Trailer Park Shark (2017)

Directed by Griff Furst [Other horror films: I Am Omega (2007), Wolvesbayne (2009), 30 Days to Die (2009), Lake Placid 3 (2010), Maskerade (2011), Swamp Shark (2011), Arachnoquake (2012), Ghost Shark (2013), Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators (2013), Starve (2014), Cold Moon (2016), Nightmare Shark (2018)]

And yet another Syfy original shark film. Trailer Park Shark is a film that I didn’t care much for when I first saw it, because, as you might be able to tell by the title, the movie is a bit silly. I can deal with some levels of humor in my movies, but I just couldn’t get into Trailer Park Shark, and it’s not my idea of a good Syfy effort.

Of course, the right audience might have a different perspective, but personally, I don’t really care to see a bunch of redneck stereotypes fixing things with duct tape, calling each other skanks, and fighting sharks. Well, technically, it’s one shark, but to sweeten the deal, the shark is electric, so that’s fun, right? I just don’t care for the stereotypes they have in the film, and it doesn’t really give me many characters to root for.

The thing I did appreciate about this was the little political element. See, the land the trailer park is on is owned by a Mr. Deconnard (played by Dennis Haskins), and because he wants to drill on the land, he wants the trailer park, and the people, gone. So what does he do? He has the dam blown up, which is how the shark gets there in the first place, and naturally, how the whole trailer park becomes flooded. He did it for money, and I can’t fault a movie for showing capitalism as the negative force it is, so I dug this element.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be too much to enjoy here. The shark has a few electrical powers – it can send out electrical pulses in the nearby water, which, if it catches someone off guard, will stun them. Apparently this happened because a character early on tried to defend themselves with a powerline, and the shark soaked up the electricity for his own needs, which I guess is what science has been warning us against all along.

There are some really ridiculous elements to the movie, which don’t help matters. I don’t mind a tongue-in-cheek movie every now and again – I liked, and gave a good rating to, Lavalantula. It’s just too much here, from the whole running gag of a horse named Duke (“I’m doing this for my big, brown Dukey” – yes, that was said with a straight face) to one of the characters mocking another named Daisy by singing a clever parody of SpongeBob Squarepants titled “Daisy Skankpants.”

Oh, and someone said there was a shark nearby, and another character said, “The weather report didn’t say anything about tornadoes.” Clever, Syfy, clever. I see what you did there.

Thomas Ian Nicholas was okay, and I thought he had solid moral character. Though he only got a scene at the beginning, we also had Ritchie Montgomery (Ragin Cajun Redneck Gators) here, who was nice to see again. Lulu Jovovich didn’t really impress me, nor did Dennis Haskins, or anyone else. Most of the others played goofy stereotypes, and I couldn’t get into them.

Trailer Park Shark is one of those Syfy movies that I look on with regret. Obviously, the movie would appeal to some people – maybe I’m just not a fun enough guy. It wasn’t my type of comedy, though, and while it’s not as bad as Syfy’s worst shark films (2-Headed Shark Attack and Shark Week, for instance), seeing this twice is enough.

4.5/10