Posts Tagged ‘Sharks’


Çöl – Turkish Jaws

June 15th, 2010 | article by | 1 Comment »
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rating:
company: Anit Film
and Kunt FIlm
year: 1983
runtime: 75′
director: Çetin Inanç
cast: Cüneyt Arkin, Emel Tümer,
Salih Kirmizi, Hüseyin Peyda,
Nejat Gürçen, Baykal Kent
writers: Çetin Inanç
and Cüneyt Arkin
cinematography: Sedat Ülker
music: Various . . . stolen
Not available on home video in the USA

You would be forgiven after a viewing of Çöl, the Turkish Jaws, for failing to grasp the tenuous connection between it and the American blockbuster it is purported to imitate.  The actual title of the film, which translates as ‘wasteland’ or ‘desert’, offers nothing in the way of commonality and the narrative never touches on either the existential horror or sea-faring adventure of Spielberg’s classic.  To be fair much of Çöl does take place on a boat, albeit of the very big and permanently docked variety, and it does recycle a few of the cues from the Jaws franchise.  There is even a shark, though its prominence within and importance to the narrative is far from what many will suspect.

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The Last Shark

May 27th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
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a.k.a. L’ULTIMO SQUALO / GREAT WHITE
Film Ventures [1981] 88′
country: Italy
director: ENZO G. CASTELLARI
cast: JAMES FRANCISCUS, VIC MORROW,
cast: MICHAELA PIGNATELLI, JOSHUA SINCLAIR

I find it doubtful that any single film in history has been emulated quite so routinely as Steven Spielberg’s smash success JAWS. The young Spielberg couldn’t possibly have foreseen the incalculable impact his picture would have on the film industry as a whole, that it would be the first production ever to receive a wide release and the first summer blockbuster. Its pitch perfect blend of high seas adventure and high concept horror translated to big bucks at the 1975 box office and cold feet for whole generations of beach goers. Needless to say, Universal Pictures was pleased.

But JAWS caught more than just the attention of the multitudes of film goers – exploitation producers around the world were impressed as well, and hungry for a piece of the profits. By the time JAWS 2 rolled around in 1978, the minions of the exploitation industry were already hard at work. While a few of the movies produced in its image were quite good – PIRANHA in 1978, most notably – the majority ranged anywhere from ‘so-so’ on down. Most trend riders were smart enough to change either the monster [TENTACLES], the setting, or both [JAWS OF SATAN, GRIZZLY]. Others were not so much. It’s safe to assume that the makers of THE LAST SHARK belonged squarely with the latter.

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Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus

May 19th, 2009 | article by | No Comments »
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rating:
company: The Asylum
year: 2009
runtime: 88′
country: United States
director: Jack Perez (as Ace Hannah)
cast: Deborah (Debbie) Gibson, Vic Chao,
Sean Lawlor, Lorenzo Lamas
Order this film from Amazon.com

There are moments when I can’t help but wonder why I do the things I do. The readership of this site is far too low for fame, fortune, or glory to be involved – some kind of depraved subconscious masochistic desire seems much more likely. Sitting through the likes of MONSTER A-GO-GO or WEASELS RIP MY FLESH makes a certain amount of sense for someone in my position since, awful as they may be, they still fit comfortably within the fringes of my bizarre taste. That I subject myself, time and again, to the output of The Asylum [the cinematic equivalent of sucking a tail pipe] is more difficult to understand.

Asylum has taken to referring the majority of its direct-to-video tumors as “mockbusters”, going so far as to recommend them as gag gifts for cinephiles. The company has carved a profitable little niche for itself by producing knock-off titles [THE DAY THE EARTH STOPPED, INVASION OF THE POD PEOPLE, TRANSMORPHERS, THE DA VINCI TREASURE . . . need I go on?] that are typically sitting on video store shelves before their super-budget inspirations even hit the big screen, with SciFi Channel more than happy to premiere whatever swill Asylum sends its way. That there’s a market for lousy DTV efforts is all well and good, but does it have to be this bad?

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