SHARK GIRL (2025)

Streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime from TriCoast Worldwide!!
Directed/Written by Justin Shilton, Rob Zazzali.
Check out the trailer here!!

When her dickhead photographer boyfriend Ron (played by Bertroche) leaves her in the water on the beach on a photo shoot, Heidi (played by Alexandra Corin Johnston) is bitten by a shark poisoned by the nearby nuclear plant. Washing up on shore later that night, Heidi begins sprouting sharp rows of teeth whenever agitated and develops a hunger for blood. She has become…Shark Girl!

If you think SHARK GIRL is a low budget schlocky horror film you might have once seen on ScyFy back when they showed those kinds of films, you’d be right. But nevertheless, I had a blast with SHARK GIRL because it leans into the schlock and ends up with a feel more akin to those old horror flicks from the 50’s where nuclear waste was the cause of every kind of mutated creature sending them on a rampage against all humanity. The story unfolds more like a vampire story than anything else as Heidi has a thirst for blood and vengeance against all who cross her. The transformation is subtle and basically only uses fake shark teeth that pop out whenever she gets pissed. Still, the effect works as it leads to this unfortunate by-product of nuclear waste being portrayed in a sympathetic light.

This is mainly because lead Alexandra Corin Johnston is a very solid actress. Yes, she is beautiful and looks nice in a bathing suit, but she conveys a good amount of humanity in her performance, giving her just enough depth to make you feel for her, despite the fact that she is tearing apart her friends and enemies alike.

The film has a lot of contrivances. But they are cute horror movie tropes that show that the makers of this one have done their research and watched a ton of old horror flicks. It’s interesting that instead of Heidi and the shark simply becoming irradiated and melted, it somehow turns them into some kind of super killer. This story is just as much a comic book origin story as it is a horror movie—sort of like Spider-Man, except he was a she and she was bit by a radioactive shark rather than a spider. Little wonky details like Heidi’s friend Sienna (played by Sumayyah Ameerah) not only being drop dead gorgeous, but also an investigative reporter/science whiz are ridiculous, but fun. The fact that Sienna loses a close relative yet seems to forget about it and makes out with some dude she just met right after is equally dumb, but again, things happen fast in these schlocky movies.

Look, I scoffed a bit when I heard the title too. SHARK GIRL it’s not the second coming of JAWS via SPIDER-MAN, but it was a breezy, sometimes corny, but played straight, low-fi creature feature that even leaves room for an interesting sequel. It’s fun indie horror in digestible yet pleasing chunks. No more, no less.