Customer Reviews

Sea Beast

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The five-star rating is for straight-to-your-video-store movies only and doesn't include the big budgets films.
Other reviewers have gone over the plot with a fine-toothed comb, so I won't spent the time telling you what you no-doubt have already read. I'll just say that as far as these types of movies go, this is one of the best. The people who made this movie actually cared about it and did their best with the limited budget they had.
The story is nothing special but neither is it as silly as most. There are a few scenes that were lifted almost whole from more famous movies (Jaws, Predator, Gremlins...)and instantly stand out, but probably not in the way the film makers had hoped. Also, I thought the ending was a little weak and contrived, but, again, not terrible for a movie of this type.
The acting for the most part is decent. One of the main characters has a little trouble expressing his dismay at finding a friend torn to pieces(maybe they should have given the poor guy a couple of more takes), but he is pretty much solid the rest of the movie. The girl who plays his daughter on the other hand is the worst of the bunch. However, every time she delivered a bit of stiff dialogue she seemed to follow it up with some vicious act against the creatures attacking her and her boyfriend (as if she were mad at herself for being such a bad actress). It made her character fun to watch compared to the way most women in these movies are potrayed.
The special effects were the best part for me. While certainly not as good as the big boys, you can tell alot of time and money was put into creating the creatures. They have a lot of detail, a unique design, and are matted fairly well against the actual footage, enough anyway so that it doesn't instantly take you out of the movie.
All-in-all, the movie was fun to watch and worth the ten bucks I paid for it at the store. If your thinking of renting it, I would say it is worth your time. If your looking to add a new monster movie to your collection, this is a good one to get. Although, with any movie like this, I personally like to buy it used most of the time.

Arguably the best in the Maneater Series (Maneater Series Collection - Vol. 1 (Blood Monkey, Maneater, In the Spider's Web),Maneater Series Collection Vol. 2: Croc;Eye of the Beast;Grizzly Rage etc.) as well.

In the days before Sci Fi started to mass produce/ buy any and all bad CGI creature of the week movies, this script could have been a contender. I was reminded of the original Tremors while watching it.

It's A welcome throwback to the B-movies of the fifties. A creature concept as close to something new as the genre allows. Budget awareness seems to have prevailed, the monster is given chameleon like abilities, sometimes its "invisible", but when it is visible it's detail is above par. The Sea Beast actually sees more screen time than The Relic (The Relic/Pet Semetary 2 )and that was made for theatrical release.

If your a fan of the genre this one is highly recommend.

Its hard to have a great movie...either the acting sucks and the effects are
great...or the acting is great and the effects are bad.
In this one...i would have to pick the great creature effects with so so acting. Ok the acting is not that bad...but when you have great visual for
creatures...the acting must be brough up a par, but in this case it could
only go as high as the quality of the actors could. Most of them did a good
job, but the script did not give them too much justice, and once in a while
the movie felted like other movies...run run run...wait wait wait ...panic panic panic....

But anyway, im pleased that this movie exist, caused with such great creature
effects possible, i can imagine future monster movies.... I hope they
improve the casting.
Good for a keeper

Picture the scene: It was a Saturday in August, mid-afternoon, with temperatures hovering around the century mark for the fourth week running, making it miserable to even try to do anything outside. On a rare occasion, I found myself alone in the house. With nothing pressing to do, I switched on the TV and reclined on the couch with the intention of taking a most satisfying nap. Lying there, I flipped through numerous channels, trying to find some type of programming that was conducive for good napping; a golf tournament or an old, black and white film from the forties is always good. During my search, I happened to come across this movie, which was just starting on the Sci-Fi Channel. Before I knew it, I was still lying there, still with the intention of taking a nap, but pleasantly surprised by this celluloid endeavor. And before I knew it again, I ended up watching the entire movie.

I provided that little backstory in order to try and paint the best way to approach and view this movie: With no pre-conceived notions whatsoever; just take it as it comes.

The movie is derivative. That much is certain. And some of the dialogue, acting, and special effects are cheesy (cheap). But, at the same time, if you're a fan of such fodder and in the right state of mind (as mentioned in my first paragraph), it can be very entertaining on an amusing level. In that sense, I highly recommend it. To view it under different circumstances would be a waste of time.
Pick the right time.

Part of the Manhunter series, The Sea Beast (2008) is about a rather nasty creature from the depths, that along with its young, begins preying on people. CGI special effects are primarily used to generate the creature, which moves, crawls, and leaps, similar to a frog. Also like a frog, the creature uses its long and flexible tongue, to capture prey. The adult monster has an unexplained ability to obscure its appearance, as well as the ability to shoot venom, that paralyzes its victims. Although their movements appear fast and fluid, the creatures obviously look fake. Still overall, the special effects are not too bad.

A good number of people get chomped up and killed, in a variety of ways. Those mobilized to hunt the monsters, are predictably inept. Carly McKenna (Miriam McDonald) and her boyfriend Danny (Daniel Wisler), have the most entertaining encounters with the baby creatures, in a cabin in the woods. The dialog is pretty bad, but these characters at least display some signs of intelligence.

