Ozark Sharks (2015 TV Movie) User Reviews

Generic, but watchable

[MetalGeek · 2/10 · 29 July 2016]

"Ozark Sharks" was rolled out as part of SyFy's annual festivities leading up to the premiere of the fourth (!) Sharknado flick.

"Ozark Sharks" was a serviceable, if a bit generic, entry in the killer-sharks-on-the-rampage genre. The story is paper-thin: a suburban family (Mom, Dad, Grandma, annoying Emo daughter Molly and big brother Harrison) - are going on vacation to a run-down camping resort in the Ozarks. Some sharks happen to swim upriver from the ocean and begin chomping on all the puny humans in their path (including poor Grandma), which threatens the town's annual lakeside fireworks festival. You can pretty much write the rest of it yourself.

Molly and brother Harrison (plus Molly's doofus boyfriend Curtis) take up arms against the shark invasion, aided by kindly campground bait shop proprietor Mr. Jones, who happens to have a full arsenal of weaponry stockpiled in the back room of his store for just such an occasion. I will leave it to you to find out how it all turns out for yourselves.

"Ozark Sharks" had the misfortune to premiere right after a re- airing of 2011's similarly themed (but far superior) "Swamp Shark," so for much of "Ozark" I felt like I was sitting through a re-run. At least "Swamp Shark" had some recognizable faces in it like Kristy "Original Buffy" Swanson and Robert Davi. The cast of "Ozark" appears to be mostly unknowns, who are likely doomed to stay that way.

At least it was better than the director's previous SyFy Sharknado Week effort, 2015's "Zombie Shark," which was mostly unwatchable. Feel free to skip this flick unless you absolutely have to watch every shark movie that SyFy pumps out.

Goodbye, grandma! Nice knowing you!

[Coventry · 3/10 · 11 July 2020]

What is it about these lousy shark-movies that makes them so darn addictive? You know from beforehand the special & visual effects will be atrocious. You know the plot will be utmost preposterous and dumb. You know the cast will be full of stereotypes, and you can be certain their performances will also be horrendous. And yet, I can't help feeling joyful when a see another ridiculous shark dud appear on TV! There are two reasons in particular why I don't regret having watched "Ozark Sharks". Number one, being European, I never heard about this beautiful physiographic region called the Ozarks. Looks magnificent! Secondly, at least this trash-flick features a different type of shark species, for once, namely the Bull Shark. The script even contains characteristics about this species that are accurate, like their freshwater tolerance and habit of scavenging up rivers and lakes.

Of course, I don't want to sound too positive, as "Ozark Sharks" naturally remains another umpteenth and worthless shark dud. It's enjoyable enough, if you can tolerate the derivative plot, the bland characters (including the mandatory hillbilly gun-freak and dimwit stoner-boyfriend) and the shark attacks so amateurishly fake they make "Jaws 3-D" look genius. There are several (unintentionally?) hilarious moments, like when grandma's head gets bitten clean off, and nobody really seems to care that she's dead. Beware, for bad shark-trash fanatics only.

It is yet another of those generic shark flicks...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 5 October 2016]

Another shark movie to the near limitless supply of creature features from SyFy. So you would think that they have drained the genre dry already, but they still manage to come up with new ideas for new movies. And "Ozark Sharks" doesn't really differentiate itself from the numerous many other shark movies, many of which also to come from SyFy. As such, then "Ozark Sharks" turns out to be just another shark movie.

As with most other SyFy movies, then you shouldn't get your hopes up too high in terms of acting and special effects, because you will most likely just end up disappointed. And true enough, then "Ozark Sharks" stays true to the blueprint that SyFy uses for these creature features.

The acting in the movie was adequate, I will give the movie that much. Well, at least adequate taking the genre into consideration. People were doing good enough jobs with their individual roles, and actually seemed to be having fun with what they were doing. However, it was somewhat of a strain to witness Allisyn Ashley Arm (playing Molly) to stride through the movie as if she was doped up on prescription medication.

