A few weeks ago, Scientific American asked, "Are 'Cocaine Sharks' Really Scarfing Down Drugs off Florida's Coasts?" Sadly, that article is more about Discovery Channel's Shark Week, but there's some interesting information, including this quote:
"...the idea may not be as wacky as it sounds-especially in the waters off Florida. There sharks in a diverse assemblage swim along a major drug-smuggling throughway, which potentially exposes the toothy predators to floating bundles of narcotics. "This is the only place in the world where a shark could come into contact with such massive doses of cocaine," says Tom Hird, a marine biologist and broadcaster based in England."
Some literally insane scientists even did tests on sharks by having them eat cocaine - did they never see a single shark movie? Do they know that LL Cool J rapped "My hat is like a shark fin" after living through Deep Blue Sea? - along with this wild story:
"In 2016 scientists in Switzerland examined the effects of cocaine on zebra fish, a type of striped minnow commonly used in scientific experiments. The researchers were surprised to find that most of the cocaine accumulated in the fish's eyes instead of their brain. Some zebra fish eyes contained concentrations of cocaine that were 1,000 times higher than levels that would be lethal to humans. The Swiss scientists were also surprised to find that instead of revving up the zebra fish, the cocaine suppressed their movements. "You'd think that a shark on cocaine is going to be swimming around all over the place at 1,000 miles an hour," Hird says. "But that is us taking our human brains and putting it into the shark's head.""
But let's forget about science.
Let's watch Cocaine Shark.
Originally released as Kanizame Shakurabu (Crab Shark) in Japan, this was retitled with the success of Cocaine Bear. It's the story of a drug dealer named Gaurisco (Ken Van Sant) and his new creation, HT25, which is made from sharks. To paraphrase Mr. Show, "It's great. It's shark crack. It gets you really high."
Directed by Mike Polonia and written by the mysterious Bando Glutz, this has effects by Brett Piper and Anthony Polonia that encompass an entire ocean's worth of mutated creatures. Opposing them and the drug dealer is Nick (Titus Himmelberger), a hard-boiled detective who runs afoul of femme fatale Persephone (Natalie Himmelberger) as well as the hallucinations people have on HT25 which allow them to kill as a shark crab hybrid.
I really enjoyed reading other reviews of this movie. Nearly everyone hated it because it doesn't have many sharks, there's not really cocaine, it's made with stock footage and it's only an hour long. Obviously, any of these people would tell you how much they love exploitation movies yet when they are the ones exploited, they realize that sometimes a great poster, an awesome title, a tie-in to some popular pop culture buzz and a little filmmaking magic was enough to con you into watching a movie. Being mad about this movie is like being angry at Jerry Warren or Jerry Gross or someone not named Jerry that got you to watch movies that you never thought you'd watch like Sam Sherman.
I love that movies like this exist and I'll never get tired of them.
"...the idea may not be as wacky as it sounds-especially in the waters off Florida. There sharks in a diverse assemblage swim along a major drug-smuggling throughway, which potentially exposes the toothy predators to floating bundles of narcotics. "This is the only place in the world where a shark could come into contact with such massive doses of cocaine," says Tom Hird, a marine biologist and broadcaster based in England."
Some literally insane scientists even did tests on sharks by having them eat cocaine - did they never see a single shark movie? Do they know that LL Cool J rapped "My hat is like a shark fin" after living through Deep Blue Sea? - along with this wild story:
"In 2016 scientists in Switzerland examined the effects of cocaine on zebra fish, a type of striped minnow commonly used in scientific experiments. The researchers were surprised to find that most of the cocaine accumulated in the fish's eyes instead of their brain. Some zebra fish eyes contained concentrations of cocaine that were 1,000 times higher than levels that would be lethal to humans. The Swiss scientists were also surprised to find that instead of revving up the zebra fish, the cocaine suppressed their movements. "You'd think that a shark on cocaine is going to be swimming around all over the place at 1,000 miles an hour," Hird says. "But that is us taking our human brains and putting it into the shark's head.""
But let's forget about science.
Let's watch Cocaine Shark.
Originally released as Kanizame Shakurabu (Crab Shark) in Japan, this was retitled with the success of Cocaine Bear. It's the story of a drug dealer named Gaurisco (Ken Van Sant) and his new creation, HT25, which is made from sharks. To paraphrase Mr. Show, "It's great. It's shark crack. It gets you really high."
Directed by Mike Polonia and written by the mysterious Bando Glutz, this has effects by Brett Piper and Anthony Polonia that encompass an entire ocean's worth of mutated creatures. Opposing them and the drug dealer is Nick (Titus Himmelberger), a hard-boiled detective who runs afoul of femme fatale Persephone (Natalie Himmelberger) as well as the hallucinations people have on HT25 which allow them to kill as a shark crab hybrid.
I really enjoyed reading other reviews of this movie. Nearly everyone hated it because it doesn't have many sharks, there's not really cocaine, it's made with stock footage and it's only an hour long. Obviously, any of these people would tell you how much they love exploitation movies yet when they are the ones exploited, they realize that sometimes a great poster, an awesome title, a tie-in to some popular pop culture buzz and a little filmmaking magic was enough to con you into watching a movie. Being mad about this movie is like being angry at Jerry Warren or Jerry Gross or someone not named Jerry that got you to watch movies that you never thought you'd watch like Sam Sherman.
I love that movies like this exist and I'll never get tired of them.