Low budget shark films generally do not get a good reputation and one can see why. There are a few guilty pleasure ones, like the first two 'Sharknado' films while not considering them great by any stretch. Most are just painfully amateurish with very little to them to set them apart or make them different, other than the odd silly idea not well executed.

The good news is for 'Shark Lake' is that there are far worse shark films out there (those from SyFy and The Asylum are notorious in this regard) and at least there are redeeming values, even if not many. Something that cannot be said for too many other low-budget shark films, of the shark films seen recently 'Shark Lake' is actually one of the least bad. The not so good news is that 'Shark Lake' is still not a good film at all, with a lot wrong with it and the wrong elements are done poorly.

That 'Shark Lake' stars, or more like features, Dolph Lundgren is one of three reasons why people are likely to see it for, the others being if they are trying to see as many shark-attack films as possible (my main reason actually) or intrigued by the interesting idea the film had going for it.

Lundgren is the best thing about it, his character and presence do feel shoe-horned in and seemed to be mainly there for obligatory star power, but Lundgren does try hard and gives actually a pretty reasonable performance considering what he has to work with.

Did think that the scenery was fairly atmospheric, though wasted by how terrible the rest of the production values are and that the location didn't feel enough of its own character. The music is ok, not exactly memorable but gets the job done and there are far more ill-fitting scores in low-budget films.

However, everything else is bad. The shark effects look terrible, even for low budget, and there is not much menace, suspense or fun in the mostly under-utilised and under-characterised shark action. No menace or personality here from the threat, not even unintentional humour or weird goofiness.

'Shark Lake's' horror element is not scary or suspenseful enough and then there is a romance thrown in that is too bland to feeling anything for and too strange to take seriously. Pretty good idea but executed in a not too good way.

Rest of the acting is dreadful, especially from Sara Lane, and the characters are not worth investing in or interesting. The script is a shambles, how the actors said all that awkward and toe-curlingly cringe-worthy dialogue without falling about laughing in front of the camera is worth anyone's guess. The story has nothing to it and doesn't do enough or execute well its main selling point. The direction is flat.

Overall, there's worse but there's not much to this. 3/10 Bethany Cox

SHARK LAKE is a disappointingly below-par action thriller that has elements of the creature feature to boot. Source-wise, it seems to heavily copy scenes from PIRANHA 3D, one of my personal favourites from recent years, but in terms of quality it doesn't even come close. The only thing this has going for it is a reliable turn from the grizzled Dolph Lundgren as a shark hunter-type who has to tackle an infestation of the creatures in a lake. The writing is poor, the characters underwritten, and the budget precludes any decent FX or set-pieces; it's really not worth your time.

In the town of Alpine Lake, locate on Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in a movie called Shark Lake, filmed in Mississippi, Clint Gray (Dolph Lundgren) deals in illegal and exotic animals. During a police chase, a bull shark gets loose in the lake, unknown to everyone for five years, the same amount time Clint was in jail. Clint's young daughter Carly (Lily Brooks O'Briant) is adopted by arresting Officer Hernandez (Sara Malakul Lane). When shark attacks in the lake start to happen, everyone wants to get into the act.

Sharks once again attack undetected in clear water one foot deep. The chracter Garreth Ross (Miles Doleac) playing a BBC star should have been extended. He had saved the film from dying and needed and expanded role. The character of Clint Gray was not well developed and his relationship with his crime boss was superficial. Much of the shark fighting was done at night and the shark fin looked extremely fake. Rubber shark close-ups with stock footage, but not as bad as an Ed Wood film.

Guild: No swearing, sex, or nudity. Felt like a made for TV film.