Sharktopus Returns in Two New Syfy Flicks to Wage War with Pteracuda and Mermantula
Steve Barton
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We now live in a post-Sharknado world. That means Syfy creature movies are allowed to embrace utter lunacy like never before. As part of that new outlook we’re going to get two Sharktopus sequels that pit the shark-octopus hybrid against a Pteracuda and a Mermantula.
Just a few weeks ago, the week after Sharknado mania took the world by storm, a Syfy producer told me that the network was now all about finding the next Sharknado: anything with an outlandish premise and an even goofier title that could go viral on social media. And here we go.
Before tornadoes filled with sharks, the Roger Corman-produced Sharktopus was the king of the Syfy Original Movie monsters. Looks like Sharktopus is determined to take back that crown with two new films that pit the military-bred shark with tentacles against two monstrous opponents of equally, if not even more, outlandish proportions.
Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda – Sharktopus’ offspring goes toe-to-toe with the latest science experiment “Pteracuda” in a battle for supremacy.
What is a Pteracuda? I’m guessing it’s a half-Pterodactyl/half-Barracuda creature. A shark with tentacles vs. a winged man-eating fish is on the menu.
Kevin O’Neill (director of Dinocroc, Dinoshark, and the upcoming Syfy Original Dracano – the one about volcanoes that erupt fire-breathing dragons) is at the helm of this Sharktopus sequel that is now in post-production.
David Carradine is, sadly, no longer with us to star in such films so his brother Robert Carradine will take the lead in this super-sized smackdown for seafood supremacy. I think we all know who is going to win this one seeing as how they’ve already announced plans for the third film.
Another sequel in already in pre-production, and this one features a foe so off-the-charts ridiculous it makes Sharknado look like a Terrence Malick movie. This is the sequel that had to have been greenlit post-Sharknado because… just read the synopsis for yourself.
Sharktopus vs. Mermantula – In order to take down Sharktopus, Ray Brady, a former basketball player, is injected with a transformation serum that alters his genetic make-up to become part man, part piranha and part tarantula. Though unsuccessful at his first attempt to bring down Sharktopus, Ray injects himself with a growth hormone, increasing his strength tenfold, and has a final showdown with Sharktopus in a baseball stadium.
Screw Pteracuda, this is the one I want to see. That’s a crazy premise even by Japanese monster standards, and I once saw a Japanese TV show where a giant 1950s-style robot fought a monster that sprung to life from a giant floating watermelon. Bring it on, I say.
Who is bringing it on? Why, it’s director Kevin O’Neill again. Casper Van Dien and his real-life wife, Catherine Oxenberg, are slated to star. Something tells me neither of them is playing the ex-NBA player turned man-fish-spider.
Both Sharktopus sequels are scripted by Matt Yamashita, writer of Virtually Heroes, the Roger Corman-produced self-aware video game characters comedy that’s been making the film festival rounds.
Will there be even more sequels to follow? I think we all know there is only one way this can truly end: Sharknadopus!
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