Monster Shark
Encyclopedia
Monster Shark is a 1984
Italian
horror film, and one of several environmental disaster films to emerge following the success of the 1975
film Jaws
, including films such as: Great White
, Orca
, Piranha, Tentacles
and Tintorera
.
in the United States
, where a local tourist spot has become plagued by a mysterious marine creature. Little do they know, the monster is the product of a secret military experiment — a genetic hybrid mutated from a common octopus
and the prehistoric superpredator Dunkleosteus
. Unfortunately, the creature has broken loose, and is now feeding on swimmers and tourists swimming or sailing along the coast. And, the monster is only an infant, and will continue to grow if it is left to hunt much longer.
A team of scientists led by a scientist named Peter and his colleague, Dr. Stella Dickens are trying to find the creature and stop it, but a group of military scientists are trying to stop them, as the experiment was classified, and it is military business. Both groups are slowly picked off by the shark while they try and track it down. They eventually find that it is hiding in the everglades and they manage to kill it with repeated blasts from flamethrower
s. At the end, Peter tells Stella that he has finally decided to take a vacation. When she asks where they are going, he tells her "the mountains". The ending is a freeze frame shot
.
, on which it was spoofed for its poor acting and erratic editing.
1984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
Italian
Cinema of Italy
The history of Italian cinema began just a few months after the Lumière brothers had patented their Cinematographe, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera.-Early years:...
horror film, and one of several environmental disaster films to emerge following the success of the 1975
1975 in film
The year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....
film Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
, including films such as: Great White
Great White (film)
Great White is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring James Franciscus and Vic Morrow. The film is extremely similar to Steven Spielberg's Jaws.-Plot:...
, Orca
Orca (film)
Orca is a 1977 horror film directed by Michael Anderson and produced by Dino De Laurentiis, starring Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, and Will Sampson. The film was poorly received by critics and audiences alike due in part to its similarities to the film Jaws released two years prior...
, Piranha, Tentacles
Tentacles (film)
Tentacles is a 1977 Italian-American horror film directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis and starring John Huston and Shelley Winters.- Plot :The tourist spot Ocean Beach has come under attack by a giant octopus, which captures human swimmers and picks clean the skeletons of flesh and bone marrow...
and Tintorera
Tintorera
Tintorera is a 1977 Mexican-British horror directed by René Cardona Jr and starring Susan George, Hugo Stiglitz, Fiona Lewis and Andrés García. It is based on the novel of the same name by oceanographer Ramón Bravo that studied the species of shark known as "tintorera" and discovered the...
.
Plot
The film takes place along a stretch of coastline somewhere in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where a local tourist spot has become plagued by a mysterious marine creature. Little do they know, the monster is the product of a secret military experiment — a genetic hybrid mutated from a common octopus
Common Octopus
The Common Octopus is the most studied of all octopus species. Its natural range extends from the Mediterranean Sea and the southern coast of England to at least Senegal in Africa. It also occurs off the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde Islands.- Characteristics :O. vulgaris grows to 25 cm...
and the prehistoric superpredator Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus is a genus of prehistoric fish, one of the largest arthrodire placoderms ever to have lived, existing during the Late Devonian period, about 380-360 million years ago.This hunter, measuring up to and weighing , was a hypercarnivorous apex predator...
. Unfortunately, the creature has broken loose, and is now feeding on swimmers and tourists swimming or sailing along the coast. And, the monster is only an infant, and will continue to grow if it is left to hunt much longer.
A team of scientists led by a scientist named Peter and his colleague, Dr. Stella Dickens are trying to find the creature and stop it, but a group of military scientists are trying to stop them, as the experiment was classified, and it is military business. Both groups are slowly picked off by the shark while they try and track it down. They eventually find that it is hiding in the everglades and they manage to kill it with repeated blasts from flamethrower
Flamethrower
A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid; some project a long gas flame. Most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and...
s. At the end, Peter tells Stella that he has finally decided to take a vacation. When she asks where they are going, he tells her "the mountains". The ending is a freeze frame shot
Freeze frame shot
A freeze frame shot is used when one shot is printed in a single frame several times, in order to make an interesting illusion of a still photograph....
.
Full cast
- Michael SopkiwMichael SopkiwMichael Sopkiw is a B-movie American actor who has starred in only four Italian movies in two years. He was born in 1954 in Connecticut. Following a navigation career, he was arrested and imprisoned by the DEA for shipping marijuana....
- Peter - Valentine Monnier - Dr. Stella Dickens
- Gianni GarkoGianni GarkoGianni Garko is an Italian actor who found much fame as a leading man in Spaghetti Westerns...
- Sheriff Gordon - William Berger - Professor Donald West
- Iris Peynado - Sandra Hayes
- Lawrence Morgant - Dr. Bob Hogan
- Cinzia de Ponti - Florinda
- Paul Branco - Dr. Davis Barker
- Dagmar LassanderDagmar LassanderDagmar Lassander is a German actress.She was born in Prague to a French father and Chilean-German mother, and began her career as a costume designer in the Berlin Opera. Her first role was in 1966 in a film by Will Tremper. Starting from 1969, she began to work regularly, especially in Italian...
- Sonja West
Reception
Monster Shark was poorly received by critics. As of September 2009, the IMDB rates the film in 83rd place on their Bottom 100 list.Mystery Science Theater 3000
Monster Shark, under its alternative title of Devil Fish, was featured on an episode of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
, on which it was spoofed for its poor acting and erratic editing.