Shark Night 3D
| release date | September 2 2011 |
| studio | Relativity Media |
| director | David R. Ellis |
| writer | Jesse Studenberg, Will Hayes |
| starring | Sinqua Walls, Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz, Joel David Moore, Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Katharine McPhee |
| rating | PG13 |
| tagline | Terror Runs Deep. |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
6 Comments
While not as gory or over-the-top as last year’s Piranha 3D or even similar films like Deep Blue Sea, I enjoyed watching my favorite animals do their thing in Shark Night 3D.
To make my recommendation short: if after seeing the trailer for this flick you said, “Sweet…” or “Looks like fun…”, then go for it. You won’t be disappointed. For those of you who said, “Looks dumb…” or “Hollywood is lame…” or “Ugh, ANOTHER Jaws wannabe?!”, then stay away. It’s clearly not for you.
I think the only thing that really pulls the movie down in terms of fun is it’s PG13 rating. Don’t get me wrong, gore doesn’t MAKE a movie. Unfortunately, while the film does deliver more suspense then what I had expected, it doesn’t yield enough to hold it’s head completely above the water (pun intended).
The 3D is decent. I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen better. I can say that this is one of the few 3D films that didn’t leave me with a mild headache. So that’s definitely another tally for the plus column.
**SPOILERS**
For those who complained (yet somehow couldn’t pick up on the HUGE hint in the trailer) and would say things along the lines of “If there are sharks in the water, just stay out of the water…”, well, PAY ATTENTION (even though this tidbit has been posted a bajillion times on this site and others… and oh yeah, IS IN THE TRAILER!). Crazed locals put the sharks in the lake and are essentially feeding hot co-eds to the vicious, adopted marine life. The locals are sick. And somehow the generic hillbilly cliche works here very well. The “feedings,” if you will, are slightly disturbing and add a decent amount of creepy to the mix.
**END SPOILERS**
Shark nerds like myself will enjoy pointing out the different species, especially those which are usually absent from films of this nature. However, us nerds will also see a BAD design mistake on one said species– Hint: tiger sharks don’t look like that.
Aside from some questionable CGI and a lack of gore, this is an enjoyable movie. Creature feature enthusiasts should consider it an appetizer before we all get our main course: Piranha 3DD. Again, while not as enjoyable as Deep Blue Sea, not as intense as Open Water, and not as compelling as Jaws, Shark Night is a dumb-but-fun thrill ride specifically designed for people that are into this sort of thing. Based on the fact that I was sold solely from the title, you can imagine that I had a blast.
If you have an iq over 30 this movie is to be avoided… STUPID as shit with a plotline it would take a monkey a week to write. Avoid.
PG-13 really did a dis-service to this flick.This had a chance to be great but was very underwhelming.The 3D was OK.The acting by some less than OK.Gore,not much at all.Plot is typical locals gone bad scenario with sharks added in.Speaking of sharks they needed more.They should of went for more over the top with everything.This is a B-movie so if you see it don’t expect Jaws or Deep Blue Sea.I love shark movies and will watch all good or bad. I do believe this will be one of those movies that gets played on basic-cable for years to come.It’s not on the level of Greatness that Piranha 3D is on Cheesy B-movie mayhem it’s more like a better “Spring Break Shark Attack!” made for SYFY channel movie.
I went into this movie knowing that it’s just gonna be a bunch of college students get eaten by sharks and it’s gonna be fun. Oh how I was wrong. This movie is a piece of shit. It could’ve easily been a great little shark flick with creative kills and some great gore, but what we get is shitty CG sharks, hardly any blood, and they don’t even show the kills. Isn’t the reason we go see these types of movies is because we wanna see some douchebags and hot chicks get eaten? Of course it is. But this movie doesn’t show any of that. They basically thrash a camera around underwater and show some red water and that’s the kill. It’s bullshit. Had this movie been rated R, it could’ve been this years Piranha 3D. There were two parts I liked though. They had a shot of a bull shark and the CG looked good but just that ONE part. The other part I liked was one of the sharks ate it pretty badly and the gore looked pretty good. But that’s it. All In All, Avoid this fucking movie.
