Truly Dreadful Film

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good start, but then it gets ruined

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

When I put Barracuda on Netflix Streaming after getting home from a long train trip, I was not expecting much, just your basic Jaws rip off with some cheap gore. To my surprise, although it was definitely a cash in on Spielberg's epic, it was still a fun, interesting movie.The plot, at least initially, is what you'd expect. Killer barracuda suddenly begin attacking swimmers at a Florida beach, sparking an investigation by a local sheriff and a scientist. Things get interesting when the investigation uncovers a conspiracy.Barracuda delivers all the gore you would expect from a Jaws knock off, but it also features elements that raise it to above average status. In particular, the scientist protagonist acts like an actual scientist, rather than the typical doom sayer we see in these movies. He initially expresses skepticism that barracuda could be behind all of the attacks and looks for evidence, like a real scientist.Some reviewers have complained that the conspiracy angle crowds out the barracuda in the second half of the film, which has an element of truth. Still, the plot remains interesting, and the gore in the first half of the film more than suffices.

A top secret government experiment leads to fatal barracuda attacks on the beaches of a small coastal town formerly renowned for its lobster. A marine biologist (Wayne Crawford) and sheriff (William Kerwin) uncover a plot involving a mentally unstable former war-medic (Evers) pioneering research into hyperglycemia and the effect on human behavior.Writer-director Harry Edward Kerwin came out of the same group that brought H. G. Lewis to notoriety, and he was the brother-in-law of actress Connie Mason. Unfortunately, "Barracuda" was his last film, and he passed at age 48 the following year.Writer-star Wayne Crawford has fared better, going on to act in bigger and better things, as well as producing a few noteworthy films of the 1980s (such as "Valley Girl" and "Night of the Comet"). Well played, Wayne.I liked this film and think it deserves better than the low rating and obscurity it has achieved. This is actually a very clever script and contains good performances. Sure, it is misleading to make it about attacking fish when it is more of a government conspiracy film. And I do think the pace is a bit slow at times. But it is hardly a bad film, and the fact that (as of this writing) is has not found a Wikipedia page or a decent DVD release is sad. Where are you, Scream Factory?

Underwhelming thriller is really not what the viewer thinks it's going to be. They'll think this is another of the various knock-offs that proliferated after "Jaws" became a sensation. Well, the title fish really don't have much to do in this ecologically conscious tale. Sure, they kill a FEW people, but never become that much of an issue. Instead, what this film does is get bogged down in a landlocked conspiracy plot. This plot involves a chemical company dumping its waste into the ocean, affecting the marine life, but there's more going on than that. It turns out, the PEOPLE are getting affected too. Young marine biologist Mike Canfield (Wayne Crawford, who also co-wrote the story and screenplay, co-produced, and supervised the underwater photography) teams up with local sheriff Ben Williams (William Kerwin, familiar to any fan of the Herschell Gordon Lewis classics "Blood Feast" and "Two Thousand Maniacs!") to probe the mystery, while nothing terribly interesting ever happens. Not even the barracuda attacks are that thrilling. For a B movie there's a better than average supporting cast, including Jason Evers ("The Brain That Wouldn't Die"), Cliff Emmich ("Payday"), Roberta Leighton ("Stripes"), and Bert Freed ("Paths of Glory"). The luscious Leighton is easy to watch, but what's going to stupefy the audience is seeing her throw herself at the not particularly attractive Crawford and seeing him show little interest! Evers is mostly okay - he is a veteran, after all - but when it comes time for him to emote, he can't pull it off. Director / co-writer / co-producer Harry Kerwin just can't seem to build up any real dramatic tension, despite the efforts of composer Klaus Schulze, who gives this thing a better music score than it deserves. Viewers may still be able to appreciate the last second twist ending, which concludes the story on a very downbeat note. Too bad the balance of the movie isn't that effective. Five out of 10.

****POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS***I was hoping for another corny 'Jaws' rip-off with this film, but after two unknown divers are killed in a long, drawn out, silent opening scene, the plot immediately changes itself into a land-based conspiracy thriller.The story is based around the town of Palm Cove, where a large chemical plant is the main source of employment. Chemicals are being put into the water supply in an experiment to control the population - they are also leaking into the sea and stimulate aggression in the local barracuda.There isn't much to get excited about here - a few 'Jaws' links are of minor interest: a labrador chasing a stick on a beach comes across a divers head; sheriff and marine biologist are the two main characters and they have a night search out on the water similar to the one enjoyed by Brody and Hooper.The film has the look of a home-grown project and the multitude of credits given to the co-directors Wayne Crawford and Harry Kerwin suggest this may be the case. Once it is clear the barracuda threat is only a plot device the films interest level begins to wane.Whilst production values are poor 'Barracuda' is still fairly watchable and the characters are fleshed out to a reasonable degree ( particularly Lester, the fat useless Victor Buono-like deputy ). This is still as far below 'Piranha' as 'Piranha' was below 'Jaws' though, so while not quite a full-blown turkey its very close.