Raging Sharks


Title: Raging Sharks
Rating: 3/5
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Starring: Corin Nemec, Vanessa Angel
Director: Danny Lerner

Things quickly go awry when the deep sea research station 'Oshana' comes under attack by crazed sharks who spontaneously become smart and decide that mercilessly killing humans should be their new top priority, as opposed jumping in front of fish and screaming “boo” or whatever it is they usually do. If you thought this plot sounds a little familiar, its probably because it is. I was completely unaware that “Deep Blue Sea” really needed a low-budget remake made of it, but nonetheless this fills the gap by taking liberties bordering on plagiarism, ranging from the very premise to the dead ringer for one of the lead characters in Vanessa Angel's casting whom is perhaps better known as the only reason anyone watched the TV Show “Weird Science.”

But to simply call it nothing but a cheap knock-off wouldn't be fair as in truth its closer to a 50/50 split; there's no epic speech from Jackson and no comic relief from the chef, but in their place we get aliens (I get the distinct impression someone stole a couple of suits from the “AvP” film being shot nearby), an evil agent working for US National Security and a submarine who arrives to assist in an emergency evacuation of the base, only to reveal shortly after they arrive that they have no way of actually evacuating the base, and so just planned on sitting around until everyone swam out. Through the sharks. Which have been made crazy by a mysterious fluorescent orange crystal which everyone seems to want, including the aliens that dropped it there in the first place.

The CGI was worked in surprisingly well, especially considering it was all stock footage (and not always of sharks, I'm positive I saw some Killer Whales in the mix) and yet it was still used to produce some rather impressive bloody deaths, all the time flicking back and forth between various survivors so they could scream to their hearts content. Growling sharks, pieces of paper with the mysterious elements composition analysis clearly showing “google” written on the page and huge flashing lights telling the inhabitants of the submarine that there's a fire, as though people would just not notice it and walk on by wondering where that bacon smell is coming from. This is the kind of film that defines craptastic; the actors are capable of saying their dialogue with a straight face – no mean feat when such dialogue includes yelling such corkers as “You idiots stumbled across it and triggered a beacon that shot into outer space” - and a plot that forgets to explain anything. Excellent.


Seriously, was she only cast for looking a bit similar to Saffron Burrows?


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