PCP on TV (& in Theaters!) - Sharknado

Some movies are so bad they're good. Movies like this make me wish Mystery Science Theater 3000 was still in production. Sharknado is one of those movies. And remarkably, after airing repeatedly on SyFy in recent weeks, Regal Cinemas is airing midnight showings this week only on August 2nd, so if you missed it on TV, catch it in theaters and laugh along with the crowd at what has to be one of the most ridiculous films ever made.

Sharknado - 2013, rated TV-14.  My rating: 1 out of 10 as a film, 8 out of 10 as a laughable experience.

A massive hurricane is driving towards the California coast, and a huge swarm of sharks is being pushed ahead of the storm. The hurricane causes severe flooding all throughout L.A., and the flood contains lots of sharks. Those cheesy CGI sharks (combined with shots of real sharks in deep water which is clearly ocean footage) go on a rampage, killing scores of L.A. residents in a bloody mess of dismemberment and destruction. The film concludes with the hurricane forming three water spouts, aka tornadoes, which suck up sharks from the water, turning into the super deadly sharknado of the film's title.

A film with as ridiculous a concept as Sharknado cannot be judged fairly on a normal scale, compared to other films. The CGI is cheesy, the acting is awful (although I wasn't expecting much from Tara Reid or Ian Ziering), for a hurricane it stops raining rather frequently, and the plot has holes so wide you could run a sharknado or two through them. So that is why it is an awful film from a film making standpoint.

From a fun experience standpoint though, Sharknado excels. This is the type of film you watch with a bunch of your friends, cold sudsy beverage in hand, and laughing all the way. Sharknado is tailor-made for a MST3K style bashing from the peanut gallery. Thanks to all the reasons why Sharknado sucks as a film, it is that rare piece of entertainment that falls into the category of "so bad it's good."  That label was made for this movie. It is easily one of the lamest, worst movies I've ever seen, yet at the same time it was also a ton of fun.

Overall, I wouldn't necessarily recommend seeing Sharknado in theaters later this week, unless you get a group of your friends to go with you. You're probably much better waiting for SyFy to rerun it for the umpteenth time and instead watching it then with friends for free. Plus, you can't watch it with a beer in hand in most theaters. But it is a film that everyone should see once, just because of how completely ridiculously awful it is, it is something you have to see to believe. Plus, that way you're prepared for the sequel coming next year too!