The Jaws rip off is the trashiest of the all the Italian 'genres', and director Joe D'Amato is second only to the great Jess Franco in the trash film production stakes. Put the two together and what do you get? A gigantic piece of trash, of course. Unfortunately it's not trash in the good sense of the word either, as Deep Blood delivers more in boredom than it does in hilarity. To the film's credit, it does actually attempt something bordering on a plot; but to take said credit away from the film - the plot is rubbish. It has something to do with a group of friends taking of an oath (of friendship) and then some Indian curse that manifests itself into a shark. Or at least I think that's what was going on. Anyway, the majority of the film is padded out with boring dialogue and 'drama', and the shark itself - which lets not forget, is the only thing we really want to see - finds itself in merely a cameo role. Or not even that since most the shark is actually stock footage! Despite being a trash genre, there are actually a lot of fun Jaws rip-offs; but with this one, Joe D'Amato makes it clear that he couldn't be bothered to even try, and the result is what must be the worst Italian shark movie of all time. Avoid this dross.
21 Reviews
14 years after the success of Jaws, the Italians are still riding in its wake!
BA_Harrison14 October 2010
Just when you finally, absolutely, positively thought it was safe to go back into the water, up pops yet another Italian Jaws rip off—and slap me with a dorsal fin and chew my legs off if this isn't one of the most tedious of them all.
Directed by Raffaele Donato (with more than a bit of uncredited help from the king of Italian sleaze Joe D'amato), Deep Blood is a virtually joyless experience from start to finish, with a dreary plot, umpteen characters that are indistinguishable from one another, terrible acting (nearly all the performers fumble their lines at least once), and unconvincing shark attack scenes comprising of various odds and ends of stock footage badly inter-cut with the frenzied thrashing of the supposed victims.
The dreadful script offers a few unintentionally hilarious scenes, such as the sight of the film's heroes nipping to the local dynamite depot to stock up with enough high explosives to sink a battleship, or the hasty construction of a special shark attracting device that consists of a metal box with a flashing light on top, and further giggles might be had from the witnesses to the shark attacks, who run the gamut of emotions from 'mildy concerned' to 'slightly perturbed'; to be honest though, these brief moments of levity do little to compensate viewers for suffering through the rest of this bloody awful film.
Directed by Raffaele Donato (with more than a bit of uncredited help from the king of Italian sleaze Joe D'amato), Deep Blood is a virtually joyless experience from start to finish, with a dreary plot, umpteen characters that are indistinguishable from one another, terrible acting (nearly all the performers fumble their lines at least once), and unconvincing shark attack scenes comprising of various odds and ends of stock footage badly inter-cut with the frenzied thrashing of the supposed victims.
The dreadful script offers a few unintentionally hilarious scenes, such as the sight of the film's heroes nipping to the local dynamite depot to stock up with enough high explosives to sink a battleship, or the hasty construction of a special shark attracting device that consists of a metal box with a flashing light on top, and further giggles might be had from the witnesses to the shark attacks, who run the gamut of emotions from 'mildy concerned' to 'slightly perturbed'; to be honest though, these brief moments of levity do little to compensate viewers for suffering through the rest of this bloody awful film.
All hail "Jaws: The Revenge"
Coventry8 November 2011
There was a time, not even all that long ago if I remember correctly, that the notorious "Jaws: The Revenge" – the fourth installment in the world's most famous shark franchise, was listed here in the IMDb bottom 100. Admittedly this film isn't the elite of shark-movies but, trust me, it's a bona fide masterpiece in comparison to this shameless Italian piece of junk from the dirty hands of Joe d'Amato. "Deep Blood" – even the title is ridiculous – is a "Jaws" imitation that is at least 8-10 years overdue. The Italian shark movies from the early 80's are (for example "Great White" and "Devilfish") are also of questionable quality, but at least they're amusing and over-the-top cheesy! "Deep Blood" on that other hand is utterly boring and even too cheap to feature cheesy special effects. The only sharks that we get to see previously featured in National Graphic documentaries of which Joe d'Amato bought the stock footage! The wraparound story is also completely retarded. A bunch of young idiots living in a small and insignificant beach community take an oath to remain best friends for life and look after each other. Aw, how cute. Their buddy pact is immediately put to a severe test when one of them gets eaten by a shark. At least that's what you have to assume happened, because the actor simply vanishes in the water and the next shot just shows a puddle of red liquid instead. Either way, the rest of the losers decide to go shark hunting themselves, obviously against the will of local authorities. "Deep Blood" is a dreadfully tedious and overlong snoozer without any sort of memorable highlight
Except maybe if you count the boys' inability to estimate what quantity of dynamite is required to blow up a shark. There isn't even any gratuitous nudity or sleaze in this garbage. I'm really disappointed, Mr. d'Amato!
