minor stupidities in the script, "Frankenfish" is a fairly exciting film with a good pace and likable characters. The death sequences are probably the best moments, as they offer quite a bit of ingenious variety. People get decapitated, dismembered, half-eaten cut up by fanning boats. The absolute coolest death scene doesn't even involve the over-sized fish and shows a poor (lesbian?) woman being shot in the head by an unmanned shotgun! That was just too funny. I guess they simply don't make 'em a terrific like "Tremors" anymore, but if this movie represents the next generation of creature-features, I'm more or less satisfied

A True Cinematic Gem

[otter_noodle · 10/10 · 21 December 2004]

FRANKENFISH is one of those lovely B-films you always walk by at your local video store and laugh as you point out the cover to your friends. This film is so funny I can't even begin to explain it. From the ridiculous and unexplained plot, to the over-the-top, undefined characters, this film is a riot. You know you have a great film when there are giant, mutant fish beasts, naked people, house boat tailer parks, turtle soup, biologists, lesbians, Chinese Mofia, bloody gore, propeller boats, shotguns, and lines like, "I'm gonna git you, you dumb motherf*cker!" At a breezy 80 minutes in length, this film will have you crying for the must anticipated sequel. If you love B-Films that are truly ridiculous than this is the film for you.

Average B-movie monster trash, lifted by some juicy gore FX.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 16 May 2006]

Deep in the bayous of Louisiana, something is munching on the inhabitants of a small community of houseboats. A coroner and a biologist are sent to investigate, and discover that huge genetically engineered man-eating fish are responsible. Specially designed to be tracked by big-game hunters seeking the ultimate quarry, the fish are fast, vicious and intelligent. When the scaly terrors attack the boats and scupper the floating houses, the survivors think they are fish food; but help is at hand when the hunters arrive, armed to the teeth and hoping to bag a trophy or two...

Had the makers of Frankenfish planted their tongues much further into their cheeks and not taken proceedings quite so seriously, this movie may have been a fantastic addition to the monster genre; unfortunately, they refuse to accept the complete preposterousness of the premise and deliver an average movie when the result should have been so much more fun. It doesn't help that the fish themselves are, for the most part, badly rendered CGI. Loads of nifty gore and a few tasty babes (China Chow and K.D. Aubert provide the main eye candy for the blokes) help to compensate somewhat, but Frankenfish ultimately fails to match the genius of its wonderfully camp title.

I give this film 5 out of 10, plus a bonus point for the impressive amount of blood and guts on display.

I don't think I can dissuade you from watching this...

[Gore_Won · 5/10 · 3 September 2005]

I'll try anyway, but I know what you Sci-Fi Channel fans are like -- you hate the stupid story lines, you're too smart to ignore the plot holes, but you just can't help yourself. When the white woman dies a bit into the film, you know an interracial relationship won't happen anymore, and that says enough about the movie. It rides on contrivances. Just watch the ending, when the survivors stay in the water after a fish is killed, kissing, swimming and whatnot. Get out of the water, morons! To be fair, they didn't get killed, but will probably be anyway, considering their stupidity. I just don't understand why these filmmakers must rely on such nonsensical devices. Did they stay up too late into the night and figure it's time to turn in?

no surprises here

[sailor7sam · 29 November 2004]

Something big and nasty is hanging out in the Bayou, so baaad it can bite a gator to pieces. Could it possibly be a scientific experiment gone awry? Might it possibly threaten a group of people trapped in the middle of nowhere? Is it conceivable that the above group would be offed one by one? In various bloody circumstances? Would you believe the hero and his babe will somehow survive? Is there any way a rich evil middle-aged white male might be responsible? Is there anything in this movie you haven't seen before? the fish are pretty well done, but too high a body count (and too much foul language) for me. Think of Deep Rising with a smaller budget. If you like that sort of thing--enjoy.