As for the effects. Well then I could actually just suffice to summarize it with four simple words; standard SyFy special effects. With that being said, I should perhaps clarify that for those not already familiar with the myriad of creature features released by SyFy. The effects were questionable at best, and the sharks looked very poorly animated, except for those shots where they were using actual shark footage.

The story in "Ozark Sharks" is about a family that have come to a vacation resort at a small town, when the peace and quiet is abruptly disturbed by six sharks that feed upon humans.

"Ozark Sharks" is not genre breaking in any way, nor did it bring anything new to the genre. Well, strike that, it did bring a scene where a shark was sent skyward by fireworks and exploded in a very colorful fireworks explosion. I hadn't seen that before in my 41 years, so thumbs up for that.

This movie is not the best of creature features from SyFy, not by a long shot. And if you enjoy shark movies, then there are far better choices available. It is, at best, worth a single viewing if you have nothing better to watch and have some interest in shark and these cheesy SyFy movies. Some of us have that bizarre urge to watch these low budget, cheesy movies because they usually are so poor and cheesy that they are funny to watch.

"Ozark Sharks" scores a four out of ten stars rating, because it was still semi-enjoyable, despite it being a very generic SyFy creature feature.

Garbage

[seckinlergafri · 4/10 · 7 August 2018]

Ozar Sharks (2016) is a trash film ...

It tells about the terror of sharks on a lake in the state of Arkansas ...

This film is very stupid, boring, very bad, acting ridiculous, cheap dialogue, a very CGI effect terrible ...

this film is not worth watching ...

Sharks in Arkansas

[TheLittleSongbird · 2/10 · 20 March 2018]

Have made no secret in the past of intensely disliking, and even outright hating a lot, a vast majority of SyFy's (near-universally maligned for good reason) output, though there is curiosity as to whether they are capable of making something good and compulsive about their output's badness. Admittedly, SyFy do have a small group of watchable films and the occasional (big emphasis on that word) above average one, unfortunately outweighed by the lacklustre at best and often dreadful films they churn out.

Before anybody gets defensive, am well aware that films like 'Ozark Sharks' are not ones to be taken seriously, have been well versed enough seeing previous SyFy efforts to not expect that. Have seen my fair share of low-budget shark films, and any other kind of low-budget creature film, and will admit to finding some guilty fun in some of them (i.e. the first two 'Sharknado' films). There are far worse shark films certainly.

'Ozark Sharks' at least has occasional splashes of fun and some semi-decent scenery. There is also far worse acting in other low-budget shark films, not that that is saying much.

Due to that the acting largely is pretty poor, with the usual mix of overplaying and blandness. Any few attempts to develop the characters results in padded and pointless scenes, development is at best flimsy and it's all overwrought and does little to make the characters endearing or care or learn enough about them.

The execution of almost everything is severely underwhelming, not just being visually cheap and poorly acted and written even worse but what seemed like a decent, if very generic, idea was executed in typical SyFy shark movie fashion, with no imagination whatsoever and only occasional splashes of fun.

Faring worse are the production values, story and writing. 'Ozark Sharks', aside from the scenery, is drably shot and sloppily edited, but it's the truly abysmal special effects that are the worst. As the sharks were made on a low-budget it would have been forgiven a little if it was not great, but when the effects for the sharks look as if no effort was given in making them without looking so goofy and unfinished-looking that is hard to ignore or forgive.

Can say no better about the portrayal of the sharks either. They exude little personality either, no menace, not even any unintentional goofiness. Generally the attack scenes, apart from the odd mild amusement, are sloppily edited, too brief and devoid of suspense or sense of horror.

Writing ranges between incredibly bad to appalling. Any comedy is incredibly forced and is so cheesy it is enough to make the eyes roll in disbelief, while the more serious moments are very awkwardly written and as trite as anybody can possibly go. The silliness goes well overboard as the film progresses and it becomes intelligence insulting even when one tries to take it for what it's trying to be.

