Water Park Shark
Directed by: Anthony C. Ferrante
Starring: David Chokachi, Matthew Dame, Chelsea Gilson, Kacie Patricia, Hector Becerra
Available on Amazon Prime and AppleTV. Runtime: 91 minutes.
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt38890293
From the producers of the Sharknado franchise, Water Park Shark gives you what we’ve all come to know and love from these films: “Jaws” references, bad CGI, and about an hour and a half of mindless entertainment. It’s not an epic film to watch attentively, it’s more like the video you’d grab at Blockbuster on Friday night with your buddies to head home and laugh and unwind.
Director Anthony C. Ferrante wastes no time kicking the fun into gear. The plot is basic and predictable, a former high-school football hero, Austin Dillard (Matthew Dame), returns to his hometown after a career-ending football injury. He gets a job at Wicked Waves, the local water park. His former girlfriend, Peyton Ivy (Chelsea Gilson), is now the police chief, and her sister Makhaila (Kacie Patricia) is chief lifeguard at the park. All of this is just the template to allow for the corrupt local mayor to put his city in jeopardy due to his craven corruption and lust for money.
Meanwhile, Mayor, and former high school nerd, Clark Calhoun (Hector Becerra) is stealing electricity from the park for his cryptocurrency mining scheme. He’s using the servers in the tunnels under the attractions, polluting the waters and in the process attracting and mutating the sharks. Mayhem and terror ensues. The film moves fast, keeping the pace quick and the dialogue is almost a de facto narration. The payoff is seeing sharks blow up and the bad guys face consequences for their actions. Kind of like the Scooby Doo gang and the abandoned carnival on the outskirts of town.
If you’re looking for a serious scare, you’ll be better served watching something else. If you want mindless entertainment, “Water Park Shark” is all empty calories. It’s the cotton candy you get at the fair as you wander around, being entertained.
Aside from exploding sharks, and rekindling romance, a large part of the entertainment in Water Park Shark is the soundtrack. San Diego’s Bart Mendoza contributed four songs to the film. He was kind enough to answer our questions.
How did you get involved with Water Park Shark? “In 2023, Manual Scan backed director, Anthony C Ferrante (on vocals) at a San Diego Comic Con panel for the Sharknado 10th Anniversary. It was thanks to a recommendation from Robbie Rist, who has worked with Anthony on music for his films. Manual Scan opened and closed the panel performing the movie’s theme song, it was a very fun experience. We kept in touch, and last year he asked me to send him a few tracks, and to my surprise, he picked four for Water Park Shark: Two by The Shambles: “I Can’t Don’t Want To Faster,” and “Brilliant,” plus two by True Stories: “Comet’s Tomorrow” and “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine.”
Do you have a favorite soundtrack? “Too many! I have around 600 soundtracks in my archive, all on vinyl. These are a few that stay near the turntable: Elton John – Friends, The Who – Quadrophenia, Tangerine Dream – Thief, Henry Mancini – anything pre-1970, VA – Times Square, The Beatles – Help, the list goes on.
Is this your first soundtrack? “One of my earliest bands, Manual Scan, had our song, “Nothing Can Be Everything,” included in the 1990 MGM film, A Girl To Kill For.”
Where can people purchase, download, or hear these songs? “The usual online places, starting with Bandcamp.” https://snaprecordsspain.bandcamp.com/album/true-stories-cap-tulo-uno-split-funlp-059-funcd-078-2