If Tremors and Jaws had a retarded baby

[vegeta3986 · 2/10 · 17 February 2009]

I know that sounds like a weird title, but trust me. it's not. It's about these weird CGI fish that eat people and.... that's really about it. There's really no other plot to speak of, the main character has the personality of an old tissue, while the female lead has the personality of a brick. Basically every character in this movie must be covered in chocolate, or wore a big "please eat me" sign that i must have missed. This movie is an hour and a half long and me and my friend talked for a good 45 minutes of it, and we didn't miss a thing. However, i guess i should give you a rundown.

Black guy is a police medic. he goes to investigate the murder of this fisherman guy who got eaten by a fish. why there's any of his remains left, i have no idea. And of course, mr. lead goes off by himself with a biologist. Because yes. whenever "I" have a homocide case on my hands, i send out the medic. and ONLY the medic. pfff. who needs an actual cop there. Besides, the medic has a gun! because ALL medics have guns! and he has no police uniform or badge why? i guess they couldn't afford one. By the way, in case you're wondering, he never uses his medic skills to heal anyone in this movie. so why he's a medic, once again, i have no idea what the point of that was. it would have made more sense to make him a random cop. anyway, they go to investigate. there's a crazy voodoo lady, some white trash drug doers (surprise surprise) a gun happy Mexican (don't even have to make a joke there) and possibly the funniest guy in the movie, the complaining white drinker. haha....he was great. so they talk for a while....then they talk for a while....and talk some more....then we cut to an old guy getting a blow job from a random hooker as the old guy's talking to an Asian guy.... then we cut back to more talking. Now, i know what some of you are thinking, "doesn't this part have to do with a lot of character development or story?" no. no it doesn't. we missed this whole half hour talking to each other and when we looked back, we didn't miss any of the story.

And this is when the people start getting systematically killed off. old guy is pulled under water, drug guy loses head, woman gets snatched outta boat, old lady gets bit in half, the usual. eventually the boat houses start to sink (oh yeah, i forgot to mention. they're all in boat houses on a bayou. fun) and then after the Mexican kills one of the fish and starts to eat it's rare cooked heart (yummy) he gets eaten by another fish. oh boy! there's more than one! and then his house catches fire and then the house shoots the biologist. yes. you read that right. the HOUSE SHOOTS THE BIOLOGIST. now those of you who saw this are saying "it was the heat from the fire that shot of the-" yeah. i know. but it's a lot more fun to say the house shot her. because it did. which was pretty amusing because you assume she would get eaten because she kept defending the fish and then she gets owned by something OTHER than the fish, it's kinda like ironic poetic justice. and the random BJ old guy comes along as several of his men (including the Asian) gets owned pretty damn quickly. The old guy kills one, and then a third owns him and we're left with the two black leads and the drinky white guy. and mr. i have no personality lead kills the mutant fish and the two leads proceed to make out for no real reason. once again. fun. But wait! what about mr drinky guy? does my favorite character get to live for once? this never happens! holy- oh. no. of course not. he gets bitten by little fish as we cut to the credits. (unenthused)yay.

The main problem with this movie is, it's BORING. half of it is unnecessary explanation, and the old white guy tells you in 30 seconds what you need to know. genetic experiments. bam. you're done. so what's the other 45 minutes for? i have no idea because i wasn't paying attention because i didn't care. maybe if the main character actually had a human personality, i may have cared. but he didn't, so i don't. The only reason why this movie isn't a 1 is because the effects WERE pretty cool. other than though, it's boring and not worth your time. go rent ghoulies or something better.

Frankenfish gets 2 obvious CGI trout, out of 10

Frankenfish => rotten fish

[martijn_alexander · 2/10 · 4 January 2005]

If have seen the movie, with some friends of mine. One of them actually fell asleep during the movie. And actually I don't know why i finished the movie. But I am not all negative about the movie, the scenes when the fish came out of the water where good. The special effects where very good. The scenes where the characters dies are also very nice and gore to watch. But if I may have one other negative point, it was the ending, so lame. I don't hope that the makers will make a Frankenfish 2.

So overall I will give the movie a 2.2 It's nice to watch the movie with a lot of beer

He Spawned Another Awful Movie!