So bad it's...well...rancid.
cornjob-27 November 2000
I like to think of myself as a bad movie connoisseur. I like to think that the films most people label as the worst of all time I can easily withstand.
But...there are exceptions. I can only recall three movies I have had the misfortune to see that I have repeatedly used the fast-forward button for large chunks of the story. Those movies are The Mighty Gorga, Night of the Seagulls, and this little crap, Deep Blood.
In the world of Jaws ripoffs, this falls off the scale. Deep Blood doesn't have the realistic storyline of the original Crocodile, nor the incredible effects of The Sea Serpent, nor the commentary of Tintorera. No, instead we are treated to a handful of teens from any random failed '80s public access sitcom battling bullies and the local sheriff.
Shark attacks are realized by quick cuts of documentary footage with actors thrashing about in the water, occasionally with a bit of what appears to be orange-ish paint thrown into the water. Not a minute of original shark footage exists in this celluloid waste dump.
Normally, I, or somebody like me, would read a dismal review like this one and say "cool, I gotta find a copy of this!" That's the same thought I had when I read another viewer's review on this very site. How wrong I was.
So...from one bad movie fan to another...let this collect dust on the shelf...grab Up From the Depths or The Great Alligator instead to satisfy your need for something evil lurking in the water.
But...there are exceptions. I can only recall three movies I have had the misfortune to see that I have repeatedly used the fast-forward button for large chunks of the story. Those movies are The Mighty Gorga, Night of the Seagulls, and this little crap, Deep Blood.
In the world of Jaws ripoffs, this falls off the scale. Deep Blood doesn't have the realistic storyline of the original Crocodile, nor the incredible effects of The Sea Serpent, nor the commentary of Tintorera. No, instead we are treated to a handful of teens from any random failed '80s public access sitcom battling bullies and the local sheriff.
Shark attacks are realized by quick cuts of documentary footage with actors thrashing about in the water, occasionally with a bit of what appears to be orange-ish paint thrown into the water. Not a minute of original shark footage exists in this celluloid waste dump.
Normally, I, or somebody like me, would read a dismal review like this one and say "cool, I gotta find a copy of this!" That's the same thought I had when I read another viewer's review on this very site. How wrong I was.
So...from one bad movie fan to another...let this collect dust on the shelf...grab Up From the Depths or The Great Alligator instead to satisfy your need for something evil lurking in the water.
Underwhelming but still watchable killer shark film
kannibalcorpsegrinder12 February 2021
Still together as adults, a group of childhood friends is brought back together when a series of strange attacks in their seaside town is thought to be done by a massive shark, but when the authorities fail to stop it, they realize a blood-oath taken as kids might be useful in stopping the bloodthirsty creature once and for all.
