''Ghost Shark'' is an American 2013

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed for the

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

television network by

Griff Furst Griff Furst is an American actor and film director. Furst has appeared in over a hundred television and film productions. He has produced such films as ''You Might Be The Killer'', ''Welcome to Sudden Death'', and ''Tales From the Hood''. He di ...

. With Furst joined by Paul A. Birkett and

Eric Forsberg Eric Forsberg (born December 16, 1959) is an American writer. He wrote and directed the feature film '' Mega Piranha'', as well as the writer of the feature film '' Snakes on a Train'', one of the first mockbusters produced and released by The ...

for screenwriting, the film premiered on Syfy on August 22, 2013. Despite being panned critically, the film had some success attracting attention from social media due to its fantastical premise. Websites such as

Vulture.com ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

commented on moments from the film. An

unofficial sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...

, '' Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws'', was released on 1 July 2015. The two films are unrelated in terms of narrative, other than both being films featuring killer sharks.

Plot

When a great white shark eats the potential catch of a sport fisherman, the man and his daughter violently retaliate by sadistically torturing and killing the shark. The shark's corpse then sinks to the bottom of an underwater cave. It is subsequently resurrected as a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

shark due to the cave's mysterious paranormal properties. Now hungry for revenge, the ghost shark eats his redneck killers, along with the captain of their boat. It eventually sets its sights on the rest of the local community in the seaside town of Smallport, Florida. Due to the great white's new spectral form, it can attack and kill anyone as long as there is even the smallest amount of water nearby. This allows it to emerge from a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, a bathtub, a bucket, a metal pipe and even a drinking

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

. It kills many people in several unexpected locations. Though the terror is seemingly out of control, a group of young people trying to find answers end up having their pleas ignored. The local mayor is in the midst of his re-election campaign, and other authorities are unwilling to believe in the ghost. The teenager Ava Conte (

Mackenzie Rosman Mackenzie Rosman (born December 28, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her television role as Ruthie Camden on The WB's long-running drama series '' 7th Heaven''. Career In 1996, Rosman was cast in the role of Ruthie Camden on ''7 ...

) vows to put an end to the specter, after it devours her father and several friends. She teams up with a local lighthouse keeper, named Finch ( Richard Moll). Finch is a

drunken Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

figure who claims to know the secrets to the shark's new-found form. Reportedly, when the cave was still above water, it was where a dying African-American

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

put a

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

curse on the entire town. After being arrested, harassed, threatened, and otherwise impeded in their struggles, the group then finally manages to lay the creature to rest once and for all.

Cast

as Ava Reid * Dave Randolph-Mayhem Davis as Blaise Parker * Sloane Coe as Cicely Reid * Jaren Mitchell as Cameron Stahl * Richard Moll as Finch * Lucky Johnson as Mayor Frank Stahl * Tim Taylor as Deputy Hendricks * Shawn C. Phillips as Mick * Thomas Francis Murphy as Chief Martin

Reception

Critical reception for ''Ghost Shark'' has been predominantly negative. The film holds a rating of 29% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on seven reviews. For example, critic Jim Vorel, writing for '' Paste'', blasted the film as "a mind-numbing movie", featuring severe problems " om its performances to its horrendous execution in the editing room". He concluded, "the film violates the most crucial rule of trashy filmmaking— you can be stupid, but don't be boring." Vorel particularly criticized the fact that the character of Cicily, played by Sloane Coe, is filmed in a sexually suggestive manner in several scenes despite the fact that she is identified as being too young to have a

driver’s license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

(and is presumably under the

age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...

). One of the rare mixed to positive reviews for ''Ghost Shark'' came from Horrornews.net, with the film given a five out of ten score. The film was labeled as featuring both " ecial effects that would make a film student cringe", but also a "well experienced cast mixed with fresh faced and eager newcomers." The film was compared, both positively and negatively, to an episode of one of the '' Scooby-Doo''

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

s. Also, in spite of being panned critically, the film had some success attracting social media attention, with websites such as

and the YouTube channel Fact Fiend with Karl Smallwood commenting on moments from the film.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2600742, Ghost Shark
Ghost Shark
a
Horrordrome
2013 television films 2013 films 2010s science fiction horror films 2010s monster movies 2010s supernatural horror films 2010s ghost films Syfy original films American monster movies American films about revenge Films about shark attacks Films set in Florida American science fiction horror films Films directed by Griff Furst American horror television films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links