[ghoulieguru · 2/10 · 9 November 2004]

This movie isn't as bad as you'd think it would be, going by the title.

Maybe that was the intention. Hit the audience with a really bad title and then when the movie isn't as schlocky as the title suggests, people will be duped into thinking the movie isn't all that bad. But, just because it's not as bad as the title, doesn't mean it's good.

This movie belongs in a Bad Bayou Movie Double Feature with Tobe Hooper's "Crocodile". The DVD cover boasted "From the director of Spawn!" Now, is that supposed to be a good thing? There's a reason Mark Dippe was in director jail, and he has committed another film crime with this turkey. With any luck, this is a violation of parole, and will put him back inside.

Neat title but a bit misleading

[ChuckStraub · 6/10 · 15 December 2004]

Nice gory movie definitely not for the squeamish. The title of the movie, 'Frankenfish' was actually an attraction to me. I think the title is kind of neat although it is a bit misleading. The fish is genetically altered and bred into this monster fish. Unlike Frankenstein, the monster fish is not put together by stitching up fish body parts. This film reminds me a lot of the slasher films where people get picked off one by one in different ways. Then there's always a few twists and turns. Lots of blood and gore. The acting was OK, nothing special. The scenes with the so called 'Frankenfish' were pretty good and exciting. The movie moves right along and there is a lot of suspense. All in all, it was an OK movie. I'm glad I watched it but wouldn't watch it a second time.

More like FrankenCGI "Fish".

[KnatLouie · 2/10 · 9 March 2005]

What's up with all these good reviews of this piece of crap? This has got to be one of the five worst movies I've seen this year, and I've seen about 100 already.

I only watched this film because it had Richard Edson, Raoul Trujillo and Mark Boone Jr. in it, and they all had very small roles, which mostly were all wasted, except Trujillo, who I thought was the best character in the whole damn movie.

It was funny how the lead character tried to put on a 'Denzel Washington-face' sometimes, but mostly he just disappeared from my mind as being the 'hero', since he didn't really do anything memorable other than shoot a little bit at the CGI-fish, which bled CGI-blood when hit. And the ending? I just hated it, nothing good about it.

A couple of few good scenes with gore saves this from being a total turkey, but otherwise stay clear of this Computer Generated bore-fest. To sum up this movie: A big waste of time, money, and good actors.

A voracious fishzilla munching n slurping fellas enjoying a quiet life in the bayou.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 29 October 2019]

I first saw this years back on Sony Pix tv channel. Revisited it recently. I like horror n action films set in the bayou n swamps, especially Lousiana.

This is not bad for a tv movie. It has plenty of gore n kills. Simon Barrett is the writer of this film n this film n Dead Birds were his initial foray into horror films. Later he wrote many horror films. But as the poster claims, from the director (Mark A.Z. Dippé) of Spawn. Well, Spawn is his only good effort before this n after Frakenfish he went downhill. But his experience in special effects is noteworthy n this film does boast of some cool effects.

Also the poster is a rip off of Anaconda n whatever has been shown on the poster of this film, nothing like that happens in the entire film. In fact the lead actor never removes his shirt.

The film is about a genetically enhanced snakehead fish. Basically a voracious fishzilla trying to topple the croc, alligator, shark n piranha genre films. There is scene where a *ucktard stands so close to an edge knowing that there is an aquatic predator lurking in the water. We have a bad ass Ricardo, a war veteran who manages to get the the giant fish outside water so that viewers may have a glimpse of it.

It has some tits, especially that of the hottie Noelle Evans (Elizabeth Shue lookalike). I think she retired. Checked her Instagram n found her to be happily married, enjoying her bike riding.

The only actors recognizable r Tomas Arana Mark Boone Jr.