Leave your brains and expectations at the door folks because this is one brainless, good looking, fast paced, fun, wicked but without an ounce of inspiration and most important of all BITE! The cast was actually decent and likable but the barely there script and story dumbed their characters down big time making them cardboard cut outs instead of having any depth and balls but I do think the filming in 3D was pretty good and not the worst but the CGI sharks were horrible and laughable instead of being terrified of them and you can just say that the suspense was thrown out the window. The kills were kind of entertaining in a so bad it’s good sort of way but the most brutal one to me was when these small nasty little fishes attack a victim and teared their flesh from their bones, it was kind of disturbing but other than that this is a pretty dry creature feature but definitely an HARD PG-13 rating for sure. The last act was probably the better half of this to me because it finally gets the job done because most of it just didn’t have enough shark action or thrills which for a movie like this it needs those and it’s bad news if a film’s poster is scarier than the actual film and to be honest this should of just been an hour long SyFy channel movie of the week and I’m not saying Piranha 3D was any better either but its execution was more effective and its kills more ballsy but both have two similar qualities they’re fun and dumb and don’t take themselves seriously but this one is a little more dumber and its motive for having the sharks in the lake even more idiotic, heck Frankenfish is ten times better than this and deserved a theatrical release over this and it would of been a better 3D movie so check that one out instead because it’s a much better time. Overall I left my expectations and brain at the door to give this film a benefit of a doubt but still left me wanting something more and better and more inventive or at least give me effective shark action but it gave me nothing to get excited about and I left the theater feeling empty and bored of the experience presented and it never showed its teeth and was a wasted opportunity to be at least the next Deep Blue Sea but ended up being a weak, cash cow effort, skip it. Lets just hope that Bait 3D packs a bigger punch.
Go watch JAWS instead.
***Contains Spoilers***
Shark Night 3D is a waste of any potential viewers time.
The story revolves around Sara (Sara Paxton), who invites her college friends for a weekend of partying at her family’s home on the lake. Her friends include Nick (Dustin Milligan), the pre-med geek; Beth (Katharine McPhee), the bad girl; Malik (Sinqua Walls), the athlete; Malik’s girlfriend Maya (Alyssa Diaz), Blake (Chris Zylka), the pretty boy; and Gordon (Joel David Moore) the comedic force. On the way to Sara’s house we meet Sheriff Sabin (Donal Logue), Dennis (Chris Carmack), Sara’s ex from before she left for college, and Dennis’ friend “Red” (Joshua Leonard), the crazed redneck. Soon after the group arrives at the house, the group realizes that the lake is infested with sharks of all species. The trailer makes the point that this is a “salt” water lake. What follows is watching these characters devise frantic plans that lead to deaths and the reveal of how and why these sharks are in the lake. Oh, and by the way, when it is revealed, brace yourself for one hell of a dumb motive.
Shark Night 3D has no intention on being anything more then a cheesy guilty pleasure, it’s hard to even call it that. With last year’s Piranha 3D being an all out T&A gorefest, Shark, is drowned by it’s PG-13 rating. Most of the kills happen underwater, nothing is hardly shown in terms of gore, we get bloodied water (rolls eyes), there is no nudity. There is also a lack of tension and dread, nothing is quite suspenseful. Some films need an R-rating, Shark was one that would have benefitted greatly from it. The script is also at fault here too. Scribes Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg give us cookie cutter characters that can be seen in countless other genre films. Some scenes are just downright dumb. At one point Malik, after learning of his girlfriend Maya’s demise, grabs a spear, head’s out into the lake (one arm and all), and is attempting to get the shark to come to him so he can extract revenge on it…seriously? It’s things like this that I can’t overlook, it’s ridiculous. The 3D I thought was also very average looking, sometimes not even. The extra price for 3D is not worth it. There were a few things I actually did like about Shark, watching Sara Paxton run around in a bikini for 90 minutes and Joel David Moore’s comedic style. I like him in just about anything he does. Only one or two kills I actually though were pretty cool looking. (Blake’s and Beth’s) Other then that nothing sticks out. Overall I wouldn’t recommend anyone to see this film. You want a good shark film? See Jaws.You want to see T&A and gore galore? See Piranha 3D. Hell, wait until November for Piranha 3DD, Im sure that film will be what Shark Night 3D should have been.
