Classic "B", classic Corman
Nathan Sands (Eric Roberts) is a Geneticist. He and his daughter Nicole (Sara Malakul Lane) are hired by the United States Navy to engineer a new water-based weapon. S-11 is created to be an intelligent shark with a few extras spliced in. This shark has the tentacles of an octopus. A vicious killing machine S-11 is affectionately dubbed Sharktopus. In order to control S-11 it has a device attached to its head. Electromagnetic pulses are sent to a chip in its brain instructing the creature's actions.
During one of the test runs on S-11 the subject manages to remove the devise. Free of its outside control Sharktopus heads for Mexican waters. Nathan and Nicole travel to Mexico to retrieve their very expensive and very dangerous weapon. In Mexico they meet up with fishermen Andy Flynn (Kerem Bursin), and Santos (Julian Gonzalez Esparza). They both work for Nathan. Nathan has them help in the recovery effort. Andy, Nicole, and Santos track S-11 aboard Andy's boat. Nathan and some minions are following on a yacht behind them.
In the meantime S-11 is have a good time eating and killing. A news reporter, Stacy Everheart (Liv Boughn) has heard about the creature. She and her cameraman Bones (Hector Jimenez) team up with a local named Pez (Blake Lindsey). Pez had previously taken a photo of it. Stacy discovers that S-11 is a military experiment and that Nathan is the brains behind it. Stacy does some research on Nathan and begins gathering evidence on S-11's rampage. All the while S-11 is a non-stop killing machine.
"Sharktopus" was released in 2010 and was directed by Declan O'Brien. It was, of course, produced by Roger Corman. If you love “B” movies then you love Roger Corman. Perhaps not all of his movies since he has done over 300 of them, but enough to say you are a fan. Now that the SYFY channel is home of the “B” movie, that is where you will find Roger’s work. Specifically this gem called “Sharktopus”. The name says it all. Half shark, half octopus. All Roger.
My favorite part is when the Sharktopus rises up on its tentacles and strolls around on land. Perfect.
The story line was the usual. A monster is created. The monster does what monsters do. Good guys step up and try to stop the monster. But not till after it’s consumed most of a tropical resort. You've seen the plot so many times before. Still it is an adorable monster.
The special effects and acting were a lot better than I expected. It’s your basic fun romp and mayhem with plenty of blood and screams. Lots of bikinis. Everything you expect a “B” movie to be. If you don’t like this movie than you really don’t understand what a classic “B” movie is. In that case you should stick to box office hits with big budgets and fancy CGI. “Sharktopus” is strictly for fans of the genre.
Roger has a cameo as a random guy on the beach. There is a Wilhelm Scream when the Sharktopus eats the second kid throwing a football. In Caribbean legend, there is a half shark-half octopus monster known as the Lusca.