Shark's Paradise

A gloriously kitsch made-for-TV movie from the McElroy's production house starring David Reyne (brother to James), Shark's Paradise is is 1980s commercial film-making at its abysmal worst or delightful best depending on your point of view.

Either way it's the kind of film that will keep you agog just wondering what cinematic solecism will be perpetrated next. The sequence where Monty (Ron Becks) breaks into a building at night and after a tussle escapes in broad daylight has to be the standout but the scene at the marina in which a disembodied hand comes from screen left and throws a glass of water over him is pure Ed Wood. Intended or otherwise, such gaffes are only a small portion of the tacky joys in this Miami Vice rip-off set in Surfer's Paradise and telling the story of an extortion bid involving sharks. Throw in big hair, padded shoulders, lame stunts, stilted acting, generic dialogue, a contemporary pop soundtrack featuring INXS, The Models, The Hoodoo Gurus and, of course, THAT Split Enz song, not to mention Dennis Miller as an off-beat detective and there's more to laugh at here than most comedies get close to.

 

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