The Last Shark (1981)

Directed by Enzo G. Castellari. Starring Vic Morrow, James Franciscus, Joshua Sinclair, Micaela Pignatelli, Giancarlo Prete. [PG]

Extremely low-rent Jaws ripoff (so much so that Universal Pictures actually sued) combines footage of actual sharks with a laughably poor model that bobs up and down out of the water; less terrifying than adorable. There are pretty much just two ways for this shark to get ya—either it stays just out of sight underwater and tears off a victim’s legs, or it darts straight up toward the surface and pops a fella into the air like a champagne cork. From the camera composition to the production, the film stock to the moustaches, It all looks very crummy, of course, and aside from cheap laughs at the special effects and Morrow’s salty, impenetrable brogue, not at all worthwhile. Does teach the audience that a shark apparently can swim backwards so long as it’s in service of a battering ram technique. Also known as Great White (and, in certain countries, misleadingly billed as a sequel in the Jaws franchise).

20/100