ID: Shark! (1969)
Length: 1:31
Classification: Action Adventure posing as Animal Attack
It’s Shark Week! and while the last few years of Discovery’s shark themed TV haven’t been the greatest, I still can’t help but get excited. It also gave me an excuse to finally break into a Shark attack DVD pack I bought at a convention a while ago! Sharks are beautifully terrifying creatures that are basically dinosaurs and that’s fucking great!
I started with Shark! for no other reason than it had an exclamation point in it which made me think lots of awesome shark action…and sure enough the film opens up with a diver swimming around until he is surrounded by sharks and torn to shreds and then the explosive title hits the screen, SHARK!
But that is basically where the shark angle ends and the Indiana Jones/Casablanca story starts. Sam Fuller, famous for Shock Corridor and White Dog, had originally written a screenplay titled “Caine” based on the book His Bones are Coral by Victor Canning. The screenplay was always meant to be an action adventure but when Troma Enterprises got to it they decided to jump on the animal attack bandwagon. The movie was cut to pieces and so severely re-edited that Sam Fuller wanted his name off of the thing, he didn’t succeed. But the strangest thing is, I actually kind of dug it.
The basic premise is the diver at the beginning who was killed was a part of a trio of treasure hunters who claim to be oceanographers. They hire the facilities of an extremely young Burt Reynolds and convince him to dive into shark-infested waters for science! But really, for treasure! Reynolds gets wise to the game and a very Indiana Jones: Raiders adventure happens.
It was at the 58-minute point where I gave up on ever seeing a second shark attack in this decidedly mistitled movie I realized I was still having fun. Burt Reynolds is charming as always and it does hold a Spaghetti Western atmosphere that I appreciated. While Sam Fuller may have disowned the film, as well he should have as it sounds, I could still feel a Fuller touch.
Unsurprisingly, the picture and sound quality are near VHS quality but I wasn’t expecting much more than that when I bought it. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Shark! in its cast and lack of sharkeyness. Though I did get my second shark attack towards the end. Sadly, according to IMDB trivia, one of the stuntmen involved in one of the shark attacks scenes actually was killed because the shark wasn’t properly sedated.
Well, that’s it for Shark! and I encourage you to check it out if you get a chance, try to get a group together! I’ll be back with another discussion on cheesy shark movies.