Really wanted to like the story here because the concept was intriguing slightly, but while it starts nicely the further the movie progresses the lazier, cheesier and more formulaic it gets, also making the mistake that most SyFy films make of trying so hard to be over the top and stupid but in a painfully predictable and less than fresh way that it becomes tiresome. The stupidity gets stale quickly and the film is lethargic generally in pace.

Altogether, have seen worse but poorly done. 2/10 Bethany Cox

Absolutely awful!

[dverzic · 2 September 2016]

I watched about a minute of this, (maybe less) and the effects were the worst. If you want to see not how to do special effects, this is the movie for you. Ridiculous!! The acting was really bad. I didn't recognize anyone. And the Sharks looked like they came from a bad Scooby doo cartoon! I'm supposed to write ar least ten lines here so I will keep going. When they shot the shark with fireworks I actually laughed out loud. So stupid. Don't waste your time with this garbage. Have a sandwich and a beer and watch Zoo instead, or Jaws 3-D. Either of those would be better! There are so many better third rate horror/suspense movies that you could watch. This one just sucked!

Movie Failed

[mzefabulous · 1/10 · 29 August 2021]

The acting was horrible. I watched half of it because it wasn't worth watching to the end.

Where to begin !!!

[aleksandradimeska · 1/10 · 24 August 2018]

Zero acting skills, lowest grafic, at least with the modern tech of today thay can make it more realistic. What was the budget for this?? 1000$?

Was this meant to be a really bad children's movie?

[sorendanni · 2/10 · 24 November 2020]

Sharks in the lake of a mountain range in the middle of the USA? It is original, but the explanation that they swam there via the rivers to breed? Ridiculous!

Were also ridiculously bad at Ozark Sharks: The special effects, the plot, the dialogues and every acting performance. Actually, the film can be called very bad overall. There are a lot of things about the movie that are also very strange and illogical. I wondered if some of it was meant to be humor? Most remarkable scene: the granddaughter who reacts very much when her grandmother is eaten by a shark. Almost as strange I find the help of the friendly redneck with the harpoon cannon on his truck. You might come across these kinds of characters in the middle of the USA, but I don't think they are very hospitable.

I understand that the budget for this film will have been very small. But of all the bad lowbudget shark movies, Ozark Sharks really has the most laughable rubber fins. I never found the film exciting. The only reason I kept watching was because I was curious how bad the next scene would be. And indeed, it only got worse. In short, not exciting, not gruesome and a very childlike style of humor. Have I accidentally watched a really bad kids horror movie? These horribly bad special effects will probably make them unable to sleep!

Yep, another SYFY original sh*tacular

[darksyde-63508 · 2/10 · 1 February 2018]

Whenever you see a movie on tv that has "a SYFY original movie" in the beginning credits, you can guarantee youre gonna have a bad time. SYFY channels movies are famously, horribly bad, with horrible acting, even worse special effects, and terrible gore gags. This is no exception. Most of the time when you see the "sharks" their just rubber fins, and when they do close ups, its just stock footage of sharks. The acting is pretty bad, my favorite part being when a wife under reacts considerably to her husbands fingers being bitten off, and the same when a grand daughter watches a shark jump out of the eater and kill her grandmother . Definitely skip this one

Ozark Sharks, a Love Story

[Wbcgs · 5/10 · 3 August 2017]

I just can't believe all the reviewers who approached this film as a serious effort. High drama it is not. Had Elizabeth Taylor played the lead, it would still have been a laffer. Everything was amateurish, except for the acting. The acting was clearly not well done. But that acting done by the leading lady was deliberately, intentionally dreadful. No one got away clean, except perhaps, for Grandma. If you approach this film, or any of this ilk as high drama, you will be disappointed. Don't. Enjoy!

Slightly flawed but highly enjoyable killer shark effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 9/10 · 29 July 2016]

Heading off to a cabin, a family and friends on their Fourth- of-July vacation find that the areas is infested with man-eating sharks preying on the locals and try to get them to believe their tales in order to stop the creatures and get everyone to safety.