There wasn't a whole lot to this one. Among the film's better features is the rather enjoyable and unique setup that comes across differently from most killer shark efforts. Taking the idea of a childhood blood-oath triggered by stories from an Indian chief aware of such a creature existing in the area and then utilizing the returning-creature-in-the-present idea so that they can reunite to fend off the creature is a far more creative idea here for a killer shark film. That this turns the film into a workable imitation of the genre storyline involving the missing persons' cases that are thought to be resolved once the shark has been caught. Once it comes back around to involving that aspect in the story things pick up nicely where it generates some nice ideas where it's useful for bringing a different taste to the hunting scenes. As well, there's also the films' decent enough attempts at suspense before the shark attacks strike. Featuring lengthy scenes of the camera prowling through the water to signal the creatures' point-of-view before finally zeroing in on the victim floating on the surface or swimming unaware of the danger around them before the fateful attacks are carried out in bloody, graphic fashion. Since these are more realistic in that there's no decisive killing blow immediately after the creature attacks as the majority of these scenes feature a bit more carnage and interaction than usual, there's a nice bit of realism here even with the sharks' supernatural origins offered as a means of introducing where it came from. With an energetic finale that brings about some enjoyable action underwater with the sunken wreck being a fine source for combating the creature, this one does feature some good parts to it. However, there are some big problems with this one. Among the main issues here is that there are no original shark sequences placed throughout the film, relying almost exclusively on stock-footage shots of sharks for its time and then editing that around the actors which results in choppy, discordant attack scenes. Not only are the scenes obviously unconnected with no visible wounds or biting on the victim and then having everything obscured by a cloud of red and orange churning water with no shark visible since it's all taken from various sources. With no visible marks anywhere and no sequences, later on, showing the impact and damage the creature had on the victim to give us an idea of what's going on and how powerful it is, this one somewhat misses the boat when it comes to the main shark rather strongly. The other issue with the film is the relaxed and generally bland pacing in the first half that rarely brings about much excitement or interest. The scenes of the friends returning and reuniting have the potential to be a great reconnection factor but it completely misses out here when it brings up a series of plotlines to utilize them but does nothing with them. The interaction with the bullies is dropped after two brief sequences and the reluctant father angle goes nowhere since he brings him out immediately after a conversation rather than continually declining until forced to do so at the end of the film which makes more sense. These interactions are laden with conversations about their preppy lifestyle and childhood oath that are just boring and bland taking up time from the shark attacks which would've been far more enjoyable. These elements here hold this one back the most.
Rated R: Violence and Language.
There wasn't a whole lot to this one. Among the film's better features is the rather enjoyable and unique setup that comes across differently from most killer shark efforts. Taking the idea of a childhood blood-oath triggered by stories from an Indian chief aware of such a creature existing in the area and then utilizing the returning-creature-in-the-present idea so that they can reunite to fend off the creature is a far more creative idea here for a killer shark film. That this turns the film into a workable imitation of the genre storyline involving the missing persons' cases that are thought to be resolved once the shark has been caught. Once it comes back around to involving that aspect in the story things pick up nicely where it generates some nice ideas where it's useful for bringing a different taste to the hunting scenes. As well, there's also the films' decent enough attempts at suspense before the shark attacks strike. Featuring lengthy scenes of the camera prowling through the water to signal the creatures' point-of-view before finally zeroing in on the victim floating on the surface or swimming unaware of the danger around them before the fateful attacks are carried out in bloody, graphic fashion. Since these are more realistic in that there's no decisive killing blow immediately after the creature attacks as the majority of these scenes feature a bit more carnage and interaction than usual, there's a nice bit of realism here even with the sharks' supernatural origins offered as a means of introducing where it came from. With an energetic finale that brings about some enjoyable action underwater with the sunken wreck being a fine source for combating the creature, this one does feature some good parts to it. However, there are some big problems with this one. Among the main issues here is that there are no original shark sequences placed throughout the film, relying almost exclusively on stock-footage shots of sharks for its time and then editing that around the actors which results in choppy, discordant attack scenes. Not only are the scenes obviously unconnected with no visible wounds or biting on the victim and then having everything obscured by a cloud of red and orange churning water with no shark visible since it's all taken from various sources. With no visible marks anywhere and no sequences, later on, showing the impact and damage the creature had on the victim to give us an idea of what's going on and how powerful it is, this one somewhat misses the boat when it comes to the main shark rather strongly. The other issue with the film is the relaxed and generally bland pacing in the first half that rarely brings about much excitement or interest. The scenes of the friends returning and reuniting have the potential to be a great reconnection factor but it completely misses out here when it brings up a series of plotlines to utilize them but does nothing with them. The interaction with the bullies is dropped after two brief sequences and the reluctant father angle goes nowhere since he brings him out immediately after a conversation rather than continually declining until forced to do so at the end of the film which makes more sense. These interactions are laden with conversations about their preppy lifestyle and childhood oath that are just boring and bland taking up time from the shark attacks which would've been far more enjoyable. These elements here hold this one back the most.
