The Black Demon

                    Over the last few years the weather has gotten more severe, and as it has, many scientist have said that mankind is he cause of it. Well if stronger hurricanes and other storms were not enough, The Black Demon has given us something else to worry about. In a town off the coast of Baja California, Mexico  is suffering and the cause of it might be anchored off the coastline.

Paul ( Josh Lucas) works for Nixon Oil and his job is to inspect the oil rigs to make sure they are up to par. On his latest inspection he thought it would be a good idea to bring his family along for the trip. Once in town things seem a little off, but duty calls and Paul leaves his wife Ines (Fernanda Urrejola) and his two kids and heads out to do his job. Just in case all the other signs were not enough, his ferry driver refuses to take him all the way to the rig, instead dropping him off to use a boat to take himself. Once he arrives at the rig, it is a ghost town, but he does run into two men who seem to be the only ones left.  Chato (Julio Cesar Cedillo) and El Rey (Raúl Méndez) and they seem to be survivors from what they claim is a beast sent to punish the rig for what it has done. Just when the situation didn’t seem it could get worse, Paul’s family shows up and that is when he sees what he is really up against. Now he and his family seem to be trapped with no hope to get off the rig, unless Paul and Chato come up with a plan.

Written by Carlos Cisco and Boise Esquerra, The Black Demon set up is pretty intriguing, a killer shark movie where its victims being stuck on an oil rig with no help anywhere near. This is an excellent way to ante up the danger, and when you add the specific cultural details in the story, it sets up what should be a fun time.  Then the shark comes in, and let’s just say CGI equaling a good looking shark is not something that happens. Maybe that was noticeable, as director Adrian Grunberg does his best to not show the creature much, because when he does, it’s not very convincing.

                    With such a bad looking shark, there is not a single scary moment in the movie, as you never believe that are being attacked by a real shark. When you add the not so real looking shark and a plot that bites off more than it can chew, you are left with a movie that sinks pretty much at launch. Strangely enough the shark is not the bad guy, as we are, for polluting the oceans with oil, the shark you see is just the cure for our sins. Ultimately The Black Demon is just too bland to make us care about anything it is saying and when you add it’s a shark movie that can’t get the shark right, you get a movie that has no bite to it at all.