This one was quite the fun and enjoyable effort. One of the better features here is the fact that there's the ever-present high amount of action present here for these types of films, and it manages to get a highly enjoyable series of scenes from that. The opening attack is quite enjoyable, with the kids slowly being picked off while no one's watching and then finally forced to escape when it's apparent something's in the water with them which gets this going rather nicely, a rather fun encounter with some swimmers on the water, a rather fine series of scenes where it attacks different people along the water and the rather thrilling series of encounters where they try to rescue the several groups of trapped outside while the sharks continually circle around to take out the different victims. Even with these fun scenes, the film's at its best when it comes to the rather frantic and highly enjoyable series of scenes within the race to get to the main being held on the water there which has the great confrontations along the way where the sharks start picking off the separated groups in fine fashion, the different battles against them where they fight to get them under control and leading up to the incredibly fun part of their attempts to curtail them at the festival which is the film's big action scene here which manages to get plenty of thrilling action out of their failed warnings which soon causes the disbelieving locals to start getting attacked by the swarm of creatures and requiring their fine rescue attempts as well as the first attempts to stop them with their weaponry which is quite a blood-filled riot with the crazy schemes devised to put them down for good while still managing a few rather nice bloody deaths along the way. All told, there's plenty of exciting action throughout here and that helps to give this such a charging pace that it really stays so enjoyable with all sorts of fun encounters that there's barely any down-time. As well, there's also the exciting fact that there's a great deal of fun with the different tactics devised to stopping them which really explores the backwoods do-it-yourself mentality to it's craziest extreme with some fantastic weaponry utilized here and it's quite fun here due to that. Along with the great gore, these here make this one enjoyable enough to really overcome a lot of it's flaws. The main issue here is the fact that there's the usual atrocious CGI utilized for the creatures. They look like the usually abysmal manners of the CGI that's always featured here, from the inability to react to their surroundings and the size changes within the dimension of the screen to the inability to really blend into the environment and they really give themselves away as being fake especially in the scenes where they interact with their victims on land in a few rare occasions when they launch themselves out of the water to attack. Aside with some rather curious and lame attempted comedy that doesn't really register at all, these here really hold this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Language.

Talley's Better Shark Movie.

[doctorsmoothlove · 6/10 · 5 July 2020]

"Ozark Sharks" is a sy-fy channel shark film set not in the actual ozarks but in Louisiana. It is directed by shark veteran Misty Talley. This is her second picture with the first being "Zombie Shark." Thankfully, she is much improved in this sophomore effort. Despite the lack of an exotic premise, the film delivers the gore and bikini girls that the viewer wants. Nothing more is really required. The super hottie of "Zombie Shark" was a subtle acknowledgment that the film didn't have much to offer. This film has better actors who don't have to be as attractive.

My biggest issue with "Zombie Shark" despite its overall enjoyability was the cumbersome plot. This entry does away with the plot entirely. It's literally a series of events in which sharks attack, are killed and subsequently return to the river for more carnage. A paltry excuse is offered yet never explored anymore. I do appreciate the lack of a convoluted story.

The sharks are fully CGI although when the attack props are used for body parts and actual practical bloodwork is employed. It looks quite good whenever we can see it. I especially enjoyed the visual humor when a female character hands a decapitated limb to the main male character. It looks like a rubber limb from a Halloween store.

The actors are all competent. The lead portrayed by Allisyn Snyder is emotive at the few times she needs to be. She has an almost emo look about her that is a nice contrast to the rest of the cast and the wilderness environment. Her boyfriend, played by Ross Britz, is an excellent foil for her. Britz's character is lovably stupid and unhelpful in just about every situation. Even she seems to know he isn't trustworthy at the beginning. This makes his death which I won't spoil for you all the more funny. It's like watching a child nearly complete a recipe just to mess it up at the end.