Ishtar...except with a man eating monster fish other than a blind camel

[entrance_of_the_sandman · 1/10 · 13 February 2005]

like i have said before in other postings, my best friend and i pride ourselves in watching terrible terrible movies. we did not fail. when we were in blockbuster and we saw frankenfish, we HAD to rent it. this is one of the worst movies that i have ever seen in my entire life. for starters, there were countless scenes that had absolutely NO point to further the movie along. the fish looked like crap! it was one of the stupidest special effects i've ever seen. and when the fish was on land (because they can breath above water also) it looked like a midget in a foam rubber suit...except minus the bonus of actually having a midget to put in the foam rubber suit. and there are some Seriously stupid scenes. for example, at one point in the movie, they have just watched the frankenfish come out of the water, bit a man's head off, breech and kill that mans wife, they drag his headless body into the water. but a different character goes into the bathroom on the house boat to wash the blood off of her clothes. the blood mixes with the water and goes out of the drainage pipe. the frankenfish smells the blood and comes back for another attack. now think, if there are already TWO dead and bloody bodies in the water...why or how would that even attract them. there is already way to much blood in the water anyway. that would NOT bring back the frankenfish. and another logic argument. the frankenfish is supposed to be a genetically altered fish that had been bred with a snake. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BREED A FISH TO A SNAKE?!?!?!?! you can't do it out of water because the fish would die and you can't do it below water or else the fish would drown. it's just not possible. even if you are a middle aged evil rich white male super villain with a hott girlfriend. this movie was terrible, god awful, and completely not worth the money my friend spent to rent it....but it was pretty funny.

Tremors on the bayou with huge Snakehead fish

[TheFoywonder · 8/10 · 6 October 2004]

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.

Is that thing biting you?

[film-critic · 7/10 · 14 April 2005]

To fully appreciate this film, you are going to need to think outside the Hollywood box, anticipate the horrible acting, and prepare yourself for some creative CGI because this isn't your typical horror film. This is a amazing family dynamic picture under the rouse of a "B" rated cheese film. Think about it. Throughout the film we are being bombarded with thoughts and hints of trying to build a family structure during this time of disaster. Our human heroes are consistently trying to get with each other to perhaps build a long relationship. There are the nudists that already have that family dynamic, there is the revenge bent friend that wants to kill Frankenfish because he ruined his family, then there is the voodoo woman trying to use potions to make her daughter fall in love with the cop that loves to rumble with frankenfish. We have all of these family motives staring us in the face, but then we have a subliminal one happening as well. Not to exploit the ending for those that haven't seen this fine film yet, but we need to think of the Frankenfish as more than just aquatic demons. In the story of Frankenstein, Shelly means for us to see the beast as more than just a monster, but instead a human trying to enter a cruel society. Perhaps these same themes were to be implied with Frankenfish. Perhaps the fish were not killing the humans, but trying to fit into the other fish society. Think about it. Here we have humans killing fish for their pleasure, I am sure that the fish in the bayou are not happy about that, so whom do they ask to help … the frankenfish. They are just trying to raise a family, survive in a humanistic society, and also be accepted into their own fish society underwater. These are very complex fish and I think also very misunderstood in this film.

Outside of this deeply rooted theme, the film itself is not as shabby as I thought it would be. The story is jumbly, the acting is atrocious, and the only enjoyable moment that this film has going for it are the frankenfish themselves (where apparently a huge portion of the budget went to create them). Yet, I wasn't expecting a high caliber of film here, I was expecting Muppets or puppets instead of the CGI created fish that honestly brought some horror to the screen. They were spooky, and semi-humorous at the same time. They reminded me of older horror films and the carnage that our forefathers of horror used to bring to us. There was just something genuine about these creatures that propelled (HA … pun there) this film into a much better category than I first anticipated. Then, there was the actual fear factor. While I wasn't frightened of this film, my wife had a field day. Everyday I learn something new about her, and this time it was the fact that she takes some small pleasure in watching these "B" horror films. She was a huge fan of Boa vs. Python, which fits right into this same category. There is something spectacular about a film that gives you what you went in hoping for. If you are expecting gruesome deaths, some nudity, and fantasy action, then you will not walk away from Frankenfish unhappy.

