Spring Breakdown: Sand Sharks (dir by Mark Atkins)


“There ain’t no party like a Sandman party!” Jimmy Green (played by Corin Nemec) announces in the 2012 film, Sand Sharks, and he’s right.

Jimmy is infamous for throwing (or, at least, attempting to throw) big parties and organizing wild festivals.  This movie was made before the Fyre Festival but watching Jimmy as he runs around and assures everyone that he’s about to put together the greatest music festival that the world has ever seen, it’s hard not to be reminded of the determined and incompetent people who were behind that legendary disaster.  Then again, no one was eaten by a shark during the Fyre Festival.  Jimmy can’t make the same claim about his parties.

In fact, when we first meet Jimmy, he’s trying to rebuild his reputation after his previous party ended in tragedy.  Apparently, 15 people died at that party and, though we don’t get all the details, it’s insinuated that they were eaten by sharks.  Jimmy isn’t one to let shark-related tragedy get him down, however.  Instead, he’s doing to put on another Sandman Festival and this time, he’ll keep everyone on the beach and out of the water!  Fortunately, for Jimmy, his father just happens to be the mayor of a beachside community.

Unfortunately, it turns out that sharks aren’t just in the ocean.  There’s also on the beach, swimming underneath the sand.  They’re sand hharks!  Now, the movie does provide an explanation for why all of those sharks are moving around underneath the sand but it’s really not important.  The important thing is that they’re out and they’re eating just about everyone that they meet.  That’s going to be a problem as far as the Sandman Festival is concerned.  Fortunately, Jimmy and the authorities are able to kill one sand shark.  However, when Jimmy discovers that there’s more than one sand shark, he keeps that news to himself.  The show must go on!

You can probably guess what happens next….

The sand sharks are a lot of fun and this SyFy film provides plenty of spring break mayhem as festival goers are yanked under the sand but, for me, the main attraction of this film is seeing Corin Nemec just unleashed like a force of nature.  Nemec starts the film going at about 100 miles per hour and he doesn’t slow down for a single second.  As played by Nemec, Jimmy never stop talking and he never stops hustling and he’s so committed to putting on the greatest festival ever that it’s impossible not to like him, even if his actions do end up getting a lot of people killed.  Nemec seems to be having a lot of fun with the role of Jimmy and it’s just as much fun to watch him.

Of course, Jimmy isn’t the only character in the film.  Brooke Hogan plays Dr. Sandy Powers, who is a shark expert.  At one point, Sandy looks out at the beach and tells Sheriff John Stone (Eric Scott Woods) that “We’re stuck between a rock and a shark place,” and if you don’t cheer for that line, I worry about you and your sense of humor.  As that line indicates, Sand Sharks is a film that cheerfully embraces the ludicrousness of it’s storyline.  It doesn’t take itself too seriously and neither should you.  This is the type of film where people often snap, “Bite me!” right before a shark leaps out of the sand and does just that.  This is pure entertainment and, if you’re a fan of SyFy shark films, Sand Sharks is a lot of fun.  Between the sand sharks and Corin Nemec playing the hipster-from-Hell, what more could you want?

4 Shots From 4 Beach Horror Films: The Horror of Party Beach, The Beach Girls and the Monster, Blood Beach, Sand Sharks


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, we celebrate horror on the beach with….

4 Shots From 4 Beach Horror Films

The Horror of Party Beach (1964, dir by Del Tenney)

The Beach Girls and the Monster (1966, dir by Jon Hall)

Blood Beach (1981, dir by Jeffrey Bloom)

Sand Sharks (2011, dir by Mark Atkins)

 

6 Horror-Filled Trailers!


Continuing with our horror theme this month, this latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers is dedicated to films that are perfect for Halloween.

Some of you may have noticed that there was no Trailer Kitty at the end of last week’s post.  Well, I’m happy to say that, after intensive negotiations with the Mascot Union, the strike is over and the trailer kitties have returned!  Yay!

1) Beyond the Door (1974)

I think I may have included this trailer before but oh well.  I’ll include it again because the movie that it’s advertising is just so amazingly bad.


2) Sand Sharks (2011)

Stay away from the beach!  Seriously..agck!

3) The House On Haunted Hill (1959)

This trailer is a classic.


4) The Tingler (1959)

As always, a Vincent Price trailer should be followed up another Vincent Price trailer.

5) Hillside Cannibals (2006)

I haven’t actually seen this film but, judging from the trailer, it could have used a little Vincent Price.

6) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Much like Beyond the Door, this is a trailer that I’ve featured in the past but I think that, with it being the October season, I’m justified in featuring it again.  I consider this to be one of the most effective trailers of all time.

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

In this case, I agree with trailer kitty!  Those trailers were way too scary!