Bad Fish

Well, I don't miss a mermaid movie, especially if it's wrapped into a horror or thriller plot, but I would probably not recommend this one for anyone seeking a veteran effort. Interestingly, shot on location in Brookings OR, it has some localized charm in its small budget offering. The pacing is a bit tedious; don't expect a lot of thrills, or really any scares. Stick with it and eventually an appearance of what I would describe more as a reptile than a mermaid will make an appearance. With that said, the heart of this one is in the surrounding story, with the protagonist as an unlikable, abrasive marine biologist, called in by the local sheriff to solve the mystery and work through sketchy encounters with the locals. Hardly any people in this location with empty beaches, empty bars and empty hospitals. It's not terrible, and some of the acting is decent enough to get by but it's low budget stuff, so beware. Sounds like there is going to be a part II, and now I am obligated to see it through.

At the beginning it wasn't that bad, it felt like a mediocre film, but towards the end everything falls, and there's like 10 minutes of complete cringe, we couldn't watch at all, the movie should've stayed in the writes fantasies, watching it felt like a crime!!!!

At the beginning it wasn't that bad, it felt like a mediocre film, but towards the end everything falls, and there's like 10 minutes of complete cringe, we couldn't watch at all, the movie should've stayed in the writes fantasies, watching it felt like a crime!!!!

Yes, I wrote it twice, there's nothing more to write about this bad movie.

This was actually a very different take on the standard mermaid mythos. The execution was flawed. The actors did an ok job with what they were given, and you could tell they were working with a shoestring budget. My biggest complaint would be the pacing and the ending. This is NOT the type of film that needs, nor deserves a sequel. So to have a cliffhanger ending was a disservice to the audience. They could have cut 30 minutes on the front end and focused on the mythology for the 2nd act and tied everything off nicely in the third and final act. This felt more like one long first act that tried to introduce the 2nd act, hence the need for a "To Be Continued..." ending tag. Could have been much better. But if you have an hour and half to kill, it is not bad to leave on and give it go.

Of course I had never heard about this 2024 movie title "Bad Fish" prior to sitting down and watching it. But given the movie's title and its cover, I was intrigued. And since it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to give writer and director Brad Douglas's 2024 movie a fair chance.

The storyline was not overly thrilling, nor particularly entertaining actually. However, I found the storyline to be a bit too mundane for my liking. Yet, I still managed to sit through the movie to the very end.

I wasn't familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list. But I will say that the acting performances were actually fair, and that certainly helped to carry the movie a great long way.

Visually then I will say that the effects in the movie were actually surprisingly good. Sure, I didn't fully understand why these mermaids, sirens, or whatever they are supposed to be were looking reptilian in appearance. But the creature designs were good nonetheless, and definitely looked rather real. That was quite a surprise, just unfortunately not sufficient to lift up the otherwise bland storyline.

I am sure that "Bad Fish" will prove watchable to some viewers. I just happened to not be particularly entertained or impressed with what the movie delivered.

The movie ends with a "to be continued..." part, I don't know if that was a promise or a threat.

My rating of writer and director Brad Douglas's 2024 movie "Bad Fish" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.