Bathtub Shark Attack — Bathtub Shark Attack( Blu Ray)
From the mighty fine folks at SRS Cinema, here’s another weird ‘n’ wacky slice of low-budget sharkploitation…and boy, this one goes there, in its all-out WTH-ness. We have a size-shifting, talking, at points walking shark who likes making it with the ladies, a demented female cult that follows said shark- with loads of blood, limb-munching, and some awkward humour- all captured in lo-fi, shot-on-video form
Bathtub Shark Attack is from 2023, and it was directed/ written by one Madeline Deering- who sadly seemingly passed last year. She had six directorial credits to her name- these took in one other feature, throwback analogue slasher Spirit Animal (2016)- the other four credits were for anthologies. She also had ten producer and actress credits.
The film focuses on geeky/ bespeckled couple Chad (Ben Dietels) and Cindy ( Ruby Craft). They are looking for a new place to live, and see an apartment advertised for a too-cheap-to-be-good price. So, they go along to meet the seemingly friendly/ if a little creepy, landlady played by Lynn Lowry ( Shivers, The Crazies, Cat People).
From the off it seems things are not going well between the pair- she flinches whenever he touches her, and we find out they’ve been together for six years… but have never been intimate.
Anyway, one night Cindy awakens to see a glowing/ pulsing red & orange light from the bathroom- she goes in, it starts touching the water, and getting turned on by it… as things unfold, she takes more & more baths.
Meanwhile in the rest of the apartment block, our shark is taking out occupants, in ridiculous/ totally wacky ways. One is lured into the basement to the washer /dryer, where our teethy killer pulls the victim in/ munches them up. A whole party is killed by being electrocuted- as eyes pop, teeth shake out, blood bubbles- as our wig-wearing shark chuckles. A pennis is bitten off, with the shark cleaning up the blood afterwards with its fin.
There’s a shark/ human sex scene, a one-armed plumper pulling out brains/ squishing faces with his plunger and loads more wackiness- with a real keen/ fun sense of low-fi invention throughout. All making Bathtub Shark Attack a wonderful weird ‘n’ wacky ride into the outer limits of the sharkploitation form.
On the extras side, we get a director/ cast commentary track, which features around five or six people. This certainly has it’s interest moments/ stories, though the thing is more often than not too many people are talking at the same time. They go from laughing about the small shark emblem that appears ever so often- meaning you have to spurt your buddy watching it with you. They point out bit parts as they appear, with sometimes director Madeline Deering touching on who said person got the role. They chuckle about soapy blood & the first bathtub attack. We find out that they shot over two hours of material for the picture, and how neat the main location was- as it took in the pair's apartment & the bar in the film. We find out Ruby Craft stayed the night in the apartment once, and saw an old ghost man in the mirror. Later on, they mention references back to Deering’s first film, Spirit Animal- where someone is constantly pissing. They discuss the eyeball mousetrap board game gag, and how they couldn’t stop laughing in some scenes.
Otherwise, on the extra side we have: Outtakes ( 8.41), location tour with Madeline Deering ( 15.27), trailers, art gallery, and SRS trailer reel.
Bathtub Shark Attack really is a lot of wacky, ridiculous, and gory fun. And if you enjoy the more out-there/ crazed takes on sharkploitation, it's a must. It’s rather sad that Deering has passed, as she was such a deranged talent…and I’ll most certainly be tracking down her first film.