Is it bad to have such a low expectation of a film when first walking into it? I don't think so. I mean, honestly, unless you read Fangora or Film Fanatic magazine, you may not discover these "under the radar" films that may surprise you. Working in a video store, I walked by this title at least a thousand times thinking how bad it must be because nobody is renting it, when in fact, when I decided to break the mold and experience it, I was impressed. Low expectations of the film caused a positive reaction.

Overall, was this film great? Nope. Was it good? I would have to raise my hand, probably in some embarrassing situation, and say "yes". Frankenfish provided two hours of very decent entertainment and created this new monster for generations to enjoy. It followed a simple Hollywood structure, but somehow bent it to create its own sensation. The fish were frightening, while the ending provided a decent open-door policy for a sequel. Will the sequel be as good? No, I don't think so, but for those looking for some decent action, a passive story, and some Frankenfish (sans the bolts and lightening), then you may be pleasantly surprised by this little ditty of a film. I know my wife and I were!!

Grade: **** out of *****

Not nearly the cheese buffet it should have been.

[TheMovieMark · 4/10 · 1 September 2006]

Let's just face facts here - no one sits down to watch a movie called Frankenfish and expects a good movie. If somebody does, well, he most likely doesn't have the ability to read this review anyway and thus won't be offended by anything I'm about to say.

Now I don't know if this is a positive or a negative, but amazingly, Frankenfish is not nearly as bad as you'd expect. In other words, it's easier to watch than a shirtless David Hasselhoff photo session. The problem is that in an effort to avoid being as bad as humanly possible, the movie never lets itself achieve the level of cheese it could and should have.

For example, when I hear the term "Frankenfish" I want a fish that's been pieced together from several different species. A shark snout here, a dolphin fin there, the eye of a bream, something really freakish like that. So the revelation that we're just dealing with genetically-altered fish is a bit of a letdown. However, the film is not without its highlights. Just check out some of this stellar dialogue:

"I should've never dated swamp girl."

"His head is missing!"

"So I guess we're having filet-of-swamp monster."

"You look good for a girl covered in fish brains."

My guess is they visited local elementary schools and let 5th graders submit lines they thought would be cool to use in a "stupid fish movie."

Basically, this is another "creature feature" with production values resembling that of a home video, hot chicks as scientists (I'm not complaining), characters acting nonchalant over other characters being killed, and characters just generally acting stupid.

For example, these morons are stuck on a houseboat. It's dark. It's murky. A gigantic fish is swimming around looking for people to eat. So what does one guy do when he sees movement in the water near the edge of the houseboat? Why he leans his head over the edge, of course! Characters like that deserve to die. That's all there is to it. Seriously, are we expected to root for the fish? Because I'm sure not going to throw my support behind characters that are this clueless.

And you gotta love the brains (or lack thereof) of two of the survivors at the end. After all the Frankenfish are killed (oh, I'm sorry, I hope I didn't spoil the movie for you), they decide to go check on their friend who fell off the boat during the totally unexciting chase scene where the fish was hunting them. After the guy and girl smooch (of course), the guy replies that the point where their friend fell off is "not too far of a swim."

Um, in an ALLIGATOR-INFESTED SWAMP?!?!? Genius.

On the plus side, I was actually surprised by two of the deaths, and K.D. Aubert is looking pretty hot, so I was able to actually sit through the entire film. Though I must admit that I did make use of my good friend Mr. Button quite a bit. I'll have to introduce you sometime. You've probably heard of him. Button. Fast Forward Button. Sometimes goes by FFW Button. Trust me, when it comes to movies like this he'll quickly become your friend as well.

Now, what I really want to see is a movie called Frankenfurter! Hmm, you know what? I just thought of my next Movie Mark Original! Check back soon for full details on that...

THE GIST

Frankenfish is one of those movies that can only be recommended to people who like to get together with friends and watch really bad, low-budget films just so they can make fun of them. I just wish it wasn't stuck so firmly between like and love. No wait, that was Billy Vera. Frankenfish is stuck between "mediocre" and "not as bad as most Sci-Fi Originals." It should've swung for the Velveeta fences.