The shark deaths are mostly unique. My favorite is the finale in which a shark is shot into the sky with a firework display. Very charming rain of blood. A shark is stabbed by a country boy's homemade trident and harpoon truck gun. The film serves as a reminder that visual inventiveness is more enjoyable than gimmicky plot devices. A solid film and hearty recommendation.

Sometimes it is hard to get along with nature.

[michaelRokeefe · 5/10 · 10 September 2016]

Backwoods terror seems to hold a place in the horror genre; and why is it fun to watch the rural variety? Misty Talley directs this out in the country tale that should feature some gators or crocs; but doesn't, let's have sharks for the killer chomps. Family and friends arrive at a resort in the Ozarks for some sun and relaxation. The first local they see is a died-in-the-wool survivalist with a harpoon gun mounted on his pickup truck. There must be a reason; damn sure!! Somehow a bunch of bull sharks have found their way into America's water system and have sneaked their way upriver into the Ozark Mountains.

Of course, the Ozarks are mainly in lower Missouri and upper Arkansas; OZARK SHARKS is filmed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Those CGI sharks are a bit shoddy and change size compared to surroundings...but terror is in those shark bites, Babe! Cast of players include: Ashton Leigh, Thomas Francis Murphy, Heather Paige, Becky Andrews, Laura Cayouette, Dave Davis and Ross Britz.

Poorly executed in its making

[kowtowfealty · 2/10 · 6 August 2016]

The special effects used are, well, terrible. Understandably, it's on a budget but a freshwater shark scene with Ramoras attached to the shark while its swimming? Hello, quality check anyone? Many of the underwater scenes are rerunning the same shark swimming as well or the same section underwater.

Acting - Not good. The "mother" was the most natural role played while the others, especially the son and boyfriend, were awkward and stiff in their deliveries. Actors obtained at bargain basement prices most likely.

Plot - It's based on a realistic theme of bull sharks being able to live in fresh water so there is that.

Compare and contrast - Planet of the sharks was much better in employing special effects, shark shots, and a much better plot with solid acting incorporated in it.

Stay away from the water (?)

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 19 March 2021]

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones. Of course that also would mean that you would not have any people dying or any action at all, right? So of course you can either be completely annoyed by this (and many - I mean many! - actions and reactions from the characters in this or you take it with a grain of salt (which I reckon is not in the water, since it's rivers and such).

If you do that and cut it some slack you can have some fun with it. My rating still may be too soft or too nice as I have heard other times before. I leave that up to you to decide. There are some quirks and low budget restraints that let me be a bit more lenient than others I reckon

Another weird place to find Sharks

[wildhunt1-585-849528 · 10/10 · 31 July 2016]

I love the Syfy shark movies. Don't know why because I know they're dumb, but it seems like the more bizarre place they can find to put sharks, the better the movies actually are. This one was great, and I enjoyed every moment of it. These movies cannot be taken seriously. Anyone who does is just looking for a movie to hate. And while these movies can be hated very easily, if you just have fun with them, you'll have a much better time.

Grade: 9.7/10 (Excellent) Final Grade: A+

Plot: 10/10 (Perfect) There isn't really much in the way of actual "plot" for this movie, other than a family goes to the Ozarks where their grandmother grew up and the family gets attacked by sharks that have somehow found their way into the river system. This was a fun effort because you don't really ever think that there might be sharks in your local river and lake, and it shows ingenious ways to kill them should you ever find that happening. Just make sure you have a Bigger Betty gun to deal with them. There were a few clichés in the movie, but not enough to detract from what was going on--a few even made the plot better.

Character Development: 10/10 (Perfect) Typical horror fare with people who are in the movie just to be eaten by the sharks and the Final Girl, who was actually a lot better developed than most I've seen. She had a rather boring story in the beginning, but she grew as a character into someone I liked and even rooted for in the end. Her brother wasn't as much of a jerk as you might see in other movies, truly loving and wanting to protect her. The parents were a little more willing to have the boyfriend around than they probably should--especially since he showed up uninvited--and they were far more willing to let their underage girl go off with him and do whatever they wanted, but that's the world we live in, and it did help with overall motivation for the lead. Good character development all around, though, with nothing completely out of place.

