There has been a rash of attacks on people in the waters off the coast of Florida. At first is appears to be a shark, but when a cast of the wounds is made, the bite marks are unusual. Sheriff Gordon (Gianni Garko) is charged with investigating the attacks. While out on the ocean, Dr. Bob Hogan (Dino Conti) is doing research for the Seaquarium in Florida. He has a near run in with the creature and makes a tape of the strange noises the animal makes. When he tries to replay the tape for his associate, Dr. Stella Dickens (Valentine Monnier), the tape is blank. Then he sees the cast of the wounds made on the victims. Realizing that he may be on to something extraordinary, he calls Dr. Janet Bates (Darla N. Warner) at the Paleontological Institute.
Janet believes that the creature is a prehistoric fish and an ancestor to the modern-day shark. Janet and Bob want to research the animal, but Sheriff Gordon wants to kill it before it takes any more victims. Stella thinks that the reason Bob’s tape was blank was because the creature’s sound frequency may either be above or below the threshold of the recorder. She contacts her friend Peter (Michael Sopkiw) to try to create a monitor that will record the ancient shark’s vocalizations. While Bob, Stella, Janet and Peter look for the shark, Sheriff Gordon plans on setting up bombs to blow it up.
Meanwhile, at West Ocean International, Dr. Davis Barker (Lawrence Morgant) and his lover Sonja West (Dagmar Lassander) are involved in RNA research. Their latest creation is the monster that is killing people in the Florida waters. It is a cross between an ancient shark but with the tentacles of an octopus. They plan on using it to protect an area of the sea that they want to exploit and are determined to keep the origins of the creature a secret. The WOI uses a henchman named Miller (Paul Branco) to get rid of any loose ends.
“Monster Shark” AKA “Devil Fish” AKA “Shark - Rosso nell'oceano” AKA “Monster from the Red Ocean”, AKA “Devouring Waves” AKA “Shark: Red in the Ocean” was released in 1984 and was directed by Lamberto Bava. It is an Italian and French science fiction horror film. The movie was shot in Florida.
The rubber 80’s style monster is not bad looking. The main problem I had with the movie is that you didn’t get to see all that much of the creature. The most excitement comes in the last few minutes of the film. The explanation of how the prehistoric shark came about is a little muddied. I understand that it was engineered, but how it was engineered is glossed over to some degree. The film ended up somewhat entertaining but not as good as it could have been.
The victims of the shark were played by actual amputees. The cast and crew were a mix of Americans, Italians, and Latin Americans. This brought about communication issues. The cast spoke their lines in their respective native languages. The film was then dubbed in various languages later.
It doesn’t look like Sharktopus but it does have its own character. It’s not as horrible as some would have you believe. Yes, you would expect more from director Bava, but it is a low budget “B” movie. Lamberto Bava was the son of cinematographer and special effects designer and director Mario Bava.