''Dinoshark'' is a 2010

low budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced o ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

produced by Syfy. It was shown on Syfy on March 13, 2010.

Background

The film premiered on Syfy on the evening of March 13, 2010 before 2 million viewers. ''Dinoshark'' followed up ''

Dinocroc ''Dinocroc'' is a 2004 American horror film directed by Kevin O'Neill. The film's plot revolves around a genetically engineered ''Suchomimus'' terrorizing the lake-side residents of a small town. The film stars Matthew Borlenghi, Jane Longenecke ...

''; Roger Corman proposed a sequel (''Dinocroc 2'') but Syfy felt that television audiences tended to respond better to new-but-similar ideas more than direct sequels. April MacIntyre, of Monsters and Critics, compared the film to old

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

s. A sequel titled ''

Dinocroc vs. Supergator ''Dinocroc vs. Supergator'' is a 2010 American Science fiction film, science fiction Horror film, horror television film that premiered on Syfy on June 26, 2010. This is one of David Carradine's final performances. The film was released on DVD and ...

'' was released on June 26, 2010. Roger Corman said that while the plot is hard to believe, the film can be enjoyed if disbelief is suspended and that the film is internally consistent. ''Dinoshark'' has been described as ''Dinocroc'' with flippers. Before the film was released, Margaret Lyons of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' said that this, along with ''

Sharktopus ''Sharktopus'' is a 2010 SyFy original horror/science fiction film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Declan O'Brien, and starring Eric Roberts. It is the first film in the ''Sharktopus'' franchise. Plot Geneticist Nathan Sands and his dau ...

'', were destined to be classics of the "awesomely awful made-for-TV movie genre".

Plot

The film opens with a baby

pliosaur Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of plesiosaurs, known from the earliest Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. They are best known for the subclade Thalassophonea, which contained crocodile-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive toot ...

swimming away from a broken chunk of Arctic glacier that calved due to global warming. Three years later, it is a ferocious predatory adult and kills tourists and locals offshore from

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara Metropo ...

. The protagonist, Trace, is first to notice the pliosaur and witnesses his friend get eaten, but has trouble convincing people that a creature of such antiquity is still alive and eating people.

Cast

Eric Balfour Eric Salter Balfour (born April 24, 1977) is an American actor. He made his film debut in the Lifetime movie ''No One Would Tell'' in 1996, followed by the drama '' Shattered Image'' (1998), followed by roles in '' What Women Want'' (2000), Rise ...

as Trace McGraw * Iva Hasperger as Carol Brubaker *

Aarón Díaz Aarón Díaz Spencer (born March 7, 1982) is a Mexican actor, singer, and model. He is known for playing in series aired on ABC. Early life Aarón Díaz Spencer was born in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico to an Irish-American mother (surname ...

as Luis *

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

as Dr. Reeves *

Blythe Metz Blythe Laura Metz (born 1977), also known as Blythe Metz-Mändmets, is an American actress, writer, natural lifestyle expert, and motivational speaker. Life Metz was educated at Arizona State University, graduating BA in performing arts in 2000. ...

as Newscaster * Vela Hammond as Mag * Blanche Wheeler as Dani * Shaun Carson as David * Jenna Manger as Ali

Reception

Critics and reviewers tended to share similar views on the nature of the film, seeing it as a continuation in the tradition of older

horror/monster films, with the implausible plots, stock sequences and questionable acting typical of that genre. Critics were divided between those who felt this made it highly entertaining and those who felt this made the film exceptionally poor in quality and panned it for its lack of redeeming features. In both cases though, critics conceded that it stood a chance of becoming a classic of its kind, if for nothing else than for a level of awfulness that mandated watching. April Macintyre of ''Monsters and critics'' gave it a positive review. Referring to "fun films, laced with implausible plots, brilliant poster art and laughable dialogue

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

demanded that you show up ready to suspend disbelief, prepare for a scare and always left the audience entertained", she wrote that some aspects are "hilariously over the top. Think Al Pacino's Cuban accent in ''Scarface'' times ten", but concluded that in the context of its genre, "we wouldn't want it any other way." On the negative side,

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

was condemnatory of the "rubbery" monster, "exceptionally chintzy" effects, and "some of the worst acting ever seen in a Syfy original movie", concluding that users who did not regularly watch "schlocky shark flicks" would probably enjoy laughing at "this silly offering in which half the cast sound like they were voiced over by George Lopez". ''Chicago Now'' gave it one star out of 5 as a "low-budget joker" and "cheesy, mindless fun", stating there had to be a "fun drinking game" in it and the best thing about it was the title.

Home video

''Dinoshark'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on April 26, 2011.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{Roger Corman 2010 television films 2010 films 2010 horror films Syfy original films American natural horror films Films about dinosaurs Fiction about shark attacks Films about shark attacks Films produced by Roger Corman Films produced by Julie Corman American monster movies Giant monster films 2010s monster movies American horror television films 2010s English-language films Films set in Mexico Films directed by Kevin O'Neill (director) 2010s American films English-language science fiction horror films