Troglodyte (2008) Reviews

• Actually worth checking out...

  paul_haakonsen2012-04-12

  "Sea Beast" (aka. Troglodyte) was actually a rather nice surprise of a movie. I picked up the DVD from Amazon based on the cover of the movie, because it looked interesting. The story in "Sea Beast" takes place at a coastal community. A local, struggling, fisherman witnesses something taking one of his crew at sea during a storm. Then people start dying at land, and it appears that some aquatic creature have followed the fishing vessel back to land. Can the people stop the deep sea predator before it is too late and can they find the nest? Now, that story was actually quite alright, despite it being very cliché and predictable. But still, it was enjoyable. Actually the creature design and effects were actually quite good. Think up a weird mix of the Deep Ones (to those familiar with Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythology) and predator, then you have a basic idea of the creatures found in "Sea Beast". I like the way the creatures looked and the CGI was believable enough - except for the super fake boating scene that you are introduced to within the first minute of the movie. Now that was just hilarious. The acting in "Sea Beast" was adequate, of course nothing award-winning, but not bad like so many other movies. Corin Nemec (playing Will McKenna) has the lead role, and you can say what you will about him, but he actually did a good job in this movie. "Sea Beast" was great entertainment and I do enjoy monster movies, sadly most of such movies end up being crap. "Sea Beast", however, was quite alright. Despite being predictable to the core, "Sea Beast" turned out to be a nice surprise.

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• Routine creature feature has some fun moments

  MartianOctocretr52010-01-03

  Screened on SyFy as Sea Beast (Trogolodyte on IMDb), probably because it's a hybrid of so many other creatures, both sea beasts and land beasts. Look for elements of Jaws, Alien, Jurassic Park, Lake Placid, and Predator, among others. It's fun, and just what you expect from a SyFy original offering (at least it's free). Low budget, loosely jointed, questionable acting, cheap CGI effects, and unresolved items at the end. But the creatures are pretty well designed, and the lead actor, the fisherman guy, does pretty well. There's actually urgency in his voice. Not so his daughter and her paper thin character friends. Drama 1 drop outs. The one-on-one fights between the teens and baby creatures are absolutely hilarious--in particular the one where the sea beast pulls himself into a rock, lol. That single moment is worth the price of admission. The siege on the cabin has some great visuals, too. Most important for a movie is to entertain, and this one does. It holds your attention, and some scary scenes manage to sprinkle in amongst all the craziness. Yes, it resorts to some horror clichés like the blood spurting out of a neck bit when somebody gets decapped. Also, you never quite know what spawned these things. But it's good enough for at least for a few laughs.

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• Unoriginal but Pretty Decent

  claudio_carvalho2011-04-03

  The fishing vessel Solita crosses a storm during the night and the Skipper Will McKenna (Corin Nemec) witnesses a weird creature attacking the crewman Joey. They return to the dock and Will has difficulties to pay the amount he owes to the former owner of the boat, Roy (Roman Podhara). The fish population is reducing in the area and the biologist Arden (Camille Sullivan) is investigating the possible causes. Meanwhile, Will's daughter Carly (Miriam McDonald) steals the keys of her father's cottage in a nearby island and plans to travel with her boyfriend Danny (Daniel James Wisler) and their friends Erin (Christie Laing) and Drew (Brandon Jay McLaren) to spend the weekend in the island. However, Drew is murdered by a deep sea predator on the dock and his pieces are found by Will and Arden. Carly, Danny and Erin do not have any news from their friend and travel to the island without Drew. Sooner Erin is murdered by the creature and Danny is bitten by a newborn reptile. Danny and Erin seek shelter in the cabin but they are trapped there by the creatures. In the continent, Will and Arden learn that the deep sea predator is a very dangerous species, after a series of lethal attacks, and they head to the island to rescue Carly. "Troglodyte" is an unoriginal but pretty decent B-movie for television. The plot blends "Lake Placid" and Predator" and the result is a cheesy and forgettable action film with the usual clichés. The town seems to be empty and the conclusion has the usual nonsense, with Will, Carly and Arden happy and forgetting that Danny, Jay and many of their friends are dead. My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "Feras do Mar" ("Sea Beasts")

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• Another Strange Venture From the Maneater Series

  gavin69422009-07-03

  Being a fisherman is a difficult job, particularly during a rough storm. But things can only get worse when a sea beast decides to make your crew its meal. In this small fishing town, the sea beast and his family follow the seamen ashore... to destroy every living thing in their path. How do you stop a creature that you cannot see? This happens to be another film in the "Maneater" series of films, which started off with vicious animals (blood monkeys, crocs, and more) and has ventured into some strange territory. They recently came out with "Yeti", for example (you can read the review for this on Killer Reviews). And now, the sea beast, formerly titled "Troglodyte" (which is grossly misleading). It's "Jaws" meets science fiction meets "Raptor Island", which is either awesome or horrible depending on how you feel about those three things. Personally, I love "Jaws" and science fiction has its good points, but "Raptor Island" is a CG piece of offal. Now, to be fair, "Sea Beast" isn't as poorly animated as "Raptor Island", but they fit in the same category. But we've come to expect that from the Maneater series. Cheesy plot, minimal gore (though this one does alright), little or no nudity or cursing. Your basic TV-ready film. And don't get me wrong, if you want an hour and a half of beer-swilling entertainment, this film will fir your needs. But if you try to dissect it, you'll claw your eyes out. It simply doesn't make much sense. If you want to watch this film, my best recommendation is that you try to catch it on TV or borrow it from a friend or rent it. There is no reason to purchase this film. It doesn't have a lot of replay value, and there are literally no special features (unless you count scene selection). No subtitles, no languages, no audio commentary, nothing. It's about as bare bones as DVDs come, which is rare these days. Bottom line: cheap, cheesy entertainment. If that's what you're into (and I guess some people are because they keep making these movies), go for it. If you want more substance or a good scare, this is not the film for you. Seriously, watch "Jaws" for the tenth time before you see this if you want a quality man versus fish story.

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• You gotta love it because "Sea Beast" does deliver ........

  merklekranz2009-09-03

  Depending on your point of view, this movie either delivers what you would expect from a low budget creature feature or you should avoid at all costs. There are some similarities here with another "Sci-fi Channel" movie "Loch Ness Terror". The difference being that "Sea Beast" runs off in several different directions at a frantic pace, while "Loch Ness Terror" is far more deliberate. The CGI monsters are about equal, and interestingly both films have young creatures getting in on the carnage. One major annoyance about "Sea Beast" is the daughter, played by Miriam McDonald. Her acting is so amateurish that you will be rooting for the creature to end her misery and your's. The creatures are on screen in daylight for a good amount of time, which maintains interest throughout, although there is never any attempt to explain where they came from in the first place. - MERK

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