‘No more Mr. Nice Shark’
Trailer Park Shark is a 2017 American action horror film written and directed by Griff Furst (Atomic Shark; Swamp Shark; Starve; Ghost Shark; et al). Also released as Shark Shock
The movie stars Thomas Ian Nicholas, Lulu Jovovich and Clint James. Tara Reid has a cameo role.
Plot:
A tropical storm floods Soggy Meadows trailer park and forces a hungry shark upriver…
Our review:
Listen, if you ever find yourself being unexpectedly menaced by a shark, you’re going to want a redneck around. Trust me on this. I may not be one myself but I’ve grown up around rednecks and I feel a lot safer around them than I do with sensitive types from up North. Seriously, if you’re under shark attack, who do you want protecting you? A guy with a gun and a cooler full of beer or someone who drives a Prius?
The other great thing about rednecks is that there’s nothing that they can’t do with duct tape. Give a redneck enough duct tape and a weather satellite and I guarantee that he’ll try and find a way to stop climate change. There’s a name for that: redneck ingenuity.
When I was watching Trailer Park Shark, I was impressed with the amount of duct tape on display. As the main character, a redneck played by Thomas Ian Nicholas was using duct tape to solve yet another problem, I tweeted that I was enjoying the music playing in the background. To me, it sounded like something that Ennio Morricone would have come up with for a spaghetti western. It fit the scene perfectly because Trailer Park Shark is a film that makes duct tape feel just as epic as the final cemetery confrontation in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Andrew Morgan Smith, who did excellent work on the film’s score, informed me that the musical cue was called “Redneck Ingenuity.”
That’s a perfect name because, while Trailer Park Shark is about a lot of things, it is ultimately a celebration of redneck ingenuity and the never-give-up attitude of life in the Southern bayou. The characters in Trailer Park Shark have a lot to deal with. Because of a freak rains storm and some evil plotting by mean old Mr Deconnard (Dennis Haskins), their trailer park has been flooded. And with the flood has come a shark! It would be easy to give up, especially when people and horses start getting eaten. But no one surrenders to fate! No one gives up!
It’s a lot of fun, as any movie about a shark attacking a trailer park should be. All of the characters in the park are memorable in their redneck way. Even with the majority of the park underwater and neighbours getting eaten left and right, they’re still just as likely to be fighting each other as they are the shark. While I personally have never lived in a trailer park, I’ve lived close to a few and I’ve spent a few nights visiting and this film gets the atmosphere just right.
Griff Furst, who is something of a specialist when it comes to bayou chaos, brings this location to life. From the very first tracking shot to the film’s action-packed finale, the bayou feels alive. You can easily imagine this location and these people existing long before the cameras started rolling. The relationships feel real.
Speaking of feeling real, I always suspected that Dennis Haskins had the ability to play a really evil character. Watch the earliest episodes of Saved By The Bell and you’ll see some hints of darkness underneath Mr Belding’s goofy exterior. That said, Haskins does such a good job playing this film’s villain that you eventually forget that you’re watching Mr Belding threatening to kill people. Instead, he’s just a very bad man with an interesting preference for weapons.
(Speaking of weapons, Tara Reid also shows up, playing a trailer park resident who has a wide variety of weapons at her disposal. Though her role is small, her appearance allows for some playful poking at the Sharknado franchise.)
I liked Trailer Park Shark. It’s a blast of pure entertainment and my favourite of the recent Syfy shark movies. Since Syfy reruns everything a hundred times, keep an eye out for it! Watch it in honour of the rednecks who keep us safe from sharks, often at the cost of life, limb, and satellite dish.
Lisa Marie Bowman, guest reviewer via Through the Shattered Lens
Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk
“Lulu Jovovich, playing Jolene, is the redeeming factor of the film. She is a true beauty in no matter what setting you place her. The arrival of the shark is by all means a major threat, but the basic instinct to survive is a force to be reckoned with. Kudos to director Griff Furst for his combination of laughs and tension along with a deadly shark.” Michael O’Keefe
Choice dialogue:
“It ain’t no run-of-the mill shark. It’s got issues. Electrical ones.”
Cast and characters:
Thomas Ian Nicholas … Rob Living Among Us; Halloween: Resurrection
Lulu Jovovich … Jolene
Clint James … Rufus the Cowboy
David Kallaway … Swayze
Sophie Howell … Barbara Wire
Elise Berggreen … Daisy
Ritchie Montgomery … Uncle Jeff
Peter Jaymes Jr. {as Peter James] … Wyatt
Carrie Lazar … Cappy
Hollywood McFinley … Cleon
Kelsey Lamb … Cymphony
Tyler Lamb … Trailer Park Boy
Josh Whites … Bruno
Dennis Haskins … Deconnard Revamped; Dismembered
Tara Reid … Billie Jean Party Bus to Hell; Sharknado films; Charlie’s Farm
Filming locations:
Lafitte, Louisiana
Release:
The film premiered on the Syfy channel on August 2, 2017, as part of their Sharknado Week.
In the UK, Spirit Entertainment released it on DVD on July 30, 2018.
Trailer:
