I have a great admiration for The Asylum, the low-budget production company that pumps out fairly watchable but never exactly good films. And on 11 July of 2013, their most audacious film to date, Sharknado, premiered on Syfy. In my review, I noted its biggest problem: “I know that [Thunder] Levin knew he wrote a comedy, but it’s unclear if [Anthony C] Ferrante knew he was directing one.
One thing surprised me. The film didn’t get a great audience when it first aired. But people went crazy about it on social media. For example, Wil Wheaton posted on Twitter, “WE HAVE SHARKNADO. I REPEAT WE HAVE SHARKNADO THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” (The post is unavailable because he left Twitter.) This chatter caused Syfy to run the film a second and third time, increasing its viewership each time.
On hearing of the film, producer Gavin Purcell tweeted, “Can you imagine how much fun it’d be to be in the next @syfy pitch meeting? Literally anything is possible. Earthquake of chainsaws? YES.” Interestingly, by the sixth installment (The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time), we get time travel.
One of the defining characteristics of low-budget filmmaking is starting with nothing but a title or poster. This is certainly the case with filmmakers like JR Bookwalter. But it’s even true of larger budgeted projects like one of my favorite films, Dolls. (The Asylum’s other big trick is to make low-budget quickies with similar titles to blockbusters like I Am Omega, which was released a month before I Am Legend.)
I like big-budget films as much as the next guy. But I am constantly fascinated by low-budget production companies that really don’t care about anything other than making a profit. There’s a purity to what they produce. After all, the big Hollywood films are just about money. They just come along with a bunch of pretence about art and social issues and pretty much anything else that is convenient — other than, “Papa needs a new summer house!”
I really do wish Sharknado were better than it is. But I know of at least one film that is worse in not living up to a great title. My biggest disappointment is Bigfoot vs DB Cooper. Don’t create softcore gay porn when you have a title like that! Sharknado at least provides lots of sharks flying around eating people. And that is enough!
Normally, I provide ways to watch the films I highlight. And you can watch it on Amazon Prime. But do you really want to? Much of it is pretty boring stuff. And the best stuff is in the trailer.
Sharknado poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
