The Japanese creature comedy offers ‘Jaws’ riffs, low-budget special effects, and sky-high B-movie energy.
If you’re looking for adventure horror filled with toothy creatures and slick special effects, buy a ticket for Jurassic World Rebirth. On a much smaller scale, however, there’s another new movie whose title says it all: Hot Spring Shark Attack. How does a shark big enough to chomp on a person find its way into a hot spring? And how does a town dependent on tourism deal with this extremely inconvenient new threat? All is revealed in the goofiest ways.
Hot Spring Shark Attack being released so close to Jurassic World Rebirth is probably a coincidence; its proximity to the Jaws 50th anniversary hype likely is not. Writer-director Morihito Inoue is clearly a fan of Steven Spielberg’s first Hollywood smash, as evidenced by the seaside setting, the main characters (mayor, chief of police, shark scientist), the incorporation of one of Jaws‘ most famous lines, the distinctly John Williams-esque score, and even some Amity Island flavor baked into the production design.
But Hot Spring Shark Attack is also very much its own kooky flavor. It takes place in the coastal Japanese hamlet of Atsumi, aka “the Monaco of the East,” where the economy revolves around onsens, or hot springs.
