31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 07 Mississippi River Sharks

 

TITLE-Mississippi River Sharks

SOURCE-TUBI Streaming App

Been a bit since I watched a shark film for 31 Days of Horror. And yea back to TUBI. It comes in handy. Say I am stuck in the pharmacy line for 40 minutes,scroll TUBI on my phone put on some janky movie and keeps me from wanting to attach tasers and chainsaws to my shopping cart.

And today was a 3 long line day. Pharmacy was 35 minutes. First grocery store line was another 30 and the final one was 38 minutes. So I scrolled Tubi found Mississippi River Sharks and started it. Chose it cause hell wanted to see what non-MS location they filmed in to be a "rural Mississippi quiet town". And saw that Jason London was in the film PLAYING HIMSELF!!!

So this was made to premiere on SYFY Channel. Which means the gore is low. So was the budget. Unlike piles of these shit out sharkpolitation movies this one got 2 semi names.

I already mentioned Jason and more on him in  a bit. The other name  and when I saw her name in the credits I wasn't sure why I knew it. Cassie Steele,looked her up and she is best known for that 2000s Degrassi show,plays our lead. She is home from college and wants to help her dad keep the family business running. It shows she has been acting for a bit cause unlike most of the rest of the cast Cassie feels like she ISN'T trying her best to remember her lines.

And now Jason London. In this film he plays a slightly fictionlized version of himself. He is a former big star that is now known for being the lead in Shark Bite 1,2,4,5,6. Yes I left out 3 he isn't in it,which is a running joke through out the film.

It was 15 minutes maybe 20 into the film when I realized yes they actually shot this in Mississippi. Not only that but I know where it was shot. Saw HWY 90 and knew they were in Ocean Springs.  Surprised more stufff isn't filmed down there. Great looking locations and I am betting it is cheap to film down that way. I have heard the state of MS isn't one that gives film/tv productions big tax breaks. Which is why lots of stuff set in MS is filmed in Louisiana.And if you know both states it is easy to tell when they are trying to pass LA off as MS.

Sharks are heading up the MS river. Right a when a small town is having it's annual big fishing rodeo. Cassie and 2 old friends of her's gotta save everyone. Along with Jason London,who shows he has decent comedic skills in this role,this group must keep people from being killed by cheap CGI sharks. And opposing them is the town Mayor. A ten gallon hat on a 20 gallon dumb ass.

Yep it is Jaws but with more sharks and less budget.I was more entertained trying to figure out where various outdoor scenes were filmed than by the movie. 

Mississippi River Sharks gets a D+

31 Days of Horror 2023 Day 18 Sharknado

 

TITLE-Sharknado

SOURCE-Joe Bob's last Drive in on Shudder

Yea I have seen this many times. Was sure the year it debuted I covered it here. Nope.

Many years ago I heard that The Asylum,makers of many mockbusters,had a new film coming out in July on SYFY channel. Sharknado was the title. Looked and it was airing right around my birthday. Watched it and loved it. Each year for 4 or so every year in July was a new Sharknado film. The series ended and I just forgot about them.

Was back in July. Wondered what Joe Bob was airing and saw it was Sharknado. Sadly this isn;'t one of the better episodes of the Last Drive in. It is great they got the director of Sharknado to come on. But his audio is low and hard to hear. Darcy appears to be stoned and barely can form sentences.

How is the movie?  It is a blast. This being the first in the franchise it is way way more serious than the others. A hurricane is heading for Los Angeles. Ian Ziering runs a bar and wants to make sure his ex wife and daughter are safe. Exx Wife is played by Tara Reid.

The rest of the film is Ian,Tara,their kid and a few others trying to live thru a Hurricane packed with sharks. Wouldn't that make it a Sharkicane?

Yea the CGI is cheap. But for a low budget the film looks decent. The actors in the film that aren't known people are actually good. Like the lady that plays Nova. Never seen her in anything besides the Sharknado films. And she steals this first film.

I think part of the reason this film held so much appeal to me is as a kid in the late 70s I would see all the natural disaster movies and all the giant whatever creature attacks films with my dad. So this was a modern combination of those two sub genres.

This is the rare time that I would say skip the Joe Bob airing of the film. He adds nothing to it.

Sharknado gets a B+

31 Days of Horror 2020 Day 03 Trailer Park Shark

TITLE-Trailer Park Shark
SOURCE-DVD

Last year while looking at used media at a thrift I found Trailer Park Shark. Saw the title and that it stars Tara Reid and Dennis "Mr Belding"Haskins so grabbed it.

Made in 2017 this modern piece of Sharkploitation cinema was directed by Griff Furst. Who is best known for directing stuff like Swamp Shark,Atomic Shark and Ghost Shark.

The Soggey Meadows Trailer Park gets badly flooded. Causing the residents to end up on top of their mobile homes. And with all that water there is also a shark.

Pretty sure this debuted on SyFy channel on Saturday night. And it feels like one of the many Sharkploitation films you would see groups like NuImage or say The Asylum pump out.

Now of course with this being low budget Tara Reid's part is a cameo basically. But she at least supplies the residents of Soggey Meadows with weapons to fight off the sharks. Dennis Haskins is our villain and he is pretty good playing the role.

As long as you go into this movie knowing you are gonna get a low budget Sharkploitation film you should enjoy it. There is much much worst Sharkploitation films. But there is also much better Sharkploitation films. This one at least realizes it has a crappy premise and runs with that.

Trailer Park Shark gets a C+.