Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Still mourning her father's death, Sara takes a trip to Thailand with her friends, including her controlling and impulsive BFF Max. Following in her father's footsteps, Sara and her pals travel to the Devil's Mouth, located in water-filled cave system. Despite a recommendation from their guide to take the easier green path, Max insists they take the more-difficult red path, adding even more strain on her already strained friendship with Sara. Hours later, when they are deep within the cave system, the friends find their lives in danger from a hungry trapped shark that kills their guide and leaves them trying to find a way out alive. Who's in it? The movie stars Kathryn Newton , Lana Conor, Nico Hiraga, Gavin Casalengo and Tommi Rose. Review: My wife suggested a movie night last night so, after grabbing some fish dinners from our local bowling alley/bar & grill, we came home and looked for something to watch. After reviewing several choices, we settled o...

Synopsis: A category 5 hurricane causes severe flooding in the town of Annieville, South Carolina, leaving those who didn't evacuate trapped. To make matters worse, the hurricane has brought a swarm of aggressive bull sharks and a single great white shark with it. Who's in it? The movie stars Phoebe Dynevor, Whitney Peak,  Djimon Hounsou , Alyla Browne, Stacy Clausen and Dante Ubaldi. Review: We decided not to go out last night (once again because of the weather) and instead stayed home and watched a movie. I came across Thrash on Netflix earlier in the day and, figuring it had been a while since I last watched a shark-related movie, we gave it a try. It turned out to be a good choice. To be honest, there wasn't a whole lot about this movie I would describe as unique. Like plenty of other movies, it featured sharks in a populated area and those sharks always seemed to be hungry no matter how much they ate. However, this was one of those times when a movie did...

Synopsis: Dr. Elsa Reinhardt seeks to use gene splicing to create the perfect human and thinks she has finally found the ideal subject in baseball player Felix Rosa. However, the experiment, which uses DNA from a wolf and killer whale, instead turns Rosa into a monster. To make matters worse, a sharktopus has arrived in the area and is already killing humans too, leading to a fight between the two hybrids. Who's in it? The movie stars Casper Van Dien , Catherine Oxenberg , Jennifer Wegner , Akari Endo and  Jorge Eduardo de los Santos . Review: After being horribly disappointed by Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda , I wasn't overly anxious to see this third movie in the series. However, my wife wanted to watch a movie last night, I didn't have anything else lined up and didn't want to spend half the evening looking for something, so we gave Sharktopus vs Whalewolf a try. It ended up being exactly what I expected it to be...bad.  The movie had pretty much the same issue as the...

Synopsis: Not long after the original sharktopus was destroyed its offspring is living in an aquarium, where biologist Lorena is attempting to figure out a way to control its aggressive nature. When a scientist creates another hybrid, combining pterodactyl DNA with a barracuda, only to have the experiment fall under the control of a hacker, he attempts to hijack the sharktopus to fight it, only to unleash two terrors in the ocean. Who's in it? The movie stars Robert Carradine , Rib Hillis , Katie Savoy , Akari Endo and Hensy Pichardo. Review: My wife and I enjoyed Sharktopus more than expected, enough for me to be interested in seeing the sequel, Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda . We finally watched it tonight and not to sound a bit too much like my teenage daughter, thought it was just "meh." Sharktopus wasn't a great movie, just better than expected. As a result, my expectations for this sequel weren't set very high. However, even then, it failed to meet them.  My ...

Synopsis: Nicole Sands helped her dad create a shark/octopus hybrid for the United States military and can control it remotely using electrical impulses. However, while testing their creation in the ocean waters near Mexico, an accident results in the creature being freed. It is now up to her and Andy, a former employee fired by her father, to stop the creature's killing spree while attempting to keep it alive. Who's in it? The movie stars  Kerem Bürsin ,  Sara Malakul Lane , Eric Roberts , Héctor Jiménez and Liv Boughn. Review:   Sharktopus has been out for some time and while I've known about it, I've always been a bit reluctant to watch it. However, I was having a hard time choosing a movie last night and figured it couldn't be much worse than some other shark movies we've watched recently so my wife and I finally gave it a chance. It ended up surprising me. Look, I'm not going to pretend this is a good movie by any measure. The premise is farfetched....

Synopsis: Sophia and her team are researching sharks by the Great Pacific garbage patch when they discover the shark they have tagged, Lilith, has grown to an unusual size. Lilith also turns violent and wipes out her team, which includes her husband, leaving Sophia traumatized. Three years later, while working at an aquarium in Paris, France, Sophia is approached by a group of environmentalists who have been tracking tagged sharks to help keep them safe and discovered Lilith's signal. Only, instead of being in the Pacific Ocean, the enormous shark is swimming in the River Seine, putting the citizens of Paris in danger just a few days before a triathlon is scheduled to be held by a mayor who refuses to cancel the event. Who's in it? The movie stars  Bérénice Bejo , Nassim Lyes ,  Léa Léviant ,  Sandra Parfait and  Anne Marivin. Review: I had heard good things about Under Paris and while the whole killer shark genre seems to be a bit overdone, seemed somewhat intr...