I’d like to eat some sushis right now.
Saw it last night and enjoyed it, full of fun… definitely was a fan of the sharks.
I enjoyed this, it was dumb popcorn fun! Ellis is great at creature flicks.
worst movie ever. I would rather see sharkotopus than this crap. I love shark movies, but this was god awful. Go see the Reef instead, that is an excellent shark movie. Looking forward to bait 3d it has got to be ebtter than this. Its like watching air jaws, on shark week with cgi, horrible.
Why did I do this to myself? I am a sucker! Horrible flick.
Honestly, I really enjoyed this! Sure, it wasn’t Piranha 3D, but it had some good jump scares, and good gore, especially for a PG-13 film. Plus, I am a huge fan of Sara Paxton, so I really enjoyed her in this. It’s silly and ridiculous, but it’s also a lot of fun. But, as enjoyable as this was, it won’t be as good as Piranha 3DD will be.
I’m not sure what the reviewer meant by director David R. Ellis “not knowing a thing whatsoever about 3D with The Final Distination.” I felt the 3D in that film was very good but used too sparingly. However, there’s no denying that his use of 3D for Shark Night was very well done. This film is being trashed when compared to last year’s Piranha 3-D which is not fair. It may not have Piranha’s graphic gore & nudity, but it is certainy paced better, delivers plenty of action & was at least shot in 3D making the film more fun to watch & justified for a higher ticket price. Shark Night is best described as dumb fun despite it numerous flaws & shortcommings (the man eating “tiger shark” was actully a sand tiger shark which is no threat to humans) which strangely added charm to this film. Recommended.
I guess I am one of the few people who actually enjoyed Shark Night 3D. I completely agree with the BD review. Yes of course, it would have been better if they made it a hard R rating like last year’s Piranha, but I still had a great time throughout the film and was not bored or looking at the time at all. This film is a cheesy good time and I think that David R. Ellis is finally starting to realize how to please his audience. His use of 3D was alot better than the atrocious, The Final Destination. If David R. Ellis sticks to making films like Snakes On A PLane, Final Destination 2, and Shark Night; than I think he will be around for a while. Definitely check this one out on a rainy day
lack of gore reallly hurt this movie but i thought it was dumb fun
OK, “Shark Night 3D” was pretty good fun in 2D and sometimes I laughed out loud because the director wasn’t taking the whole thing too seriously. Just couldn’t keep the young people out of the water, no matter how they tried!
I call this a combo project: one part nature turns Maneater type movie, one part dead teenager slasher film, and one part torture porn. Good try by all the cast, especially Chris Carmack as the local “Scarface.” Was it slightly racist that, after robbing the black man of one of his arms, they then give him a spear to go shark hunting…? Just a thought. Do not leave during the credits!!! You must stay to see the hip hop video assembled by the cast. It will have you smiling on the way out.
Blew my expectations by a landslide! Maybe because my expectations were low due to its rating. But I really enjoyed it! Even the 3d was awesome. The most fun Ive had in theaters since Scream 4 and before that Piranha 3d. Just a good no non sense fun flick.
Even the 3D couldn’t save this fish tripe. I knew it was going to be a teen scream but it had no real message or story to tell. Just a bunch of college kids out to have some fun and they get killed yada yada yada.What got me sick was that these sharks behaved like navy seals in action. How the fuck could a shark pick somebody off a tree? Or jump out of the water and pick people off just like grapes of a grapevine? I didn’t buy it, not even for fun purposes. I like a movies with a story to tell and more gore!!!! Hardly any guts chopped up and tossed around! If there is anything a man eating shark does best is chomp up guts to pieces and swim back around and scoop up the pieces! It didn’t even show that! Just a bunch of red haze and bubbles showed that the shark was even doing something. The only good part was the toothy smiles that they display just before they go to town on their meal.