Rated R: Violence and Language.
makes TROLL 2 look like a work of genius!
dogcow3 June 2001
This is the worst italian movie ever, quite possibly the worst movie of all time! Joe D'Amato is of course no cinematic genius but many of his movies are interesting and watchable. Unfortunatly this is not one of them. Its cheesy and boring....waaaaay boring. If you want a movie to MST3k, get Troll 2, if you want a movie to put someone into a coma, get deep blood!
Joe D'Amoto shark!
BandSAboutMovies21 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
If you thought Joe D'Amoto didn't have a Jaws ripoff in him, then you don't know Joe D'Amoto. Or Federiko Slonisko. Or Michael Wotruba. Or David Hills. Or Kevin Mancuso. Or Joan Russell. Or Raf Donato, the name he used when he directed this.
Joe D'Amoto had just as many names as he made movies. Born Aristide Massaccesi, he first became known as a cinematographer on films like What Have You Done to Solange? before directing his own films like Death Smiles on a Murderer, five Emanuelle films include the absolutely berserk Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Antropophagus, Absurd, Endgame and literally hundreds more, as well as producing films by George Eastman, Michele Soavi, Umberto Lenzi, Lucio Fulci and Claudio Fragrasso.
This movie begins as we meet four boys, Miki, John, Jason and Alan, eating hotdogs on the beach with a Native American mystic who tells them the tale of the monstrous Wakan shark. The boys sign a blood oath that they will always be friends and help one another in times of danger.
Much like a Stephen King movie, the boys get together ten years later. However, Wakan shows up, kills John and starts randomly devouring just about everyone in his path. There's a long extended sequence where a police chopper hovers over the guys' boat, repeatedly saying "Go back to shore, you should be embarrassed of what you've done" that made me laugh so hard I fell off my couch.
If the scene of the shark blowing up at the end - sorry spoiler warning - looks familiar, it's because D'Amoto just recycled the effect from the end of The Last Shark. Yes, the Italian film industry is not above ripping itself off. Also, the effects team only built a shark head. The rest of the undersea footage comes from National Geographic.
The mystic angle adds a different take on a shark movie. And there are moments of sheer absurdity, like the sheriff being named Cody and not Brody, harpoons being shot into the cars of punkers and a fishing scene where it's obvious that no one knows how to actually fish.
Joe D'Amoto may not have delivered the Italian shark movie of my dreams, where George Eastman emerges from the inside of the shark eating its innards, but dammit if he didn't try.
Joe D'Amoto had just as many names as he made movies. Born Aristide Massaccesi, he first became known as a cinematographer on films like What Have You Done to Solange? before directing his own films like Death Smiles on a Murderer, five Emanuelle films include the absolutely berserk Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Antropophagus, Absurd, Endgame and literally hundreds more, as well as producing films by George Eastman, Michele Soavi, Umberto Lenzi, Lucio Fulci and Claudio Fragrasso.
This movie begins as we meet four boys, Miki, John, Jason and Alan, eating hotdogs on the beach with a Native American mystic who tells them the tale of the monstrous Wakan shark. The boys sign a blood oath that they will always be friends and help one another in times of danger.
Much like a Stephen King movie, the boys get together ten years later. However, Wakan shows up, kills John and starts randomly devouring just about everyone in his path. There's a long extended sequence where a police chopper hovers over the guys' boat, repeatedly saying "Go back to shore, you should be embarrassed of what you've done" that made me laugh so hard I fell off my couch.
If the scene of the shark blowing up at the end - sorry spoiler warning - looks familiar, it's because D'Amoto just recycled the effect from the end of The Last Shark. Yes, the Italian film industry is not above ripping itself off. Also, the effects team only built a shark head. The rest of the undersea footage comes from National Geographic.
The mystic angle adds a different take on a shark movie. And there are moments of sheer absurdity, like the sheriff being named Cody and not Brody, harpoons being shot into the cars of punkers and a fishing scene where it's obvious that no one knows how to actually fish.
Joe D'Amoto may not have delivered the Italian shark movie of my dreams, where George Eastman emerges from the inside of the shark eating its innards, but dammit if he didn't try.