Synopsis: A tsunami destroys a coastal city and leaves a group of survivors inside a grocery store. Their attempts to escape the flooded building are hindered by a pair of 12-foot sharks that kill anything in the water. To make matters worse, the tsunami interrupted an armed robbery attempt, and the armed criminal is still alive. Who's in it? The movie stars Xavier Samuel , Sharni Vinson , Adrian Pang , Yuwu Qi and Phoebe Tonkin. Review: My wife and I took a break from packing for our vacation and decided to watch a movie while it was storming outside. We went through a few before settling on Bait , mostly because we figured it is hard to mess up a shark movie (even though we've seen plenty of examples proving it can still happen). Overall, it ended up being a decent choice. The premise of the movie is simple but entertaining. You do have to suspend some reality when it comes to the sharks and the fact they seemed to be killing just for the sake of killing, but there was ju...

Synopsis: Sent to Mexico to inspect an oil rig, Paul Sturges decides to make a family trip of it and brings his wife and two kids. However, when they arrive, they discover the once bustling community is now in poverty, the oil rig is leaking oil and only two of its crew members remain. Oh, and there is a giant megalodon shark circling the rig, trapping Paul and his family, a demon that is looking to get revenge on Paul for his role in the environmental disaster. Who's in it? The movie stars Josh Lucas ,  Fernanda Urrejola ,  Venus Ariel ,  Julio Cesar Cedillo and Carlos Solórzano. Review: My wife added this to our Amazon Prime list and chose it for a movie night last night. I admittedly had some doubts about it, mostly because our choices in shark movies haven't exactly been paying off lately. However, I gave it a chance. As it turns out, it was about what I expected it to be. I think, in addition to being a rip-off of the film The Meg , this movie makes a cardinal mis...

Synopsis: Five years after a fatal incident involving the accidental release of prehistoric megalodon, research of the Mariana Trench continues. While following a group of megalodon to their breeding area, Jonas Taylor and his team discover a secret and illegal mining operation and soon find themselves in danger both from the creatures in the trench and the people determined to keep the mining operation secret. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Statham , Jing Wu ,  Shuya Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy and  Skyler Samuels. Review: My wife and I both enjoyed the first movie more than expected so when I heard there was going to be a sequel, I wanted to see it at the theater on the big screen. That didn't happen because of scheduling conflicts but after finally seeing it tonight, I am kind of glad about that. This is one of those movies that wasn't terrible but also wasn't anywhere near as good as the original. I think a big part of the reason why that was the case was the...

Synopsis: A team of researchers discover a hidden ocean trench 200 miles off China's coast and send a submarine team to explore it only to have the crew attacked by a megalodon, an enormous prehistoric shark thought to be extinct for millions of years. The team is rescued, minus one, but the researchers soon learn two of the megalodons have followed them out of the trench. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Statham ,  Bingbing Li ,  Rainn Wilson ,  Cliff Curtis and Ruby Rose. Review: This has been on my watch list for a while but after a pair of very bad shark movies, I've been somewhat reluctant to watch it.  However, I recently saw trailers for the sequel and, intrigued, finally gave it a chance last night. I wasn't disappointed. The film reminds me a lot of the classic 1960s monster films I used to enjoy (the ones with Godzilla, Mothra, etc) with humans (and just about every other living creature) trying to survive a relentless assault from a creature that is ...

Synopsis: When people are mysteriously killed in the cornfields around Druid Hills, Kentucky, police are left baffled. However, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation - there are sharks swimming between the rows that draw their power from Stonehenge, along with the cult that worships them. Who's in it? The movie stars  Shannon Stockin , Ford Windstar , Steve Guynn , Rebecca Rinehart and Casey Miracle . Review: I came across this film on Amazon Prime a couple days ago and wound up watching it purely because I was curious how the movie would explain sharks being able to swim in a cornfield. My wife and I ended up viewing the film in its entirety and both felt like it melted some of our brain cells. It's really hard to make a shark movie that isn't at least somewhat entertaining, either from a horror movie perspective or a comedy perspective. I think I'll say the same about this one too. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't a terrible film overall. This mo...