Directing: 10/10 (Perfect) Second movie by Misty Talley that I've seen, the first being Zombie Shark, and this was a much better endeavor by her. She told a very good story, giving the audience exactly what they wanted- -beautiful girls in bikinis getting preyed on by sharks--and I mean real sharks not horny boys...though there were a couple of those in there, too. I enjoyed the way Misty Talley told this story, and I cannot wait to see what she gives us next year.

Casting: 9/10 (Excellent) I was surprised to see that Laura Cayouette (Ms. Candie from Django Unchained) was in this movie until I realized she was also in Zombie Sharks. In fact, a lot of the cast from Zombie Sharks was in this movie, as well. I liked everyone for the most part and really wouldn't change any of the cast given the chance...except for maybe Molly's boyfriend. All the extra girls were hot and did their job looking great in their bikinis, so well done there.

Acting: 9/10 (Excellent) Not perfect by any means, but for a movie of this quality, the acting wasn't bad. You could tell they were actually doing more than just reading lines and getting paid, which is a big step up from a lot of Syfy movies.

Cinematography: 10/10 (Perfect) Good camera-work all around, steady, with no shaky-cam. Good lighting, and the special effects were half-way decent.

Music: 10/10 (Perfect) Music gave the movie the right mood and didn't interfere with the movie at all. In fact, it kinda faded into the background where it should.

Pacing: 10/10 (Perfect) I was going to knock a point off for the pacing when I stopped the movie at one point and saw only an hour had passed, but then the second hour flew by and the movie was over before I wanted it to be. So, no points off for pacing.

Sets and Costumes: 10/10 (Perfect) Sets were good if not amazing, but costumes (bikinis) were amazing, so this gets a perfect in my book, as do all the girls in the movie.

Re-watchability: 9/10 (Excellent) I'll enjoy watching this movie again in a few days, but it's not an instant re-watch movie.

All-in-all, good Syfy effort here as long as you keep in mind that it is a Syfy effort.

Not Your Typical Z-grade Shark Movie

[sameko_shark · 7/10 · 15 September 2023]

Overview: The fourth entry in what's known as the Z-grade shark series surprisingly breaks the mold. Not only does it elevate itself above its predecessors, but it stands firm as a C-grade delight that genuinely entertains.

Details: While there were certain moments that felt misaligned - be it the overly murky 'lake' that looked more swamp-like, the urgency of getting a character medical attention, or questioning if Curtis really met his fate due to a shark - the movie showcased a notable improvement from the trilogy I've watched before. The actors seemed to have refined their craft, the score harmoniously flowed with each scene, and the cinematography? Top-notch. An absolute treat for the eyes.

A word on the shark's representation: the creators could've taken cues from 'Jaws' where the unseen often amplifies the fear.

Personal Take: Having watched a fair share of mediocre shark films, this one brought to mind the transition from casually watching local baseball to witnessing a high-stakes minor league game. Aside from 'Deep Blue', this film managed to captivate me in a way others failed.

Conclusion: While it's a refreshing turn in the shark film genre, it may not be everyone's cup of tea. But if you're in the mood for something different and a notch above the usual, give it a shot.

Enjoyable nonsense

[patrickstoof · 8/10 · 28 December 2019]

The story is obviously insane, but it is very watchable. It is clearly made with a sense of humour and that saves a movie that could otherwise have gone pear shaped.

You'd think it peaked with granny being bitten in the head, but it only get's more mad from there.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

BEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN

[ivcamarikova · 8 June 2019]

I don't know why there are such a poor ratings. It's excellent 1980 comedy. I don't think I laughed this hard... well... in my entire life. 1980s effects are ahead of its time! Amazing writing, wonderful acting... I don't think I've ever seen some better movie