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After the
mysterious death of his father, David
travels to Venice in Italy to investigate. When he
finds an underwater temple filled with treasures,
he has a run-in with the mob who also happen to
know about the hidden treasure. Now they need him
to go back to it, but that's easier said than done
as a killer shark has just found its way into the
canals of Venezia.
Sharks in Venice, isn't that just a terrific
concept? Now I've been to Venice and I can just
imagine how freaked out everyone would be if
there were sharks in the canals. I mean, there
are canals freaking everywhere so there's no
escape. This really could have been an outstanding
horror flick in my opinion. Unfortunately it was
made by Nu Image which means that it's inevitably
absolute rubbish, filled with plot holes and
poor actors. Also, 90% of it was obviously not
shot in Venice and there's so much stock footage
to be found in here that it'd be baffling had any
other studio made it, but since it is Nu Image,
we've come to expect it.
Okay so like I've said, the basic concept for this
movie really is a winner, but the fact is, CGI
effects are expensive and shooting in Venice is
probably even more expensive so the concept is
lost and instead we find ourselves watching a low-rent
action flick where the Italian mob (or Bulgarians
trying to speak English with an Italian accent)
is trying to find a hidden treasure beneath the
waters of Venice. Stephen Baldwin is thrown in for
good measure as an archaeologist (hahaha) who also
happens to be a terrific diver (what a coincidence).
Naturally he gets in trouble with the mob and has
to help them find the hidden treasure. Oh and then
there's some stock footage of a shark eating
things - most likely filmed at some zoo.
The funny thing is, when the shark attacks (make
no mistake about it, there is only one shark), it
attacks in the middle of the day, in the middle
of a big canal and people just walk right on by
in the background as if nothing's going on. Well,
to be honest with you, I wasn't even sure what
was going on as all we get to see are some really
poor CGI-frames of water splashing towards the
camera - and naturally there are never any ripples
made - even when the shark cuts a gondola in two.
Anyway, I have to hand it to them though, Shark
In Venice has its moments and since I can't help
but to love the concept, it wasn't a complete
and utter failure if you ask me. It was a good
concept ruined by a low budget and a poor cast.
This should have been Jaws 5, not Shark Attack 4.
Finally a great shark concept and they go and
screw it up - for shame.
A severed foot, a decapitation but very little more.
Nothing special.
Great concept but didn't live up to its title. Too
few shots of Venice and you never really got the
feeling that the movie was actually shot in Venice.
Not much of a horror flick and doesn't really
work as an action flick either but not Nu Image's
worst creature feature to date.
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