The Last Shark

The Last Shark

Genre: Horror, Natural Horror, Giant Monster

Original title: L' ultimo squalo

AKA: Great White / The Last Jaws

Director: Enzo G. Castellari

Year: 1982

An enormous and angry 35 foot Great White Shark takes revenge on humans when they build a beach just for swimmers by a coastal town.

Of all the films the Italian's decided to rip-off, The Last Shark is probably the most notorious case. Shortly before the film's release, Universal Pictures filed suit against the producers, claiming the film was too similar to Jaws, and the Australian distributors, for breach of copyright regarding Peter Benchley's book "Jaws". Universal won an injunction, and the film was pulled from theaters. 

The film would eventually be released on VHS world-wide with various titles that would confuse people into believing that the picture was actually a Jaws sequel. Because of this, over the years people not accustomed to Italian films of this era have regarded it as one of the worst films ever made. This is unfair. Whilst The Last Shark is nothing special, it is for the most part a competent film. The practical effects of the shark are surprisingly decent & very rarely look less than serviceable. The surprising downfall is the dull characters that just act as a support for the shark. Director Enzo G. Castellari who tends to always have fun characters in his movies (surprisingly) fails to deliver this time round with a cast of completely unmemorable characters. 

The Natural-Horror/creature-feature genre is one which when done right can be highly enjoyable. The monster part was handled pretty well, unfortunately the lack of decent characters really drags the film down a good few notches. That said, there is still fun to be had with The Last Shark & as far these type of films go its far from being a disaster. It's certainly better than some of the official Jaws sequels that were churned out in the 80s.

Rating: ★★½

As you can see, it's nothing like jaws!

Light Blast

Light Blast

Genre: Action

Original title: Colpi di luce 

AKA: Laser Killer

Director: Enzo G. Castellari

Year: 1985

A crazed physician invents a death ray and threatens to destroy San Francisco unless he is paid $10 million.

The opening scene of two lovers meeting up in an abandoned factory soundtracked by an enormous cheesy power-ballad whilst incredibly tacky opening credits are plastered onto the screen perfectly sums up what you are getting yourself into for the next 90 minutes. They are soon melted to death via the death ray by the crazy scientist played by character actor Ennio Girolami. It looks like the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark yet made with no budget on an Atari ST. This first few moments are essentially a make or break moment for the viewer, either you will be completely turned off by its ineptness or you will be rubbing your hands with glee in excitement for the next 80+ minutes. Thankfully I was the later.

Light Blast stars Erik Estrada best known for the T.V series CHiPs. Whilst his build & height are both way too on the small side to be playing an action star he remains charming throughout & it's easy for the viewer to get on his side. The first time we see Estrada he is being sent with a plate full of food to give to a gang of terrorists who have taken over a building with hostages to boot, this whilst in his pants!. He hides a gun inside a turkey and blows away the bad guys, completely bad ass. 

Elsewhere there are plenty of goofy characters, 80s gadgets (which are hilarious to look back on) & one of those synth heavy scores with electronic drums & funky bass lines which just brings an instant smile to my face. But lets face it, you only watch a flick like Light Blast for the action & my god does it deliver.  

Having already directed the Bronx Warriors trilogy Enzo G. Castellari was no stranger to B-movie style action films & here he delivers arguably his best action film. Only for a brief 15 minute spell around the half-way mark does the film ever let up on its electrifying pace. The rest of the film feels like when you get bored playing Grand Theft Auto and just decide to blow up everything in sight. The film provides constant thrills via car chases, gun fights & repeats this again and again. There's also footage of a demolition derby thrown in as if there wasn't enough carnage already! Its one of those films where you have to sit back and really appreciate the fact that some crazy mother fucker risked his life time & time again to pull off some of the insane shit that we see on screen & there's plenty of occasions where the stunts look damn right dangerous! One being a man being hit by a car which is in the process of exploding at the exact same time!

We get Estrada stealing a buggy-car and chasing the mad scientist through the San Francisco hills in a thrilling last few minutes, the buggy-car spends half the time in the air & with the synth score blasting out it really is an awesome few minutes.

Light Blast remains one of those action films which barely has a plot and is almost always clunky in its delivery, yet with its none stop action it is the kind of film that you can stick on & (excuse the pun) have a complete blast with each time. 

Rating: ★★★½

Just one of several thousand explosions you'll see during Light Blast.