Monster Shark
| Monster Shark | |
|---|---|
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Italian theatrical release poster by Enzo Sciotti
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| Directed by |
Lamberto Bava Bruno Mattei (asst. dir.) |
| Screenplay by | |
| Story by | |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Fabio Frizzi |
| Cinematography | Giancarlo Ferrando |
| Edited by | Roberto Sterbini |
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Production
companies |
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| Distributed by | DLF Distribution Lanciamento Film |
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Release date
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1984 |
| Country |
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Monster Shark (Italian: Shark - Rosso nell'oceano) is a 1984 Italian-French science fiction-horror film directed by Lamberto Bava. It was also released in various countries as Devil Fish, Monster from the Red Ocean, Devouring Waves and Shark: Red in the Ocean. The script was co-written by Dardano Sacchetti, based on a story idea contributed by Luigi Cozzi and producer Sergio Martino.
The film takes place along a stretch of coastline somewhere in Florida, where a local tourist spot has become plagued by a mysterious marine creature. Unbeknownst to them, the monster is the product of a secret military experiment; it is a genetic hybrid mutated from a common octopus and the prehistoric Dunkleosteus. Unfortunately, the creature has broken loose, and is now feeding on swimmers and tourists swimming or sailing along the coast. As the monster is only an infant, it 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; meanwhile, a group of military scientists are trying to stop the scientists, as the experiment was classified military business. Both groups are slowly picked off by the creature while they try to track it down. They eventually find that it is hiding in the Everglades and manage to corner it in shallow waters and kill it with repeated blasts from flamethrowers.
TV Guide called it "wholly amateurish" and criticized the film's unconvincing monster. Star Michael Sopkiw attributes the film's flaws and negative reviews to the production's limited budget, saying that Lamberto Bava was a great director.
On August 15, 1998, Monster Shark, under its alternative title of Devil Fish, was featured on an episode of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, on which it was spoofed for its poor acting and erratic editing. One scene of this film contains a brief glimpse of a male character's genitals, which the Sci-Fi Channel censored by superimposing the MST3K logo, and two key death scenes were removed.
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