An urban legend come to life. (heh)

Where do I begin? Just the title alone was enough to convince me to want to see this.

In 1999 there was a large earthquake (that we never see) in a small, land-locked, snow covered town. The earthquake unleashed a prehistoric beast that started slaughtering all of the local wildlife. A scientist and 2 of his colleagues went to find out what was going on when they were viciously attacked.

A local hunter went out and later killed a land-dwelling shark, but it was presented to the public as tabloid fodder and deemed an urban legend.

Now, a Cryptozoologist, his Assistant and a Hunter are on the case to find the truth about the…SNOW SHARK!

It was honestly an original idea, as I haven’t seen a film about a land shark that swims through snow. Everyone’s yard was its ocean and it could attack anywhere anytime.

I had a blast watching this film. It looked to have been shot on video with friends of the director as actors and actresses, (that may or may not have been the case, but that is how it seemed.) I laughed a lot, and that is not insulting for this type of film as they were hilariously amateur and over the top. Especially the wannabe sleazy Hunter.

One of my favorite parts of this film was the giant, black cardboard dorsal fin cutting through the snow. Once I saw that, I knew it was ok not to take this film seriously. (Not that I didn’t realize that before, but it was like the film giving me permission to laugh.)

If I had any complaint at all, it was that lack of seeing the whole shark. When it kills you see only bits of it’s head and teeth. Even on the back of the case you see the head and mouth of the shark coming at a guy. Bad CG or practical FX or not, more of the shark would have been nice. Even though at the end, you start seeing a lot of the shark, which was a practical effect, they had the prop and should’ve used it more.

I even enjoyed the digital blood. (I know, right?) Anyone of you that have read my reviews knows that I absolutely hate, hate, hate, digital blood, but in this case, it was so over the top and bad, that it was awesome because it fit in with the rest of the film. It wasn’t like they used all practical blood, then ran out of time or blood and put in bad digital blood.

If you are looking for a terribly mindless, fun Z-grade film, grab a 6-pack, smoke a bowl, and watch Snow Shark. So bad it’s good.

5/10

Independent Entertainment has send us information about their upcoming film "Snow Sharks: Ancient Snow Beast". The film is the first feature from 26-year-old writer-director Sam Qualiana, who may be best known to indie horror fans as the lead in "Porkchop II: Rise of the Rind".

Special Features on the DVD includes three short films, behind the scenes, outtakes and trailers. "Snow Sharks: Ancient Snow Beast" hits stores on December 11th.

Press Release:

In the tradition of TREMORS and SHARKTOPUS comes the newest entry in the annals of rampaging monster movies! SNOW SHARK: ANCIENT SNOW BEAST tells the story of a small town terrorized by a prehistoric creature and the fearless citizens who defend it.

Synopsis:

In 1999, a team of animal biologists investigating a rash of wildlife killings disappeared in the lonely woods near a small town. Years later, a local resident claims to have killed a prehistoric carnivorous creature living in the snow. Now, someone – or something – is making lunch of the locals.

As curiosity-seekers and crypto zoologists descend on the small town, drawn by the legend of the Snow Shark, Mark - sole survivor of an earlier attack - leads an armed and dangerous posse into a deadly battle.

Dive into Snow Shark, the outrageous and spine-tingling tale of the world’s greatest predator, frozen for thousands of years, freed by an earthquake, and really, really hungry.

The first (and proudly micro-budget) feature film from 26-year-old writer-director Sam Qualiana, who may be best known to indie horror fans as the lead in PORKCHOP II: RISE OF THE RIND, received support from a variety of independent genre veterans: producer Richard Chizmar (Cemetery Dance Publications), award-winning horror novelist and filmmaker Gregory Lamberson (SLIME CITY MASSACRE), Michael Gesel, Michael Faust and John Maclay. Brett Piper (SHOCK-O-RAMA) and Mark Polonia (SPLATTER BEACH) tackled post-production, and creature FX were supplied by John Renna and Arick Szymecki and Andrew Lavin of Anomaly FX

Greg Lamberson states in the SNOW SHARK’S production press release,

“Qualiana originally made a Snow Shark short seven years ago. After winning the Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival’s “Filmmaker to Watch” award for his short crime drama No Road Out, he decided to remake the Snow Shark short using the skills he had developed in the intervening years. Reaction to the project was so positive he turned it into a feature instead and started shooting on weekends, before the script was completed, to beat the spring thaw. “

SNOW SHARK was acquired by media licensing and marketing company Independent Entertainment in the midst of a series of theatrical and festival screenings that include the Buffalo Screams Film Festival, the Bronx Week Film Festival, and the HorrorFind Film Festival.

Available to digital and home entertainment markets for the first time, SNOW SHARK: ANCIENT SNOW BEAST is presented with behind-the-scenes material, short films and outtakes.