Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Michael O'Keefe William McKenna (Corin Nemac) the skipper of a fishing vessel returns from a storm with a crew member lost to something horrid in the sea. He knows no one will believe what he saw take his friend. At this same time a marine biologist (Camille Sullivan) is summoned to investigate why the fish population in the area has diminished so rapidly. It is finally determined to be not one, but many, mutated angler fish with the freakish ability to become invisible at will and use a long slithering tongue to wreck havoc and satisfy their hunger. These creatures that come from the depths of the sea seem to spend a lot of time jumping from trees and lumbering on land.This ScFy channel "sea serpent TV movie has some CGI effects at times more laughable than dreadful. But this is not to say the creatures aren't scary and fierce looking. I find THE SEA BEAST one of the most watchable from the network in a long time. True, most of the script and acting is far from top notch, but hey...this is science fiction and fun.The cast also features: Mirriam McDonald, Gary Hudson, Daniel Wisler, Christie Lang and Brent Stait.

Wuchak 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 gory, 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 marginal thumbs up.GRADE: B-

Tonci Pivac "Sea Beast" is a surprisingly enjoyable, if slightly flawed Sci-Fi Channel Creature Feature.**SPOILERS**Following a string of accidents, fisherman Will, (Corin Nemec) and his crew Danny, (Brent Strait) and Drew, (Brandon Jay McLaren) are becoming concerned about the disappearing fish population in the area, which puzzles Arden, (Camille Sullivan) the local biologist. When a couple of locals are attacked and found ripped to pieces, his story about a vicious sea creature being responsible is laughed off in favor of more traditional suspects. After more are attacked, and the creature is positively identified as a carnivorous reptilian sea creature that lived on the ocean bottom, which is now attacking the population. Realizing their girlfriends Carly, (Miriam McDonald) and Erin, (Christie Lang) are trapped with the creatures, they race to find a way of stopping the deadly creatures.The Good News: This here was a slightly above-average creature feature with some good stuff going for it. One of the best is that the creature looks rather cool and has a great appearance to it. From the humanoid shape, large claws and ferocious teeth within an imposing and unique- looking face, it creates a rather nice-looking creature that manages to work quite well. It's behavior techniques, from the acidic, paralyzing spit that renders victims immobile and the rather cool way it manages to blend into the surroundings to sneak up nearly invisibly on potential victims also makes some scenes a rather fun time. That it also has the fun and interesting concept of the children makes for some rather good times when they get loose is more to enjoy about the creature. It's rather enjoyable to see them attacking, as they get some of the film's best moments in their two big attacks in the beach attack and an all-out assault on the house in the middle of the forest. The beach attack is rather nice with it's slow-burning emphasis coming from the creatures slowly encroaching on the fallen victims, who suffer from a rather debilitating injury that keeps them there waiting for the attack is a great scene, and it's violent outcome is a good tapper to the affair. The real good scene, though, is the attack on the shack as there's just absolutely no flaws anywhere in the scene. From the different tactics used by the creatures to the defensive methods being just as good and utilizing some interesting props to the claustrophobic setting and the inventive finale that has a lot of good to it. Other big action scenes, from the attack on the militia in the woods where it really lets loose on the different manners of attack is a real joy, and it's first attack on the couple in the woods is a fun site as well that definitely deserves it's enjoyment. The finale, though, is the film's best part, as it's a full-on action-packed scene that features so much good stuff that it's hard to fit it all in, with a creepy setting, inventive action, lots of momentum and a sense of fun packed into it. The last plus here is the film's gore, which, when it actually comes, isn't bad, with lots of devoured remains and aftermath, a throat ripped out, a foot stuck in a bear-trap, a multitude of spears through the body and a nice decapitation, not exactly superb but enough to satisfy. These here are the film's good points.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot of stuff wrong with this one, but it did have some flaws to it. One of the bigger areas here is the fact that, like just about all Sci-Fi Channel films, the creature here is atrociously rendered in CGI. This here is standard stuff for these kinds of films, and it's par-for-the-course when it comes to looking terrible, which is made all the more obvious because the look of it is so great that to be able to see it rendered so badly is a huge disservice. It could've been rather cool to see it not rendered in CGI, and the badly- done attempt actually in the film isn't anything spectacular. The creature here also has another big flaw about it, the fact that absolutely nothing is known about it. Absolutely nothing here is given about the creature, from what it is beyond some kind of amphibian that lived at the ocean-bottom to it's species to why it's able to adapt to the conditions on the surface and its back-story at all. None of that is given, it's all a complete blank and something about, especially with the biologist on-board, would've been really helpful. The last factor holding this one down is the fact that this one has a couple of really pitiful kills at the beginning, mostly off-screen stuff that doesn't help the gore count at all. Once it gets going, they get better, but so much off-screen stuff really does a number at the time, and combined with the creature flaws, amount to the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: While not that perfect and featuring a couple of flaws, this is still a very above-average Sci-Fi Channel creature feature. Give it a shot if that's interesting or if you find these kinds of films enjoyable, though those who haven't enjoyed other Sci-Fi Channel entries should heed caution.

treeline1 The story is set in a fishing village where a local boat captain (Corin Nemic) has recently lost a crewman. It seems a sea monster has hitched a ride to shore on his boat and lots of townsfolk are being eaten (the creature and her children can walk on land and even climb trees!)This movie is so typical of the Sci Fi channel movies...minimal dialogue, maximum carnage. The CGI isn't too awful, but the predictability of the script makes it tedious; any character who goes off alone is sure to be killed. Corin Nemic is the best thing about the movie, but he isn't on screen much. We see more of Miriam McDonald, who plays his daughter, and she's truly awful. Between her constant half-grin in the face of impending death and endlessly pushing her hair behind her ears, I half-expected her to say, "Like OMG! I'm like in a movie!"The movie was shown on TV as, "Sea Beast," which is a better title than "Troglodyte," but not by much. Trite and silly.