Just when you thought it was safe to head back to Los Angeles … a tornado has struck out at sea.
Wait, isn’t that called a waterspout?
A group of really ticked-off sharks, which are collecting along the Pacific Coast (um, sharks don’t travel in schools; they’re solitary predators) is sucked up into the tornado and thrown into the streets of L.A. where they attack hapless residents.
Run for your life! This is not a test! It is … Sharknado!
Sharknado premiered on the Syfy Channel on July 11. A grandmaster of cheesy horror flicks, the film was produced in the same vein as 1978’s Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and 1988’s Killer Clowns from Outer Space.
It stars some of the greatest D-list celebrities ever known: Ian Ziering who in the 13 years since the end of 90210 has danced for Chippendales and married a Playboy playmate; and Tara Reid who’s become infamous for “accidentally” and repeatedly flashing her nipples on the red carpet.
The film’s special effects are amateurish at best. And the storyline has the depth of a puddle.
And while only 1.37 million viewers tuned in that night, #Sharknado was trending on Twitter right after the broadcast began – topping out at about 5,000 tweets per minute during the film.
So it’s no surprise that Syfy decided to re-air it a week later. And again this past Saturday.
And now, it’s heading to more than 200 theatres for midnight showings in August.
Wait. Isn’t it supposed to go the other way? A hit in the theatres, then edited for television and the movie of the week? Once again, the power of the Twit, er Tweet has brought this gory horror flick out of your freaky cousin’s basement and into the mainstream.
A sequel is already being scripted and it’s not because the original was Oscar material. It’s all thanks to social media.
After all, the production company The Asylum has produced almost a dozen shark horror flicks including Sharktopus, Swamp Shark and the always popular 2-Headed Shark Attack.
How many caused so much as a blip on the public’s radar?
But did Sharknado really make a splash? Or was this all a carefully executed social media marketing plan? It’s the group mentality at work on a national level: if a few people start gushing about it, others will follow suit.
Think it couldn’t happen? A recent psychologist put a man amid strangers at a bus stop and had him start laughing. Within minutes, the entire group was in hysterics – for no discernible reason.
So was Sharknado really so noteworthy? Possibly. After all, even people who admit to not having seen the film have been talking about it.
It’s scientifically unsound and laughably stupid. But then again, so were my beloved killer tomatoes.
And sometimes a little escapism can get you through your week.
Besides, you did want something else to talk about besides the new prince.
Didn’t you?