Mississippi gulf coast
melissamichals-1834522 August 2021
Almost all the scenes in this movie were filmed in Ocean Springs Ms and Biloxi Ms, but no credit is given. It's not the Mississippi River as it states. I live there and even though Katrina demolished our coast , I can still recognize all the places they filmed.
WOW OH WOW....
JCinHB13 July 2023
Well... I just finished watching Cruel jaws and this movie popped up good ol' Deep Blood so what the heck, its Summer Time and time for Shark Movies!!!!
Now if you haven't seen the 'masterpiece' that is Cruel Shark, go give that a ride. BUT... do know.... that the end of Deep Blood is EXACTLY the same footage as the ending of Cruel Jaws... I mean EXACTLY!
I mean the Cruel Jaws was bad enough with stolen footage from a number of Jaws movies etc.... and now this movie steals the same ending as that!!!
I mean if you are into simply terrible shark movies, this is something to watch as was Cruel Jaws... but you don't have to watch the ending of this one because you will have already seen it!!!!
Now if you haven't seen the 'masterpiece' that is Cruel Shark, go give that a ride. BUT... do know.... that the end of Deep Blood is EXACTLY the same footage as the ending of Cruel Jaws... I mean EXACTLY!
I mean the Cruel Jaws was bad enough with stolen footage from a number of Jaws movies etc.... and now this movie steals the same ending as that!!!
I mean if you are into simply terrible shark movies, this is something to watch as was Cruel Jaws... but you don't have to watch the ending of this one because you will have already seen it!!!!
Deep Blood
Michael_Elliott26 February 2008
Deep Blood (1989)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Joe D'Amato's next to last horror film is yet another Italian rip off of Jaws. After a group of friends take a blood pack, their friendship is put to the test when one of them is eaten by a shark. This is without question the worst of the Italian rips I've seen but I do have two more coming to me. The film has one suspenseful moment, the first attack, but after that everything is pretty dull. There's not a fake shark used throughout the film. Instead we get stock footage of a real shark that naturally never matches up to watch we're seeing in the other footage. Since no fake shark is being used, all of the attacks are rather silly.
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Joe D'Amato's next to last horror film is yet another Italian rip off of Jaws. After a group of friends take a blood pack, their friendship is put to the test when one of them is eaten by a shark. This is without question the worst of the Italian rips I've seen but I do have two more coming to me. The film has one suspenseful moment, the first attack, but after that everything is pretty dull. There's not a fake shark used throughout the film. Instead we get stock footage of a real shark that naturally never matches up to watch we're seeing in the other footage. Since no fake shark is being used, all of the attacks are rather silly.
A shallow experience of a shark movie...
paul_haakonsen4 July 2021
Well, initially I was lured in - pardon the pun - to watch the 1990 Italian movie "Sangue negli abissi" (aka "Deep Blood") as it is a shark movie. Sure, the movie's cover wasn't all that impressive or interesting, but still with it being a shark movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I found the time to sit down and watch "Deep Blood".
For a movie made in 1990 then "Deep Blood" was way behind its time. This movie felt like something from the late 1970s or early 1980s. Wow, this was just not feeling like a movie made in 1990. So I suppose if you enjoy that retro feel in a movie then you might find some enjoyment in "Deep Blood".
As for it being a shark movie. Nay, don't even bother with this movie. This was nothing more than stock footage of sharks being used, and then people vanishing under the surface of the water abruptly, which was supposed to look like shark attacks. And then there was the orange blood. Rarely have I seen such a weak attempt at replicating blood. It was just laughable.
The storyline written by George Nelson Ott just wasn't impressive. It incorporated elements seen in many other shark movies, so it was very unoriginal. And to top it off, then the characters were bland, and the sharks were just not ever a threat.
"Deep Blood" was a swing and a miss, and it was a very laughable shark movie, providing next to no entertainment whatsoever. This is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time ever, just sitting through it the first time was an ordeal in itself. There are pretty bad shark movies out there, and "Deep Blood" is a contender for that genre.
My rating of directors Raffaele Donato and Joe D'Amato's 1990 movie lands on a generous two out of ten stars. If you are making a shark movie, at least have sharks in it.
