''Tasmanian Devils'' is a 2013 television film directed by

Zach Lipovsky Zach Lipovsky is a Canadian director, former child actor and visual effects specialist. Career Lipovsky was a finalist on the first season of the Fox reality show ''On the Lot'' where he placed 5th out of 12,000 directors worldwide. He went on t ...

and starring

Danica McKellar Danica Mae McKellar (born January 3, 1975) is an American actress, mathematics writer, and education advocate. She played Winnie Cooper in the television series ''The Wonder Years'' from 1988 to 1993, and since 2010 has voiced Miss Martian in th ...

and Apolo Ohno. The film was first released onto 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 ...

channel on January 19, 2013 and revolves around a group of friends who get attacked by extremely large

tasmanian devils The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island states and territories of Australia, state of Tasmania, but it has be ...

. ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' rated the film poorly, giving it two out of 5 stars.

Plot

When a group of thrill-seeking young adults BASE jump into a forbidden portion of the

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

n wilderness, they didn't foresee that one of their group would die in the process. They also didn't expect for their friend's blood to awaken ancient and gigantic

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

s that would swiftly seek to make them their supper. The group finds some assistance in two park rangers that arrive to arrest the group for trespassing, only to find that they too are in danger of becoming the deadly beasts' prey. One by one people start to die. Whitford is killed by one of the monsters. Then Danz dies next. The rest of the group tries to plan out an idea. In the last part of the movie, Alex reveals that her younger brother died falling from a high tree and that's why she is afraid of heights. In the end, Jayne and Alex share a kiss and survive.

Cast

as Alex * Kenneth Mitchell as Jayne *

Mike Dopud Mike Dopud ( sr, Majk Dopuđ, ''Мајк Допуђ'') is a Canadian actor, stuntman, and former football player known for his supporting roles on television. His best-known roles include Vic Hadfield in the miniseries ''Canada Russia '72'', Ja ...

as Anderson *

Roger Cross Roger Cross (born October 19, 1969) is a Jamaican-born Canadian actor who has made numerous appearances in several films and television series, mostly on productions shot in Canada. He is known for his work as CTU Agent Curtis Manning in the ...

as Simon *

Terry Chen Terry Chen (born February 3, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor. Early life Chen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to Taiwanese and Chinese parents originating from Taiwan (father) and mainland China (mother). After primary and secondary ...

as Walsh *

Rekha Sharma Rekha Shanti Sharma is a Canadian actress of Indo-Fijian descent, best known for her role as Tory Foster on ''Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series), Battlestar Galactica,'' and List of Star Trek: Discovery characters#Guest characters, Ellen Land ...

as Lisbon * Apolo Ohno as Stone *Joseph Sutherland as Danz *

Scott McNeil Scott McNeil is an Australian-born Canadian actor. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the best-known Canadian voice actors of all time, McNeil has provided voices to many characters in animated shows, most notabl ...

as Whitfield *Julia Sarah Stone as Kid

Production

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 ...

officially announced plans to film ''Tasmanian Devils'' on October 18, 2011, and a week later confirmed that

would be cast as the movie's lead character. Lipovsky was brought on as the film's director, which would later prompt

WWE Studios WWE Studios Inc. (formerly known as WWE Films) is an American film studio owned by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. WWE Studios movies frequently mix well-known actors and actresses in lead roles with WWE wrestlers, and teams with existi ...

to hire him to direct '' Leprechaun: Origins'' based on his work with ''Tasmanian Devils''. Filming took place in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

over an 18-month period. Gizmodo questioned the film's casting of Tasmanian devils as a film villain, as they noted that it was an endangered animal due to

Devil facial tumour disease Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral clonally transmissible cancer which affects Tasmanian devils, a marsupial native to Australia. DFTD was first described in 1996. In the subsequent decade the disease ravaged Tasmania's ...

. A conservationist for the ''Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal'' later commented on the film, stating that she felt that few people would take the film seriously and that "if it raises the awareness of the devil overseas, and prompts people to find out more, then it is a good thing."

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 2180543 Syfy original films 2013 horror films 2013 television films 2013 films Films set in Tasmania Films shot in Canada 2010s monster movies American monster movies 2010s English-language films 2010s American films