Killer Whale

After the release of Jaws in 1975, you could practically hear Hollywood saying, “We’re going to need more screens.” The floodgates opened for copycat creature features, all trying to bottle that same terror. Sure, Jaws went after the scariest fish, but there are plenty of other creatures—below the water, on land, even in the sewers—ready to fill that role. So what better animal to build a killing-spree movie around than the killer whale, a.k.a. the orca? And after a long stretch where we were all encouraged to just let them be free, the killer whale is back—this time in the perfectly titled Killer Whale, from Jo-Anne Brechin.

Life has a way of changing course in an instant, and that’s exactly what happens to Maddie (Virginia Gardner). A robbery gone wrong not only costs her the man she loves, but also her hearing. Some time passes, and while Maddie is still struggling to move on, her best friend Trish (Mel Jamson) comes up with what she thinks is the perfect solution: a vacation to a tropical paradise. After a bit of convincing, the two take the trip.

Once they arrive, it’s all sun, fun, and much-needed escape. Maddie and Trish enjoy themselves, and one night Maddie even gets to see an orca swimming in a nearby water park. At the time, it feels like a surreal, almost magical moment. What she doesn’t know is that this same orca is about to change her life all over again.

Maddie and Trish, along with a guy Trish picks up, head out to a remote location for some water adventures and relaxation. That’s when the orca reveals its killer side, starting with the unfortunate third wheel. Now Maddie and Trish are alone, trapped on a rock, hoping they’ll be rescued before the killer whale comes back to finish the job.

Written by Katherine McPhee and Jo-Anne Brechin—who also directs—Killer Whale doesn’t really hang its hat on the script, which is about what you’d expect from a movie like this. Honestly, when I saw the title, my attention was already grabbed by the promise of a killer whale eating some human snacks. So while the writing isn’t great, I more or less went in prepared for that.

Where Killer Whale really lost me was in the visuals. There’s no easy way to say this—they’re just not good. I’d like to compare them to early CGI, but even that might be giving them too much credit. Once that became clear, the movie had a steep hill to climb, no matter what else it tried to do.

Killer Whale never really gets out of the deep end. The weak visuals and thin script keep the movie feeling caged. You want to feel the danger Maddie and Trish are in, but too often it looks like everything was filmed in a swimming pool in front of a green screen. And when it doesn’t look real, it never feels real either.

That’s a shame, because there are things here worth rooting for. Gardner and Jamson give committed performances and do their best to sell the friendship, and the orca itself brings some raw energy to its hunting scenes. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to get you on the hook. I really wanted to like this one—I love a good “angry fish eats people” movie—but this isn’t it. In the end, Killer Whale is one you’ll probably want to throw back into the water.