We’ve made it to June, which signals it’s the unofficial start of summer. That means we can finally begin binge watching bad shark attack movies. While browsing for such films on demand, I somehow stumbled across Sharkula. Exactly what the title implies, Sharkula finds the essence of Count Dracula transferred into a great white shark who then preys upon local villagers in modern times. Sharkula was released to streaming and DVD by Wild Eye Releasing in June of 2022. One year later, I gave it a cautious gander to see what it has to offer. And, well, it actually wasn’t that bad.
Listen, this film is as low budget as it can possibly be. Totally Z budget horror. However, that’s just the type of product we like to showcase here at HorrorSociety.com. So, while Sharkula is a polished turd, I rather enjoyed my viewing. Sharkula was written, directed and edited by Mark Polonia. It was produced by Rob Hauschild and features cinematography by Paul Alan Steele. Lead cast members include James Kelly, Tim Hatch, Jamie Morgan, Kyle Rappaport, Titus Himmelberger, Natalie Himmelberger and cult 90’s actor Jeff Kirkendall.
Its biggest deterrent is the camera work. God, I hated it. It was too bright, color was drowned out, it was almost never in focus and the shot list needed major tuning before beginning principal photography. Almost every seen was so flurry I felt like it was originally intended to be watched with 3D glasses and then the filmmakers said never mind. Then, there was B-roll and pick up shots that were done with a completely different camera with a completely different quality that were leaps and bounds better than the other footage. I physically needed to take breaks while watching Sharkula to keep my head from spinning.
Besides that, however, everything else was pretty good. Acting was better than you’d expect. There are some campy and cheesy moments that I loved. Throw in some bad special effects. Throw in some vampire lure. Modest pacing and good locations. If the camera work was cleaner, I would have given this movie a much higher rating. Sharkula will be enjoyed or hated, and it’s up to you to discover which category you fall into. But it was just the type of shark attack movie I was looking for to start my summer binge.
Final Score: 5 out of 10.
