BLUE DEMON (2004)

BLUE DEMON (2004)

Tagline: Your Deepest Fears Lie Below the Surface

(Action, Adventure, Genetic Sharks Will Eat Your Face Off) [PG-13]

Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, Zappo…the sharks’ brothers. 

In this one, a soon-to-be-divorced couple of scientists are working on a shark defense system. They haven’t gotten the technology right and now the company’s board and the military want to see the results of their work or they will cut funding. This forces the scientists to have to work faster to finish the project called “Blue Demon”. Meanwhile, other cost-cutting measures have been taken including turning off the electric fence that was keeping the sharks in their designated area. It doesn’t take long before people are being eaten as a shark named Red Dog and the other genetically altered sharks are wreaking havoc on the bay. 

First off, this movie really sucks, but it is not, and I repeat “NOT” the worst shark movie ever made. You can check either SHARK HUNTRESS or HOUSE SHARK for that designation. HOUSE SHARK was so bad I didn’t even finish the movie and refused to ever write a review for it. BLUE DEMON was on at least one 40 WORST SHARK MOVIES EVER MADE list, but most of those bottom spots are taken up by WILD EYE and the Polonia Brothers these days. One thing this movie has going for it is that it is considered a comedy. They don’t really ever try to be serious in this and if you can embrace that, it makes the movie at least tolerable. 

Regarding the CGI, it is really bad whenever there is any sort of a close-up shot. It’s not the worst I have seen, but it’s way up there. If there was a hierarchy of suck using playing cards for the suck levels, the Aces of Suck being the worst, the Kings of suck being the second worst, and so on. This CGI is the Queens of suck, just above the Joker of suck and all the rest of the suckers. The lab that the scientists work in looks like it was shot in a preschool classroom during Sea Life craft month. For some reason, everything outside of the lab looks like the set of Brooklyn Nine Nine. 

Acting wise we get Jeff Fahey (HYPNOTIC) plays General Remora and does a pretty cheeseball job on purpose. Fahey can actually act. Dedee Pfeiffer (VAMP) plays Marla Collins and I already like her, so I am pretty biased on that regardless, but I thought she was good. Randall Batinkoff plays Nathan Collins and does a pretty solid job. I also already liked Randall, because he plays a pretty funny character in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Danny Woodburn is decent as Lawrence Van Allen (DEAD ANT) is just okay for this role. Everyone else is really shaky, but that might have been on purpose because again, this movie is going for comedy. Even though it’s really not funny. 

Apparently, there is something along the coast of CA that makes people wanna make out because every teen in this movie that isn’t in the middle of getting a prank pulled on them is about to get it on. For some reason, this movie decided it was a great idea to put in a really unnecessary dream sequence, but outside of that, it’s a pretty straightforward film that doesn’t take any real chances outside of putting a car chase in the last 15 minutes and stealing the basic concept of genetic sharks from a few other earlier movies. 

I didn’t hate this thing as much as a lot of other people did, but in 2004, you clearly expect a movie that doesn't suck. This one sucked, but measured against other shark movies in 2023 BLUE DEMON gets a 3 out of 7. It is watchable.
 

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