Synopsis: A pair of stepsisters reluctantly agree to dive with two friends to a sunken Mayan city. They were only going to see the entrance, but wind up deeper inside and ultimately get lost in the flooded passageways. Already running low on oxygen, they also need to fend off hungry great white sharks. Who's in it? The movie stars Corinne Foxx ,  Sophie Nélisse , Brianne Tju , Sistine Rose Stallone and Brec Bassinger. Review: Last night was family movie night (our first since our oldest returned from college) and both daughters agreed on this movie. Overall, it ended up being an OK choice, though not as good as I would have hoped. This is technically a sequel to a 2017 film we've never seen. However, it didn't have a sequel feel to it and seemed more like its own movie, which I appreciated. My wife and I also found having the movie take place in tight, flooded passageways did add a little something to the film. At minimum, it was making us feel a bit claustrophobic. I...

Synopsis: A group of bull sharks dam up a popular river using the body parts of their victims. Meanwhile a group of employees on a business retreat are getting ready for a river race. Who's in it? The movie stars Jason London , Jessica Blackmore , Robert Craighead , Matt Mercer and Kabby Borders . Review: I came across this movie a few days ago and added it to my library for a later time. That ended up being this evening and, while it wasn't the best shark-related movie I've ever seen, it was still pretty good. I think the thing I found I liked most about this film is it wasn't nearly as predictable as it could have been. The sharks themselves behaved as expected but since there were quite a few characters and subplots, it opened to the door to a few twists and turns. In fact, there were quite a few surprises when it came to the shark's victims, including what looked to be a budding love story that gets interrupted by a shark attack. There was a good mix of comed...

Synopsis: A group of people suffering from nightmares travel to a remote mountain property to participate in a paid drug trial. When they arrive, they learn they are all dreaming about the same shark and their nightmares have a supernatural cause. Who's in it? The movie stars Tony Amendola , Bobby Campo , Rachel Brooke Smith , Lulu Jovovich and Caroline Cole . Review: I came across this movie a few weeks ago and finally was able to get my skeptical wife to watch it with me. Mostly because of the title, we both started the movie with lowered expectations but, overall, I do have to say it exceeded them. I originally thought this would be a shark-themed rip off of A Nightmare on Elm Street . However, while the movie obviously drew inspiration from that film and even had a couple scenes that were very similar, there was just enough difference in the plot to make the film somewhat unique. The idea of a supernatural shark that invades people's dreams because of a near-death experi...

Synopsis: Determined to drive a community of squatters off his land, a developer has one of his henchmen blow up a levy. His plan goes better than expected when the flood waters include a large, electrified, shark. However, he has one problem, one of the residents witnessed and recorded his crime, meaning there can be no survivors. Who's in it? The movie stars Lulu Jovovich , Thomas Ian Nicholas , Clint James , Tara Reid and Dennis Haskins. Review: I've had this movie in my streaming library for a few months now but was somewhat hesitant to watch it because I didn't know if it would be a pleasant surprise or a total waste of my time. I finally decided to watch it last night with my wife and, 85 minutes later, it was safe to say this fell into the latter category. The biggest problem with this movie, at least in my opinion, is it wasted what could have been a decent premise for a legitimate horror film by turning the movie into a comedy. While a comedy movie about sharks...

Synopsis: Five years after the last Sharknado attacks, the world has remained Sharknado free. However, that peace is broken when new Sharknadoes form and once again threaten to destroy the world. Who's in it? The movies star Ian Ziering , Tara Reid , Cody Linley , David Hasselhoff and Masiela Lusha. Review: I decided to review these two movies together, both because my wife and I watched them back-to-back this weekend and because, once you reach the fourth and fifth installment of a movie series like this one, there's honestly not a whole lot of difference between the films. I ended up watching these movies this weekend mostly out of curiosity. After seeing Fin's (Ziering) wife April (Reid) crushed at the end of the third movie, I had to see just how they would manage to bring her character back. And, let's face it, there really wasn't much on TV this weekend anyway. While I did love the original film and even kind of liked the sequel, after watching ...

Synopsis : As a powerful storm, brought on by global warming, strikes the coast of California and Los Angeles, a retired professional surfer (with help from his friends) attempts to rescue his ex-wife and children both from flooding and from dozens of hungry sharks that are being scooped up from the ocean and dropped on land. Who's in it? The movie stars Ian Ziering , Tara Reid , John Heard , Cassandra Scerbo and J ason Simmons. Review: This is a movie that I've been on the fence about watching for the past four years, mostly because I'm not a big fan of horror/comedies, especially those that would be considered low budget. In fact, the only reason I decided to finally watch it last night was I had heard there is yet another sequel (the 5th movie total) coming out and I found myself a bit curious about what I was missing. As it turns out, after watching this movie last night, I can honestly say there wasn't anything about this movie that surprised me. Ho...