Sand Sharks is a 2012 American action horror film directed by Mark Atkins (Shark Season; Empire of the Sharks; Planet of the Sharks; Evil Eyes; et al) from a screenplay written by Cameron Larson (The Legend of La Llorona; Jurassic Predator: Xtinction; Mysterious Island), based on a story co-written with Joe Benkis (Grizzly Flats aka Shadow People).
The movie stars Corin Nemec (Rottentail; Lake Placid vs. Anaconda; Dracano; Sea Beast), Brooke Hogan (2-Headed Shark Attack) and Vanessa Lee Evigan.
Plot:
Prehistoric sand-dwelling sharks are unleashed on the island of White Sands when an underwater earthquake cracks open a crater deep beneath the ocean surface. The most menacing beats to ever rule the waters now rule the sand; with their monster appetites, they mercilessly feast on anything that crosses their path…
Review:
“There ain’t no party like a Sandman party!” Jimmy Green announces in the 2012 film, Sand Sharks, and he’s right.
Jimmy (played by Corin Nemec) is infamous for throwing (or, at least, attempting to throw) big parties and organising 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, fifteen 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 sharks! 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 stops 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 Doctor 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 humour. As that line indicates, Sand Sharks is a film that cheerfully embraces the ludicrousness of its 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?
Lisa Marie Bowman, guest reviewer via Through the Shattered Lens
Other reviews:
“Shock news! Sand Sharks isn’t terrible. Despite the name, plot, characters, actors and dialogue, Sand Sharks is loveably idiotic and an absolutely, ridiculously shameless horror film. Fun with friends and a bellyful of alcohol, this is not a “good” horror movie but certainly a good laugh.” Gore Press
” …there are all of twenty people at the supposedly thousand-strong “party.” With no gore or nudity, it even fails as an exploitation piece. A man runs around in circles singing “row row row your boat”, undoing any of the goodwill earned by the Ride of the Valkyries montage only moments beforehand.” HorrorTalk
“Whereas Jaws was a pretty awesome film, and Piranha a good-natured, tongue in cheek Jaws rip-off, Sand Sharks is just a plain old waste of time. It’s like a bunch of crack-up teenagers decided it would be mega-rad to make an “ironic” reboot of Spielberg’s old-timey hit, and not even bothered to watch it in the first place.” Love Horror
Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk
For YouTube reviews, the trailer, movie timeline and more movie info click the page 2 link below
MOVIES & MANIA provides previews, our own film reviews and ratings, plus links to other online reviews from a wide variety of trusted sources in one handy web location. This is a genuinely independent website and we rely solely on the minor income generated by internet ads to pay for web costs and cover yet more movies. Please support us by not blocking ads. Thank you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn a very tiny amount from any qualifying purchases.