Monster Shark - Severin Films (Blu-ray/CD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/France, 1984
Director: Lamberto Bava
Writers: Luigi Cozzi, Luciano Martino, Sergio Martino, Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino, Dardano Sacchetti, Hervé Piccini, Lamberto Bava
Cast: Michael Sopkiw, Valentine Monnier, Gianni Garko, William Berger, Iris Peynado, Lawrence Morgant, Cinzia de Ponti, Paul Branco, Dagmar Lassander

Release Date: July 29th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 93 minutes 45 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $39.95

"When several locals in a coastal Florida town are found with limbs chomped off, an electronics expert (Michael Sopkiw of MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY infamy) joins a team of marine biologists to hunt a genetically modified creature that is part shark, part octopus and 100% prehistoric fish from hell." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "newly scanned in 4K from the original camera negative."

Monster Shark comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 33.8 GB

Feature: 28.4 GB

The source is in excellent shape; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression or digital noise reduction.

Audio: 3.75/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Both tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. That said, the English-language track sounds slightly fuller. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian-language track and removable English SDH for the English-language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Michael Sopkiw titled Man Versus Devil Fish (10 minutes 53 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with director Lamberto Bava titled They Call Him John Old Jr. (14 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Sharksploitation experts. Stephen Scarlata, Josh Miller, and Matt Mercer, a CD with Fabio Frizzi’s 15-track score and an insert with the scores track listing.

Summary:

Lamberto Bava directed Monster Shark. He’s most known for Macabre, A Blade in the Dark, Demons, and Demons 2. Monster Shark is also known under Devil Fish and its Italian-language title translated into English is Shark: Red on the Ocean.

A mutant shark is killing and maiming people off the South Florida coast.

Something that can be said about Italian genre cinema of the 1970s and 80s is that whenever they saw a good thing, they exploited it for all its worth. In 1981 Enzo G. Castellari made The Last Shark, one of the most notorious knockoff films in the history of cinema. Although Monster Shark takes some of its inspiration from Jaws knock-off films, it adds another layer by mutating its monster into a half-shark, half-octopus.

While I would give Monster Shark some points for not trying to ape Jaws, the result is a mess of a film. The narrative is slow-moving, the acting is bland, and there is not enough screentime for the monster. At least when it comes to the monster attacks, they do provide an ample amount of gore. The best part of Monster Shark is Fabio Frizzi’s (The Beyond) score. That said, Lamberto Bava, wanting to distance himself from Monster Shark, used a pseudonym that is a play on one that his father used. Ultimately, there are bad films and then there is Monster Shark, a truly awful film.

Monster Shark gets a first-rate release from Severin Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and informative extras.

Written by Michael Den Boer