Streaming
Service: Amazon Prime Video
Movie
Name/Year: 6-Headed
Shark Attack
(2018)
Genre:
Action, Horror, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Length:
1h 26min
Rating:
TV-14
Director:
Mark Atkins
Writers:
Koichi Petetsky, Mark Atkins
Actors:
Brandon Auret, Thandi Sebe, Cord Newman, Naima Sebe, Tapiwa Musvosvi,
Chris Fisher, Meghan Oberholzer, Jonathan Pienaar, Nikita Faber,
Caitlin Harty, Charlie Keegan, Jessica Cloete, Marie Cavanna, Paul
Gardyne, Wilco Wilkens
IMDb
Blurb: Attendees of a marriage
boot camp on a remote island have to fight a 6-headed shark that
attacks the beach.
Selina’s
Point of View:
First of all, Amazon Prime Video made me watch SEVEN ads before starting 6-Headed Shark Attack. SEVEN. That is excessive. Also, the movie is definitely not worth that many. I wouldn’t even watch that many in a row for most of my favorite films.
That’s all besides the point, and more my review of Amazon Prime Video. Now, on to 6-Headed Shark Attack.
Honestly, I didn’t hate the start of it. At least the start of the part with the main cast. We see the couples starting a marriage-strengthening activity and some tension building. In that moment it seemed like the acting might not be all that rough. It wasn’t the most amazing story start, but it was certainly better than I expected from the many-headed shark attack series. I even wrote in my notes: “ok acting?”
That feeling didn’t last long, though. Soon enough, it devolved into exactly what I thought I’d be getting.
The story took a couple of minor interesting turns, but most of it was about as formulaic as it could get, and everyone involved took the whole movie so seriously.
Movies that get the “so bad, it’s good” label get it because the people involved know exactly what they’re part of and have fun with it. The people involved in 6-Headed Shark Attack seemed to think they were making the next Jaws (1975).
All that said, it wasn’t the worst of the series. I wouldn’t immediately run to shut it off if someone threw it on during Shark Week or Halloween, it just wouldn’t be me throwing it on.
Cat’s
Point of View:
I will admit that when we landed on
6-Headed Shark Attack as our #6 in this month's Killer
Countdown, I groaned a bit... okay, a lot. I might have grumbled,
even. I instantly had a reasonable expectation for this movie that I
wasn't entirely thrilled about. I knew right away that this was going
to either be a golden “so bad, it's good” moment for B-movies or
it was going to be a cringeworthy shipwreck of sharksploitation.
We've seen the multi-headed shark flicks before, but this one has
more than the others. I don't remember being all that impressed with
this film's predecessors.
Another major factor on my internal
balance sheet for my anticipation of 6-Headed Shark Attack was that The Asylum made this movie. We have a bit of a
love/loathe relationship with that particular production company. On
the one hand, they've delivered B-movie golden classics like the
Sharknado (2013) franchise. They've also produced well-received series' such as Black Summer (2019-2021).
Unfortunately, they're most well-known for offerings such as Mega
Shark vs. Mecha Shark (2014) and Attack of the Meth Gator
(2023).
The Sharknado movies captured a
bit of that proverbial lightning in a bottle, though. Anything that
crazy and cobbled together doesn't work without the iconic
nostalgia-driven cast and epic cameos. Unfortunately, for 6-Headed
Shark Attack, lightning didn't strike twice... for the 6th
time.
I promise that I really did try to give
this movie a fair chance. I always go in with my optimism on high and
as blank a slate as I can when I watch a film for review. Many people worked really hard to put each production
together, after all. It feels disrespectful to instantly write something off or outright trash it, even if it falls short
of basic expectations.
What's the verdict on the movie with the slogan “Don't Mix with the Six!” on its poster? It was better
than I originally feared.
The premise of this star-shaped monstrosity with fins and teeth was just bonkers. There was very little character development, yet they were each
well enough within their cliché archetypes that it wasn't entirely
necessary for the purposes of this movie. The setting was well-used
and generally added to the production value. They found an
interesting location for this one, landscape-wise. The special
effects were a mixed bag of surprisingly decent and laughably bad.
The comedic elements were groan-worthy, and the plot was
generally predictable.
What surprised me was that the cast
actually... well, for the most part... pulled this off without adding
the acting to the list of things that needed to be corrected. Honestly,
6-Headed Shark Attack struck gold when they brought Brandon
Auret (Tremors 5: Bloodlines, Rogue, Rebel Moon - Part One: A
Child of Fire) on board. He's been in supporting roles and
background characters in enough reasonably known movies that he's got
a subtle recognizable factor – but Auret also sold his character. I
went on a little emotional journey with him.
I didn't hate it.
6-Headed Shark Attack was a TV movie made for the Syfy Channel, and it plays out exactly how their schlocky B-movies generally do. This isn't one to take seriously at
all – however, if you're looking for something fun in the
background to turn into a drinking game or something like that (take a shot for every Sharksploitation film trope), this might be a great candidate. (Just maybe set yourself some limits so you
don't end up with alcohol poisoning, and please have a designated
driver on hand.)
Rotten
Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten
Tomatoes Audience Score –30%
Metascore
– None
Metacritic
User Score –
None
IMDB
Score –
2.8/10
Trust
the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 2.5/5
Trust
the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2.5/5
Movie
Trailer:
