The Night of the Sharks

1988 "Still waters run deep, dark and deadly."
3.7| 1h25m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 01 April 1988 Released
Producted By: Italian International Film
Country: Spain
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

David must fight for his life against the gangsters who killed his brother for a CD filled with proof of their illegal activities. When David gets possession of the CD they go down to Mexico where David lives as a shark hunter. Who will get David first, the gangsters or the shark?

Genre

Drama, Horror, Action

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Director

Tonino Ricci

Production Companies

Italian International Film

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The Night of the Sharks Audience Reviews

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!
Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.
Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
ccatiller12 I wanted this movie to be a "so bad it's good" gem very much. The cover looked like a classic 80s cheese-fest that would fill me with much joy and laughter. The opening scene was promising. However, my initial expectations were eventually butchered and thrown into the water like fish bait. The movie gave me little to no reason to invest in the characters. There's almost no backstory for anyone including the lead, David (Treat Williams). What little backstory you get isn't really explored or establishes solid character motivation. Even with the lack of character development, I was at least hoping for some charismatic acting or cheesy dialogue to keep me entertained. Unfortunately, there isn't much of it. The soundtrack was laughably terrible. I'm sure they used the same track of suspense music for every "tense" moment in the movie whether it was a gun fight or a shark attack. It is super irritating after having heard it for the 100th time. It will forever be ingrained in my memory. I wasn't expecting a stellar plot or anything but it was a complete mess. It's like the writer said, "I want to make Diamonds Are Forever," but the director said, "I want to make Jaws." So they compromised and combined them into one movie. As bad as this movie was, there were a few moments that were enjoyable. Almost all of them involved the shark (or sharks? I'm not sure cause they seemed to use footage of multiple species like tigers, lemons, reefs and maybe bull sharks). The attacks were well shot and edited cutting between real and fake sharks. Not saying it was Jaws quality but decent enough for a movie like this. In the end, there really isn't enough "so bad it's good" moments in this movie to recommend it. It's really boring for long stretches and the scenes with the shark are too few and far between to justify wasting 86 minutes of your life (it felt way longer than 86 minutes). FUN FACT: Did you know tiger sharks can roar? I didn't until I watched this movie. Maybe a "nod" to a worse film, Jaws: The Revenge.
Scott LeBrun David Ziegler (Treat Williams) is an American beach bum living on the Mexican shore with his buddy and business partner Paco (Antonio Fargas). Unfortunately, a lot of melodrama is about to be dumped in Davids' lap because his brother James (Carlo Mucari) got mixed up with a shady businessman, Rosentski (John Steiner), and figured to get rich by secretly recording the phone calls that Rosentski had made to the President of the U.S.! James mails David a CD he's made of these incriminating phone calls. The bad guys recruit Davids' ex-wife Liz (Janet Agren) to try to persuade David to hand over the CD, holding her debts over her head as a means of motivating her. David must ultimately battle the goons that Rosentski sends after him, and *also* do battle with a local one-eyed great white shark (named "Cyclops" by the natives) which has become a kind of personal nemesis for him.Mediocre, fairly dull time waster could possibly have been more entertaining on a "so bad it's good" level, but very crude direction (by Tonino Ricci) and even cruder editing (by Gianfranco Amicucci) prevent the movie from being more fun. That isn't to say that there aren't some very amusing moments here and there, and things do pick up a little during the whole fight / pursuit sequence in the jungle. The music score by Stelvio Cipriani is fun even if it's not one of his best. The use of locations, at the least, is adequate. Williams doesn't look too happy to be here, but Fargas is rather engaging, Swedish beauty Agren offers some appreciable eye candy, and Steiner, the ubiquitous Brit character actor of so many Italian exploitation items, is a passable villain. And as one can see the story is pretty damn silly.By the way, unless the word "shark" is used for its multiple meanings, the viewer should be aware that there's actually only one killer fish in this thing.Five out of 10.
shawhore Treat Williams is ineffectual pretty much throughout the film in a flick with little production value or any coherence, plot-wise. The film does however redeem itself with a typical assured John Steiner turn; making the most of a script - what at best can only be described as farcical and even Italian horror muse Janet Agren finds the task of adding some much needed glamour to the film a hopeless impossibility. But before I completely write off this film; hats off to the Tiger Shark's performance - which by the way, stole the show.All in all, a Pulsatingly mediocre film. Good for comedy value.5 stars for the Shark!
spj-4 What's to like about this movie???It is in colour! It has some impressive underwater photography! It has a rhythmic musical score in the background that works well at times! So 3 out of 10! Sometimes the music is speeded up! Especially when the shark or the baddies are about to move in! Sometimes it is slowed! As if to convey to the audience it's about to be time for sympathy! As another one bites the dust! As if in a "spagetti Western" this has much similarity to! It's not that the Italians can't produce quality productions! There was a series of TV movies with a heading like "Octopus" numbered about 1 to 7, screened on SBS TV in Australia in the 1990s about mafia-type conflicts! And they were excellent! But alas, you won't find it here!!!I assumed it was made about 1960s! Sadly it was 20 years out of date, as evidenced by a funeral scene near the end! Then there was the razor-sharp bite of the speedy shark that makes for a red dust repeatedly emerging in the bluish waters! Amidst it all, either in bar-room brawl or in observing the latest sea-side bloody demolition by the relentlessly hungry shark, the mate of the hero looks on through his glasses of little concern, as if he too was bored in his relentless role amidst a lack of much evidence of plot or anyone's character development! At least the hero indicates a fleeting concern belatedly, for his ex-wife! But of course, even if the music fails to awaken our realisation, we have the sinister sound in the baddies' voices, as if to nudge us that another dark deed is about to emerge! And near the end, someone thought of a twist! Just when we thought it was all totally predictable! But stay tuned, folks, for you may find another twist! If you are watching closely! To, more or less, warm your heart! Follow the advice of the hero, and have a few beers along the way! It'll make your viewing of "Night of the Sharks" more enjoyable! Then you'll be ready for something like a "007" movie to ease your way back into reality when this is over!!!