Just like the heavens, stars rise and fall in Hollywood and one has to wonder just what it was that facilitated Casper Van Dien to appear in a movie such as this. Looking at his filmography though, the man has starred in more than his fair share of B movies and it also proves that the man has staying power despite his career outside of the A list. As far as the movie goes, it is as much of a stinker as any that have made their way onto the Syfy channel, though also like many of them, there are some redeeming qualities to be found despite all the bad around it.

Van Dien is so over-the-top in his portrayal as boat captain Ray that he tends to grate on one’s nerves, but it is also quite clear to see that the man is definitely putting on an act, the question of whether he is enjoying himself while doing it an entirely different matter. Suffice it to say, he does not endear himself to the audience, instead exasperates which is not what should happen if the lead of the film. The only saving grace actor-wise was Catherine Oxenberg who played German scientist Dr. Reinhart, who of course was looking to create the perfect man through genetic experimentation. The premise of the movie comes right from these experiments as she injects a man with the DNA of a wolf. When that fails to take very well, she also subjects him to that of an orca and thus is born the titular Whalewolf.

The special effects are awful, though the Sharktopus looks far better than its counterpart. The whalewolf looks so comical as it moves about the streets eating people that it is hard to take the fear of the townsfolk seriously. When the two creatures eventually clash, the CGI is so bad and off-kilter that the sharktopus almost looks natural compared to the whalewolf, a feat that only Syfy could pull off. Audiences have to question if Syfy even screens these films before airing them or if they simply throw them on whenever a hole in the schedule permits. Bad effects and acting aside, the movie is still a lot of fun simply because of the fact that it is so bad and there is literally nowhere else that a person will ever see a sharktopus come to life, never mind a whalewolf.

As of this moment, this is the last Sharktopus movie to be produced, but it has to be known that it will most likely not be the last. A successful franchise does not come along every day and Syfy has better luck than most in producing them so it is highly doubtful that they will let one sit on the shelf instead of cashing in on another entry.

2 out of 5