''Spring Break Shark Attack'' is a 2005 joint South African/American

made-for-TV A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

. It was the brainchild of executive producer J.J. Jamieson, who wrote the initial story and sold it to CBS. The teleplay was written by James LaRosa and directed by Paul Shapiro. The film stars

Shannon Lucio Shannon Lucio (born June 25, 1980) is an American actress. Born in Denver, Colorado, Lucio grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and graduated from John Marshall High School. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California. She is well kn ...

Riley Smith Riley Smith (born April 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on television, such as recurring roles in the series '' 24'', ''Joan of Arcadia'', '' 90210'', ''True Blood'' and '' The Messengers'', and starring roles on the ...

, and

Justin Baldoni Justin Louis Baldoni (born January 24, 1984) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for portraying Rafael Solano on The CW satirical romantic dramedy '' Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019) as well as directing the films '' Five Feet ...

, with

Kathy Baker } Katherine Whitton Baker (born June 8, 1950) is an American actress. Baker began her career in theater and made her screen debut in the 1983 drama film '' The Right Stuff''. She received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Suppor ...

and

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

. After television release in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the film had a limited non-US theatrical release, before going to DVD.

Plot

During spring break, when a pack of

tiger shark The tiger shark (''Galeocerdo cuvier'') is a species of requiem shark and the last extant member of the family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over . Populations are found in many tropical and tempera ...

s begins a feeding frenzy on partying teen-aged bathers, the only safe place is up on the beach far from the water. Fighting for survival, a group of young people must attempt to outsmart nature's perfect predator. Danielle (

) is a teen-aged girl who, against her father's wishes, heads to Florida for spring break. Rather than the truth, she tells her parents that she is going to spend the time working with Habitat For Humanity, but she instead meets up with two girlfriends who have rented a beach house at Seagull Beach, Florida, for a week, fully intent on having a good time. As she explores the beach area, she meets the creepy J.T. (

), who sees her as only a spring break sexual conquest. She also meets local

charter boat Yacht chartering is the practice of renting, or chartering, a sailboat or motor yacht and travelling to various coastal or island destinations. This is usually a vacation activity, but it also can be a business event. There are two main kinds ...

owner Shane Jones (

), and decides she likes him. J.T. is willing to do anything to achieve his goal of sex with Danielle, and so charters the boat that Shane and his mother (

) have been hiring out to tourists. When everyone is out at sea they learn that the waters are becoming infested with an increasing number of

s. Danielle's marine biologist brother, Charlie (Wayne Thornley) just happens to also be doing research on an artificial reef in the same location, and must determine how best to save his sister and warn others.

Cast

as Danielle Harrison *

as Shane Jones *

as J.T. *

as Mary Jones *

as Joel Gately * Bianca Lishansky as Karen * Genevieve Howard as Alicia * Warren McAslan as Max * Wayne Thornley as Charlie Harrison * Wayne Harrison as Peter Harrison * Sindi Harrison as Maggie * Mehboob Bawa as Professor Wellington * Brian McIntyre as Handsome Man in beach bar * Shaun McIntyre as Ginger man at beach bar

Critical response

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' offered that ''Spring Break Shark Attack'' was "a true dream title" for something viewers might expect to watch on late night

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television, cable, and satellite television network owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Developed as a companion "maxi-pay" service complementing the offerings shown on parent ...

or on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

in prime time, or find in a list of

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

losers. They also offered that even with the ridiculous title, the film's "scary parts really are scary, enough so that little kids should be sent to their rooms." Visual effects were approved, in that when a partly chewed victim washes up on the beach, it actually looked like a partially eaten shark victim, rather than something sanitized for television. They felt the film "works on its own frankly silly, fitfully gripping level" if one has "two hours to kill and a harmless lust for artificial blood." ''

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

'' spoke toward the film being a drama about teens who look older than they're supposed to who have "to deal with their relationships and romantic encounters and all the melodrama that accompanies that type of material" and described it as "basically '' Beverly Hills 90210'' with sharks." They felt the film had an issue with the sharks themselves being used at first so infrequently that the final 20 minutes of the film become makes "up for lost time by throwing in sharks by the hundreds." While the anticipated underwater photography is limited, there "are a couple of decent shark/kill scenes and a corpse or two that washes up on the beach, but nothing interesting enough to really stand out or make the film more any more enjoyable." The film's cinematography is decent and the film looks nice, and while no performance is particularly bad, no one stands out either. The film thus becomes the "very embodiment of mediocrity, resulting in boredom – the biggest sin a movie can commit." The film's very few appreciated moments do not act to save the film. '' Dread Central'' found the film to be "two hours of mildly laughable, suspense-free entertainment," where CBS's attempt to create a nature gone amok genre failed in its purpose. Marissa Piazzola of '' Huffington Post'' listed the film among the "Top 8 Teen Movies About Spring Break!"

Plot

Cast

Critical response

References

External links