Sharktopus (2010)

A half-shark, half-octopus creature created for the military, creates a whole lot of terror in Mexico while a scientist who helped create it tries to capture/kill it.

Director:

Declan O'Brien

Writer:

Mike MacLean

Stars:

Eric Roberts, Kerem Bürsin, Sara Malakul Lane

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eric Roberts	...	Nathan Sands
Kerem Bürsin	...	Andy Flynn (as Kerem Bursin)
Sara Malakul Lane	...	Nicole Sands
Héctor Jiménez	...	Bones (as Hector Jimenez)
Liv Boughn	...	Stacy Everheart
Julian Gonzalez Esparza	...	Santos
Blake Lindsey	...	Pez
Peter Nelson	...	Commander Cox
Maija Markula	...	Bree
Megan Barkley	...	Lisa
Mary Tessa Corman	...	Bungee Jumper (as Mary Corman)
Kyle Trainor	...	Frat Boy
Lindsay Conklin	...	Bikini Girl with Bum
Greg Norte	...	Gordon
Blanca Eng Ponce	...	Maria (as Blanca Ponce)

Storyline

Aiming to create the U.S. Navy's next hyper-weapon while fiddling with shark and octopus DNA, the visionary geneticist, Nathan Sands, comes up with a nightmarish prototype: the genetically enhanced "S-11" hybrid. However, after a botched attempt to harness the creature, the unstoppable beast escapes into the warm waters of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where unsuspecting tourists and unaware locals alike become its next meal. Now, the government wants the monster back, and former mercenary, Andy Flynn, along with Sands' daughter, Nicole, and fisherman, Santos, seem to be the only ones cut out for the job. Can they stop Sharktopus, the underwater killer with the razor-sharp teeth and the tentacles of death, before it slaughters everybody in the seaside resort?

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | half shark half octopus | scientist | mexico | science run amok | 

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Taglines:

Half-Shark. Half-Octopus. All Terror.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

WILHELM SCREAM: When the Sharktopus eats the second kid throwing a football.

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Goofs

When the guy is swimming face up in the pool he is shown without anything on his head and begins to swim toward the surface. When he is shown coming out of the water he is wearing a sombrero.

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Quotes

Captain Jack: You're not punking me on this thing?
Stephie: No.
Captain Jack: Stephie, this has to be a hoax, okay? It's gotta be. There's no way a shark-octopus fishy thing really exists.
Stephie: Well, I hope you're right.
Captain Jack: Trust me, okay? There is no such thing as a sharktopus.
[the sharktopus grabs and pulls him into the water]

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Connections

Referenced in Mike & Mike: Episode dated 25 August 2014 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Sharktopus (Theme Song)
(uncredited)
Performed by The Cheetah Whores

User Reviews

Mega Pirahna was ridiculously terrible (Awesome!), this is ridiculous AND terrible.

Perhaps I have been hoodwinked. Mega Piranha resparked my love of shonky B Movies like the adrenalin shot Vincent Vega gave Mia Wallace, and I immediately sought other examples.

I unfortunately forgot that adrenalin shots are not Plan A, B or C, but to paraphrase Earl Bassett in Tremors "something you do when a plan fails".

How's that I just referenced two 10 out of 10 movies to help me describe a 4 / 10 crapfest!

As good as Mega Piranha was in being enjoyably terrible Sharktopus is at being normally terrible – and the truth is both beasts (films) are only 5% different.

Sharktopus is an army funded genetically engineered amalgam of shark and octopus – if you couldn't have worked that out for yourself. It seems a little unfair to give the most efficient and dangerous underwater predator an eight leg up but they did it anyway.

(One thing I can't deny is that it would actually be a way more efficient predator given 8 legs!)

The sharktopus has a large helmet strapped to it that conveys electrical impulses sent by its scientist creators, this keeps it on the straight and narrow. Calamari control if you will.

No prizes for guessing what happens to the helmet?

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Once free of control Sharktopus heads down the coast for some sun, surf and supper. Using the new octopian improvements and its sheer sharkiness – they can make up words so can I – it wreaks havoc on dozens of bikini clad terrible actors all the way to Mexico.

Back in the lab lead scientist Nathan Sands (Eric Roberts – he should ask his sister for some money and avoid these films) knows the risks and sends two more over-actors to recapture the beast… in some sort of seafood basket I would expect.

The pair are his daughter Nicole (who does little but tap away at a laptop and look worried) and a staff member he fired named Andy (who also seems terribly ill-equipped for the job).

Various kooky cats get involved including a hungry reporter and her reluctant cameraman, a crazy local drunk and dozens of dozens of middling bikini chicks. One thing I will say is that for a TV movie there was much cleavage and flesh on display – all PG stuff I assure you – none of it is A-for-Alba Grade but I appreciate the effort and acknowledgment of the inevitable viewing audience, it sure wasn't my wife who put Sharktopus on the DVD pile.

Anyway the entire movie should revolve around the beast so let's expand on Sharktopus. Aside from the afore mentioned enhancements the tentacles mean that ol' Sharkey can now walk on land – funny I never saw an octopus do that – it is obviously a cheap FX job and when walking looks like an overly elaborate hood ornament.

The CGI is also distracting in that it pops out of the screen rather than blending in, meaning it is hard to take the shark/octopus hybrid seriously… did I just really write that?

Let's put a bow on this sucker: While the CGI is better than Mega-Piranha it lacks the same clumsy charm, everything here comes off as calculated and try hard where the giant exploding fish film was cheese personified.

All the deaths are the same:

Bikini clad bad actor (BCBA) noticing,

BCBA wondering,

BCBA looks surprised (and often slightly in the wrong direction),

Tentacles appear.

Dead.

Final Rating – 4 / 10. As a guy I appreciate the inclusion of some T&A, even in the form of average women in bikinis and zero nudity. But it's the other T&A that better describes Sharktopus: Tedious & Amateurish.

This is no Mega Piranha, when given the choice I can't impress just how much better that is than this film. Where Mega Piranha was ridiculously terrible, this is just terrible.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ajkulopod

Filming Locations:

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Horizons Picture

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1