For a movie made in 1990 then "Deep Blood" was way behind its time. This movie felt like something from the late 1970s or early 1980s. Wow, this was just not feeling like a movie made in 1990. So I suppose if you enjoy that retro feel in a movie then you might find some enjoyment in "Deep Blood".
As for it being a shark movie. Nay, don't even bother with this movie. This was nothing more than stock footage of sharks being used, and then people vanishing under the surface of the water abruptly, which was supposed to look like shark attacks. And then there was the orange blood. Rarely have I seen such a weak attempt at replicating blood. It was just laughable.
The storyline written by George Nelson Ott just wasn't impressive. It incorporated elements seen in many other shark movies, so it was very unoriginal. And to top it off, then the characters were bland, and the sharks were just not ever a threat.
"Deep Blood" was a swing and a miss, and it was a very laughable shark movie, providing next to no entertainment whatsoever. This is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time ever, just sitting through it the first time was an ordeal in itself. There are pretty bad shark movies out there, and "Deep Blood" is a contender for that genre.
My rating of directors Raffaele Donato and Joe D'Amato's 1990 movie lands on a generous two out of ten stars. If you are making a shark movie, at least have sharks in it.
Blood in the abysses
TheBossofTheNorth14 August 2007
Deep Blood... Its one of those movies you here about and you say not another Italian Jaws ripoff! Well, Deep Blood is far from that. It is a cheap as film making can get and on the other side it is creative as well. In Jaws and all the other shark films we all have seen or herd about they all use fake made sharks, well in Joe D'Amato's film he takes a new approach by using all stock footage for his shark scenes. This is one of the many reasons I like Deep Blood so much is because it didn't use stock footage.
In Deep Blood an ancient Indian spirit terrorizes a beach town in the form of a bloodthirsty shark, in Joe D'Amato's Shark classic Deep Blood.
It seems that a Native American elder once warned a group of youngsters about this great evil in the sea, and years later, the friends are forced to face their fears when one of them is killed by a shark in a series of attacks along their coastline. Now it's up to the remaining few to make sure that this monster is killed, even if it means heading out to sea to do it.
Joe D'Amato Directed and Produced this film under his company the Filmirage. Released in 1989 and was later used in Bruno Mattei's Cruel Jaws: Jaws 5, along with many other shark films. Joe D'Amato's shark entry is a great film and any Joe D'Amato fan of shark movie watcher should give it a try.
In Deep Blood an ancient Indian spirit terrorizes a beach town in the form of a bloodthirsty shark, in Joe D'Amato's Shark classic Deep Blood.
It seems that a Native American elder once warned a group of youngsters about this great evil in the sea, and years later, the friends are forced to face their fears when one of them is killed by a shark in a series of attacks along their coastline. Now it's up to the remaining few to make sure that this monster is killed, even if it means heading out to sea to do it.
Joe D'Amato Directed and Produced this film under his company the Filmirage. Released in 1989 and was later used in Bruno Mattei's Cruel Jaws: Jaws 5, along with many other shark films. Joe D'Amato's shark entry is a great film and any Joe D'Amato fan of shark movie watcher should give it a try.
What's wrong with Italian directors?!?!?
the_wolf_imdb10 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is crappy beyond any limits. It's incredible - a very bad ripoff from Jaws and other (better) shark movies. A really bad one - everything is really pathetic. The story is purest crap, actors are bad, effects very cheap, no creativity whatsoever. It looks like some really debilitated children took Jaws script and arranged it randomly, then its parents took their 8 mm camera and shot the movie with their neighbors. The music is really inappropriate, just some "elevator" music, bland and overly optimistic when nothing happens, then slightly less optimistic when shark is around or when children gets depressed (again listens to VERY LOUD elevator music). Carlo Maria (the author) should be so ashamed he should ask for his name to be erased from the titles!! The movie acts as perfect demonstration how crappy music will destroy ***ANY*** scene which is supposed to be thrilling. There is one major difference to Jaws though: In the beginning of Jaws there are comments about stupid people who try to kill shark with dynamite. Well, there is an attempt to kill a shark with dynamite. When this does not work, guys take an ***BIG LOAD*** of dynamite and spent like 1/4 of movie by placing explosives in some sunken ship. This IS really original way to catch the fish I have to admit! They use so much dynamite like they would try to kill a battleship (I would guess Bismarck class of battleship) or to dig another Panama channel. This is just incredible. I'm glad they did not try to use napalm-flamethrower or tactical nuclear strike to eliminate this bad, bad approximately 2 m shark. Well, there is mystic disappearing native Indian (who looks like German pensioner) too in this mess. This is not a movie, this is a warning example how bad the movies may be! As a warning it is useful. But the public should be protected from this crap. Most of Italian movies is bad, but this... this is really exceptional in the worst sense of the word.
