Director:
Mark Dippé

Starring:
Tory Kittles, K.D. Aubert, China Chow, Matthew Rauch, Tomas Arana, Donna Biscoe

Other notable appearances:
Muse Watson

Running time:
84 minutes

Watch this if you liked:
Swamp Shark, Lake Placid

 

Medical Examiner Sam (Kittles) is sent to a swamp in Louisiana when the mutilated remains of a local fisherman are found. With biologist Mary (Chow), Sam speaks to residents of the fisherman’s floating community including his wife (Biscoe) and daughter (Aubert). As the community is picked off one by one, Sam realises he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

From the moment the first “what the?” is uttered until the credits roll to a truly awful (hilarious) theme song, Frankenfish is a lot of fun to watch.

Frankenfish doesn’t have a lot of the cheesy one-liners that generally make b-grade horror movies comedy gold but it has enough giant genetically engineered fish to make up for it. Don’t worry, there are still a couple of lines dripping with cheese but not as many as I have come to expect (and look forward to) from my b-grade monster movies.

While the acting isn’t what you could call good, it isn’t anywhere near as bad as some of the other Syfy films. The cast add to the fun by portraying a wide variety of kooky characters. The city lawyer, the Voodoo lady, the stoner nudists, the fishermen and the two kids from the swamp who moved to the big smoke.

Of course, let’s not forget the villains. The man responsible for the creation of the frankenfish. Arana nails the skeevy creep role from the moment he appears on screen to the moment he leaves.

The plot is pretty generic in terms of b-grade monster movies. Corporation/rich nut creates giant/vicious mutation of already dangerous creature; corporation/rich nut loses creature; lots of citizens are eaten by creature.

Overall, Frankenfish is a fun representation of the b-grade horror movies produced by Syfy. There is plenty of gore, a good (if generic) plot, many laughs and several giant fish. If you like monster movies, I would recommend giving Frankenfish a watch. Cover the fish tank though — you don’t want Bubbles getting any ideas.

Rating:

“You look pretty for a girl covered in giant fish brains.”