Totally stupid movie that is somehow utterly watchable. Despite a ludicrous script, the acting is decent, and the film clips along at a decent pace. 5.5/10
eh. i was expecting more from this one. looked like fun from the preview, but kind of boring. the first half of the film involves stupid character development while the ending was mediocre. not really recommended
Although I had nearly no expectations for “Shark Night”, it’s still one of this year’s biggest disappointments to me. An uninspired, unentertaining and superfluous teenie-schlock that looks almost like an Asylum or SyFy movie – and IMO it’s also David R. Ellis’ worst movie so far (yep, it’s even worse than “Final Destination 4″).
The movie is boring and tedious; no sign of suspense or tension. The teens are all stereotypical idiots and the villains are annoying ad nauseam. The plot is horrible and absolutely implausible, the script is a bland and predictable mess and the direction is just weak.
Worst of all:
~ The sharks are all CGI and look about as cheap and unrealistic as that ugly thing from the 2 “Mega Shark” movies.
~ The gore looks cheap.
~ Nearly all of the kills are tame, disappointing and way too PG-13.
At least, the 3D is pretty nice, the camera work / cinematography looks good, Sara Paxton’s performance is quite ok and there are at least a few scenes that made me chuckle (shark attacks jetski, guy against hammerhead, the ‘Guns N Roses’ scene),
but overall, “Shark Night” is just pointless rubbish. I recommend to watch movies like “Sharktopus” or “Tentacles” instead, which are way more entertaining.
http://www.horrormoviediary.net
I knew this wasn’t going to be very good but I figured I’d check it out. Ya it was a pretty shitty movie. Some of the scenes were ok but overal the movie sucked. If it was rated R it might have been a little bit better but I think this movie was doomed from the start. I do not recommend this at all unless maybe your drunk and with some buddies.
Is it possible to look at “Shark Night” and not think of Alexandre Aja’s recent spiritual-remake of “Piranha”? Both involve killer fish in unlikely bodies of water; and they also share similar locations. In case you didn’t know; that refers to the lake setting of both films. But when drawing such conclusions, one automatically creates expectations for “Shark Night” and while they don’t ask much out of it; we expect something of a good time. I saw the reviews, I saw the less-than-exhilarating ads and trailers; yet I walked into the movie with an open-mind, ready to enjoy some laid-back guilty entertainment. I didn’t let the film’s PG-13 rating – which essentially restricts any sort of insanity whatsoever – scare me off. But oh, I should have.
The director of this fine mess is David R. Ellis, who is once again working with 3D technology in order to bring his latest special effects creations to life. It’s about as “fun” as it ever is; watching the flick, I was reminded of Ellis’s “Snakes on a Plane” and the absolutely pathetic “The Final Destination”. It lets us know up front that for Ellis, nothing has changed, and if you’re one of the few sorry souls that found the two said films fun in any dimension or way, you might get some mild – if not entirely forgettable – kicks out of the director’s latest offering.
I’m usually into these kinds of movies. “Shark Night” bears a paper-thin plot in which preppy college students head to a lake house for a weekend of intense partying by way of booze, sex, and water-skiing; only to discover that the still waters that surround them are, in fact, not to still at all. We learn that this is a salt water lake; and that hungry, powerful sharks linger just below the surface. When this is revealed, the film takes a tonal turn; it is no longer a frat comedy, it’s finally developed into a horror film of the slasher variety.
Having just said that, I think now is a better time than ever to bring up my first major problem with the movie; its premise, and the execution to go along with it. I like killer shark/fish/animal movies, and it’s safe to say that I’m not the most critical guy when it comes to these sorts of films, but given the ridiculous premise; I expected something a lot more exciting than whatever this bastardization of a horror movie is, if it can be called anything.
