THE SHARK HUNTER (1979) Reviews and overview

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The Shark Hunter is a 1979 Italian-Mexican-Spanish action film about a recluse who seems to scratch a living selling sharks’ teeth. But his real goal is to recover millions of dollars from the wreckage of a plane on the seabed.

Directed by Enzo G. Castellari (Light Blast; 1990: The Bronx Warriors; Great White; The Big Racket; High Crime) from a screenplay co-written by Tito Carpi, Jaime Comas Gil, Jesús R. Folgar, Alfredo Giannetti, based on a story co-written by Alfredo Giannetti and Gisella Longo. Co-produced by Jaime Comas Gil, Enzo Doria, Franco Nero and Luggi Waldleitner.

The movie stars Franco Nero, Werner Pochath, Jorge Luke, Michael Forest, Patricia Rivera, Mirta Miller and Eduardo Fajardo.

The soundtrack score was composed by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis.

Reviews:

“As much as I like Franco Nero in the film there’s something wrong seeing him in this dirty blonde wig. It just doesn’t fit the man who has that slick black hair in so many of his roles […] the shark hunting scenes come off as laughable. Imagine a lone man in a rowboat who just dives off of it into the ocean to tackle a shark with a hand knife.” Mike’s Take on the Movies

” …it certainly isn’t high quality and suffers from an obviously shoe-string budget. The beginning is far too slow, but the conclusion pretty much makes up for the weaknesses of the first act. The shark wrestling is kind of nerve-wracking because you have to assume that the stunt people were actually in significant danger, which adds an extra element to the movie (for better or worse).” Misan[trope]y

“In some ways, The Shark Hunter offers a glimpse into an alternate universe where this was the standard template for shark movies. While it seems like an outlier in retrospect, it’s actually among the last of a decent line of action-adventure films that just happened to feature sharks…” Oh, the Horror!

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“Despite the expectation generated from a title like Shark Hunter, there isn’t much shark action in this film other than the beginning and the very end. Most of the action revolves around Franco Nero in his ratty shirt and bell-bottom dungarees getting into fights on the beach […] And there’s a lot of scuba diving, sometimes with sharks present, which is a touchy subject for a lot of people.” Teleport City

“The only thing I can really recommend about this flick is for the one great scene when Nero has a hilarious flashback about his family’s death. The music for this scene is supposed to be “freaky”, but it just sounds like somebody playing Galaga. There’s also death by spear gun and one decent shark attack scene, although it looks like the insert shots were one in somebody’s swimming pool.” The Video Vacuum

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Cast and characters:

Franco Nero … Mike di Donato
Werner Pochath … Ramon (as Werner Pochat)
Jorge Luke … Acapulco
Michael Forest … Donovan (as Mike Forrest)
Patricia Rivera … Juanita
Mirta Miller … Rosy
Eduardo Fajardo … Captain Gómez
Enzo G. Castellari … The Killer (as E. Girolami)
Rocco Lerro … Thug

Filming locations:

Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Technical details:

92 minutes
Telecolor
Audio: Mono

Alternate titles:

Il cacciatore di squali (Italy)
El cazador de tiburones (Mexico and Spain)
Django and the Sharks (West Germany)
Guardians of the Deep
(UK)

Trailer:

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