Not a bad film, just a boring one
PeterBradford29 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
WARNING: SPOILER!
The good stuff: well-photographed, on location in Florida; fair-good performances, good looking cast of young folks, and Joe D'Amato's name attached to it. The bad stuff: boring. Talking. A tediously loooong 90 mins. A short film concept padded out to 90 mins.
SPOILER ALERT: Unless my math is really bad, I think the death count was about...um...er...ah...one. Maybe two?
The good stuff: well-photographed, on location in Florida; fair-good performances, good looking cast of young folks, and Joe D'Amato's name attached to it. The bad stuff: boring. Talking. A tediously loooong 90 mins. A short film concept padded out to 90 mins.
SPOILER ALERT: Unless my math is really bad, I think the death count was about...um...er...ah...one. Maybe two?
Tedious killer shark clunker
Woodyanders2 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
An ancient evil Native American spirit takes on the form of a lethal predatory shark which terrorizes a small seaside community. It's up to several young guys to stop the beast. Sound good and exciting? Well, it just ain't. Man, does this stupendously static stiff strike out something stinky in every possible way: We've got mostly flat acting from a lame no-name cast, insipid characters, way too much sappy soap opera-style sentimental nonsense, some silly mystical mumbo jumbo, infrequent and ineptly staged shark attack scenes, a dull and uneventful story, blah (non)direction (it's hard to believe that legendary Italian sleazemeister Joe D'Amato was involved with this turkey), a painfully plodding pace, zero tension, no nudity, and obvious stock footage for almost all the shots of the shark. Only Charlie Brill as a fishing boat captain manages to inject some much-needed life into this otherwise soporific snoozer. A real snorefest.
Pitiful
teebear81730 April 2021
I told my wife the scenes were from huge aquariums and pools. So obvious. The military scene had a soldier saluting a Sergeant and calling him sir. You dont do either of those things in American military. The mood music was wrong and unbearable. Of course the acting, writing and directing was 10 levels below incompetant. Pure junk. They had pink "blood" in the water which was embarrassing. Looked like Pepto Bismol. Bad stock shark footage and not much of that. A convaluted storyline that was brutal to watch. It dragged on and on and on. Seemed like it was 4 hours long!! Finally, mercifully, it ended. What a waste of 4 hours....or was it 2??
This time it's really, REALLY personal.
Hey_Sweden18 October 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Italian cult filmmaker Joe D'Amato threw his hat into the ring containing all the "Jaws" rip-offs with this disaster-piece. The plot sees four young boys having a weenie-roast on the beach and making friends with an old Indian (Van Jensens). They then take some sort of blood oath. A decade or so later, one of the boys gets killed by a great white shark with a black dorsal fin. This spurs the others to mete out some good old-fashioned revenge.
The antagonist in this case consists of stock footage of a shark; whenever a person is killed, we only see a bunch of blood and splashing water. This was largely shot in Florida, using a bunch of local unknowns for the cast (although 60s comedians Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall are here for some sort of "name value" as Ben's parents). The story itself is patently absurd stuff, having to do with an ancient Indian spirit that is manifesting itself as this finned predator.
Make no mistake: this is pretty bad stuff, all right. Much like the infinitely superior "Jaws", there's very limited screen time for the shark. However, the drama in *this* movie is very dull and uninspired. Occasionally the viewer can have a VERY big laugh with the absolutely terrible dialogue ("I'll be damned!" the mayor proclaims, when he learns that his son (one of the boys) has set out to sea to destroy the fish) and even worse acting.