The film constantly struggles to find a tone; there’s humor, such as a contrived sub-plot involving some local criminals (who are indeed responsible for the sharks in the water) who attach video cameras to the beasts in a sort of homage to their inspirations, “Shark Week” and “Faces of Death”. But even though it’s aiming for laughs in some spots, the film takes itself way too seriously; and ultimately, it’s less a joyful comedy of shameless exploitation and endless entertainment and more-so just a painful drag. The PG-13 rating puts a lot of limitation on what the film can show and essentially what it can do; and there’s not enough blood in the water. Simply put, this movie isn’t fun.
The underwater scenes are a mixed bag. When nothing’s actually in the water, the sights can be beautiful; but when the sharks are feeding, the picture just looks…well, utterly ugly. The reason behind this: these are not good looking sharks, not at all. The special effects are lame, the reliance on CGI instead of animatronic effects or using real sharks for ANYTHING is lazy, and the whole ordeal doesn’t get much back-up from the supporting elements. Credit is due in a few of the excessively toned-down death scenes – some of which are fun regardless of the noticeable lack of bloodshed – and you might enjoy yourself in a few short instances. However, take my advice; it isn’t worth sitting through uninspired acting and horrible plotting to be allowed a gander at some of the film’s minor pleasures; some of which are the sight of Sara Paxton in a teeny blue bikini, a psychotic sheriff, and two solidly enjoyable performances from Joel David Moore and Joshua Leonard. That’s something; but not enough.
If you can get passed the awful CGI you might like this movie. Quite honestly I would have liked to gotten to know the characters a little more, maybe a different motive for why the sharks were there would have helped. But overall it was the terrible CGI I just couldnâe(TM)t get passed. Check out a more in depth review at my Horror Movie/Book review site @ ShiversOfHorror.com
Stupid, mindless entertainment! But, a lot of fun to watch too. You really have to suspend your disbelief to watch it, but it’s a fun waste of time. I say come for the sharks, but stay for the cameltoe
I didn’t have a choice whether I could see this in 3D or 2D and so I had to pay more money. What is annoying is how sometimes in Australia we still get some movies so much later than their release date in America. I don’t get why this may be in today’s society. After having wanting to watch this for ages and reading no reviews whatsoever except for the rating on IMDb I went in expecting something stupid. I was not disappointed and so I enjoyed this movie.
A group of college kids go to one of the student’s lakeside houses for a getaway. They tick off some locals and it is revealed said house owner knows them. They arrive at the house and start to party when one of them is attacked by a shark. WHAT?! This shouldn’t be able to happen? Who put them there? Why are there so many? And so the rest of the movie have the young adults killed in funny ways whilst they are trying to figure it out/escape.
I have to say it right now and not at the conclusion. This movie is stupid! Nothing can be taken seriously. If you did you would find yourself getting angry at the characters and fed up, maybe even yelling at them. Instead I just sat back and let the stupidity and entertainment of it all wash over me. I laughed at most deaths coz trust me, a few of them were completely ridiculous. The classic shark jumping out of the water to catch its prey. At least we get spoilt in that it is not the one type of shark. No we probably see about seven or eight, just for variety.
Some of the main actors in this movie are as follows: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack and Donal Logue. There are others but these are the mains ones I wanna point out. They are all ok actors. I mean they had a challenge working with a mediocre script and silly storyline. So I guess with those working against them it really was hard to be able to do much. Oh and one of the rednecks is one of the actors from Blair Witch Project!
Its in 3D and its a horror movie with girls in bikinis. Director David R. Ellis does a lot of shots just to show off some T&A. But then around that some of the shots just didn’t feel right. I don’t know how to explain it except to say if you were watching this movie I reckon that you would feel the same.
The writing is bad, the acting is mediocre and the story and the rest of the events unfolding is just stupid. Switch your brain off and maybe you’ll actually enjoy this. Some of the deaths are memorable and if you go with a friend you’ll probably laugh at the sillyness of it all that night. Remember…brain off and then watch.
originally written on my blog:
http://www.comikkazee.com
Bit bad horror movie, cgi sharks but still some thrills and spills here and there
The fact that this movie was even greenlit just reinforces the fact that anybody can make it big. Dull, predictable, tasteless, stupid, uninteresting. I could go on and on but I think you-as an audience-know better. If not, it takes little to entertain you.