''Sharktopus'' is a 2010 SyFy original horror/

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

film produced by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

, directed by

Declan O'Brien Declan O'Brien (December 21, 1965 – February 16, 2022) was an American film and television writer and director. He was known as the director of three films in the ''Wrong Turn'' series (2009–2012) and he was the president oFairport Filmwo ...

, and starring

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

. It is the first film in the ''Sharktopus'' franchise.

Plot

Geneticist Nathan Sands and his daughter Nicole are hired by the U.S. Navy to create a new weapon; they create an intelligent shark that has the tentacles of an octopus, dubbed S-11, controlling the creature using electromagnetic pulses with a device attached to its head. During one of the test missions, S-11 discards the device before traveling to Mexican waters to find food. Sands and his daughter are then assigned to catch S-11 and travel down to Mexico, where they meet up with fishermen Andy Flynn and Santos, who work for Sands to help capture S-11. Andy, Nicole and Santos track S-11 on Andy's boat as Sands and his men follow in a yacht behind them. Several sightings occur as S-11 kills tourists and locals in the area. Fisherman Pez sends a photo of the creature to a news station, and news reporter Stacy Everheart and her cameraman Bones arrive to find the creature, enlisting Pez's help in the process. Stacy researches Sands and deduces that S-11 is a biological experiment. She, Bones and Pez record it killing a few people on a beach before heading into the ocean on Pez's boat to capture more evidence. Andy and a group of his diver friends go into a cave to find S-11, although the creature attacks them, killing everybody except Andy. He, Nicole and Santos then encounter Stacy, Bones and Pez, although Pez is killed by S-11 before it runs off. Andy, Nicole and Santos pursue it, resulting in Santos being killed. An enraged Andy radios Sands and tells him he's going to kill S-11 despite his orders. Andy and Nicole track S-11 to the mainland, where it kills a few people before Sands and his men arrive and hold Andy hostage. Nicole reprimands her father for wishing to further the experiments, although S-11 arrives and kills Sands's men before Sands himself is killed saving Nicole. Andy and Nicole encounter Stacy and Bones again, who drive them to a resort which S-11 is attacking. Nicole creates a plan to shoot S-11 with a device that will allow her to blow up a computer chip in its brain using her computer. The group arrives at the resort and Bones soon quits as Stacy attempts to put his life in danger to record S-11. However, S-11 then kills them both. Andy manages to shoot S-11 with the device, and Nicole hacks into the chip before overloading it, causing it to explode and kill S-11. Andy and Nicole reunite, and walk off to safety.

Cast

as Dr. Nathan Sands *

Sara Malakul Lane Sara Malakul Lane ( th, ซาร่า มาลากุล เลน) is a Thai American actress and former supermodel. She has appeared in numerous Thai and Hollywood films. She most notably featured in the ''Kickboxer'' action film franchise ...

as Nicole Sands *

Kerem Bürsin Kerem Bürsin (born 4 June 1987) is a Turkish actor, known for his role in the TV shows ''Güneşi Beklerken'' (2013−2014), '' Şeref Meselesi'' (2014−2015) and '' Sen Çal Kapımı'' (2020–2021). Life and career Bürsin has lived in nume ...

as Andy Flynn * Héctor Jiménez as "Bones" * Liv Boughn as Stacy Everheart *

Shandi Finnessey Shandi Ren Finnessey (born June 9, 1978) is an American actress, model, TV host and beauty queen. She is best known for winning the Miss USA title, as Miss Missouri USA. She previously held the title of Miss Missouri 2002 and competed in Miss A ...

as Stephanie "Stephie" * Megan Barkley as Lisa * Peter Nelson as Commander Cox (credited as Calvin Persson) * Elgar Horowitz as Ellie Loveshaft * Greg Norte as Gordon *

as Man On Beach (uncredited) *

Ralph Garman Ralph Garman (born November 17, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, saxophonist, drummer and radio host best known as the host of '' The Joe Schmo Show'', for his voice work on the Fox animated series '' Family Guy'', former entertainment rep ...

as Captain Jack

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, ''Sharktopus'' has a 57% approval rating, based on reviews from 7 critics. Kevin Carr of ''7M Pictures'' described it as "cinematic junk food" and gave it 3.5 out of 5. Annalee Newitz of

io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

wrote "Sharktopus represents both your guilt, and the assuaging of it, all in one tasty morsel" and called it the

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infi ...

of giant monster movies.

Home video

''Sharktopus'' was released to DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

on March 15, 2011. A limited edition soundtrack album containing Tom Hiel's musical score to ''Sharktopus'' was released by BSX Records in 2012 and is available on CD and digital mp3.

Sequels

A similarly themed movie, ''

Piranhaconda ''Piranhaconda'' is an American science fiction B-movie, premiered on June 16, 2012, on the Syfy Channel. It is directed by Jim Wynorski, produced by Forest King and stars Michael Madsen, Rib Hillis, Rachel Hunter and Terri Ivens. Cast * Michael ...

'', was released in 2012. Two official sequels called '' Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda'', which was released on August 2, 2014, and '' Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf'', which premiered on July 19, 2015 during Sharknado Week on the SyFy Channel.

References

External links

* *
Interview with Tom Heil about scoring ''Sharktopus'' at Cinefantastiqueonline
{{Roger Corman 2010 horror films 2010s monster movies 2010s science fiction horror films 2010 television films 2010 films 2010s English-language films American monster movies American science fiction horror films Fictional undersea characters Films produced by Julie Corman Films produced by Roger Corman Films set in California Films set in Mexico Films about genetic engineering Giant monster films American independent films Mad scientist films Films about shark attacks American natural horror films Syfy original films Sharktopus films Films about sharks Fictional hybrids Films directed by Declan O'Brien 2010s American films