Most other efforts meet with little success, as guns seem to have little effect. Carly's father Will (Corin Nemec), later finds her hiding aboard an old abandoned ferry, where the adult sea creature just happens to have made a nest.

The story and acting are unremarkable, but the special effects are decent, and the monsters occasionally do some amusing things. As this film often appears on SyFy, you may as well catch it there if you are interested.

Perfect Storm meets Jaws meets Predator. I watched this movie on SyFy last night. I will admit that I like B horror movies involving animals, creatures, dinosaurs and monsters. But SyFy needs to find some originality. I mean come on...! The Ben character was a complete rip off of Quint right down to the drinking, the sideburns, that mustache and the quint cap! The Predator connection is even worse. This movie is a comedy parody of better movies at best. The ending is Aliens copy too...I much preferred the movie on SyFy that came after it...Eye of The Beast...not too bad of acting and cresture effects without the bad CGI...not too bad for a Giant Squid movie....

Believe it or not, "Sea Beast" originally appeared as "Troglodyte" on Syfy in 2008. It goes without saying that it was a good call to change the name seeing as how there are no troglodytes in sight.

As the cover of the dvd would suggest, "Sea Beast" is another take on the well-worn "Jaws" theme. This one takes place in the Vancouver, BC, area (big surprise). The creature has the ability to appear nigh invisible and render its prey immobile. This may sound cartoonish, but the way it's explained by the requisite scientist makes it semi-believable.

Other than "Jaws," the plot borrows from other creature flicks like "Predator," "Gremlins" and "Godzilla ('98)." It's reminiscent of the latter film in that there's a mommy monster and a bunch of little tykes, just as ferocious.

What makes "Sea Beast" work is that the material is taken seriously and it has a quality cast, not to mention solid locations. The cast is highlighted by a strong male protagonist, Corin Nemec as Will Mckenna, Will's ditzy daughter, Carla, who can be ultra-violent when necessary (Miriam McDonald) and Will's female sidekick scientist, Arden (Camille Sullivan). Miriam possesses such a cuteness she's somehow just enjoyable to look at. Also, the creature effects (CGI) are well done. Not to mention it's very gorey, if you're into that.

There's not much else to say. If you like well-done creatures-on-the-loose TV flicks, "Sea Beast" provides well enough to satisfy. It's far from great but it delivers just enough to grant it a weak 4/5 Stars.

GRADE: B-

this is a good movie it
has gore,creature violence,
explosions,guns.and the most
important thing a good ending.
so just do good reviews please.

This movie was very disappointing. I bought it based on watching the action pre-views. The action pre-view is the only good part in this movie.

I like Sea Beast.

There, I said it. Part of my affection for a movie vaguely described after an aquatic monster is the monster itself, beautifully rendered in CGI as a sort of Deep One (from H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth), part frog, part fish, all killer. It has the face of an angler fish, a creature repeatedly referenced throughout the film - the Sea Beast is one ugly mother. And it's a mother too, with several smaller spawn that inconvenience our heroes.

IMDB indicates that the movie was originally titled "Troglodyte" which makes no sense whatsoever. My suspicion is that it was originally titled "Sea Devil" because the phrase is used no less than three times to describe the creature.

Monster movies tend to be divided into two converging plots. One group is the clueless unarmed teenagers out for a wild party and the other are well-armed veterans who know what they're up against. Will McKenna (Corin Nemec, trying mightily to channel Quint from Jaws and failing), is the embittered sailor who lost a friend to the beast. Miriam McDonald is Will's idiot daughter Carly. While Will plays a game of hide-and-seek with the mother creature on land, Carly and her boyfriend are trapped in an island house by her spawn.

The battle between the sheriff (another McKenna, Will's brother Jay), several gun-toting morons, and Will is taken straight from Predator. The beast jumps like Predator (a trait forgotten by just about every other rip off, including the Aliens vs. Predator films), camouflages itself like Predator, we see through the MonsterCam like Predator, and it decapitates people like Predator. It's basically Predator, only a little soggier.

Much more innovative is the teenagers vs. Sea Babies. The tiny spawn are even more terrifying than the giant beast hopping around and director Paul Ziller actually knows how to stage a scene. He amps up the tension as Carly and her boyfriend struggle to defend the house through their wits alone. It's a compliment to Ziller that he echoes the "work shed" scene from Evil Dead.

The rest of the movie is bog standard, saved only by the monsters themselves. Their tongue lashing attacks (another Evil Dead staple), invisibility, paralyzing spit, and hopping gait make for a varied and interesting opponent. The worst part of the film is McDonald, a veteran of Degrassi, is just plain awful. The writers gave her character some surprising deadly moves, but the actress can't pull them off convincingly. Buffy she ain't.

Before the movie ends, eggs will be found, the mother beast will try to protect them, and somebody will quip wise before blowing the whole thing up with a cigar. And that's okay.