My GOD, the acting in this movie is atrocious. Just one of the egregious offenders is Tody Bernard, who plays the police chief. The character is such a damn jerk and moron that it's utterly disappointing that HE doesn't become shark chow. Cult actress Laura Gemser has an uncredited bit in this as a lab assistant.
If you're in need of a D'Amato horror fix, watch the much better "Beyond the Darkness" instead. And if you must watch an ultra-cheesy "Jaws" rip-off, "Cruel Jaws" (which actually steals some of the shots from this one) is a better choice.
Five out of 10.
The antagonist in this case consists of stock footage of a shark; whenever a person is killed, we only see a bunch of blood and splashing water. This was largely shot in Florida, using a bunch of local unknowns for the cast (although 60s comedians Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall are here for some sort of "name value" as Ben's parents). The story itself is patently absurd stuff, having to do with an ancient Indian spirit that is manifesting itself as this finned predator.
Make no mistake: this is pretty bad stuff, all right. Much like the infinitely superior "Jaws", there's very limited screen time for the shark. However, the drama in *this* movie is very dull and uninspired. Occasionally the viewer can have a VERY big laugh with the absolutely terrible dialogue ("I'll be damned!" the mayor proclaims, when he learns that his son (one of the boys) has set out to sea to destroy the fish) and even worse acting.
My GOD, the acting in this movie is atrocious. Just one of the egregious offenders is Tody Bernard, who plays the police chief. The character is such a damn jerk and moron that it's utterly disappointing that HE doesn't become shark chow. Cult actress Laura Gemser has an uncredited bit in this as a lab assistant.
If you're in need of a D'Amato horror fix, watch the much better "Beyond the Darkness" instead. And if you must watch an ultra-cheesy "Jaws" rip-off, "Cruel Jaws" (which actually steals some of the shots from this one) is a better choice.
Five out of 10.
Boring but acceptable
kschottmueller6 May 2024
Compared to the mass of shark movies, this one is not very different from many others.
From the start of the movie to it's end, a lot of scenes are so generic that they could occur in every other shark movie. You could probably cut out some scenes and exchange them, not many would notice. The story is standard, the effects are below average, the music is boring to annoying.
What really hurts is the amount of useless scenes in this film, nobody needs. Diving down and planting dynamite over and over again feels trashy and I don't understand how somebody can watch this and say "Yes, we need to see him plant three more dynamite packs".
Another really annoying fact is how you can see the back of the pool in some of the shark scenes. Come on, everybody has to spot this.
From the start of the movie to it's end, a lot of scenes are so generic that they could occur in every other shark movie. You could probably cut out some scenes and exchange them, not many would notice. The story is standard, the effects are below average, the music is boring to annoying.
What really hurts is the amount of useless scenes in this film, nobody needs. Diving down and planting dynamite over and over again feels trashy and I don't understand how somebody can watch this and say "Yes, we need to see him plant three more dynamite packs".
Another really annoying fact is how you can see the back of the pool in some of the shark scenes. Come on, everybody has to spot this.
deep-blood
beastsauron9 February 2006
This is a great Italian shark movie probably not a full action type of shark movie but it has a great story about a native American in the form of a killer shark that attacks a small beach community. the movie has actual scenes of real sharks and some not but how they made it is pretty good the cast are not that brilliant of acting in this shark film but it it shows better acting in some other Italian shark movies such as (e.g cruel jaws,last shark)they show some pretty bad acting but most Italian shark movies are good which means this votes best as the best Italian shark movie ever , some scenes in this movie show violence/gore which makes this film good that it shows it so i would say this is the best film for all shark-movie-fans.
Not all stock footage
abigailjeffries5 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Unlike some of the other Italian rip-off shark movies I've seen, this one is not all stock footage. It does steel footage from The Last Shark, but it also has its own mechanical shark and its own live shark footage. The movie's story has its sad moments, and that's part of a good film to me. The music is pretty bad, though. There are a couple good sounding themes in there but other than that, it's bad movie music. This isn't really a Jaws rip-off, more of a knock-off of The Last Shark since it has stock footage from it. In this movie, there is a wise old Indian who is very well acted and plays a very good role in the story. Other than the music, it's a good movie.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
