Many sub-genres of aquatic malarkey have spawned from Sharksploitation. The market for this stuff will never not be ripe. Fans look to these movies for the ridiculousness they’re known for. However, Jo-Anne Brechin’s Killer Whale is overly virtuous, and ditches the B-horror life vest without a marina to dock up on. These movies don’t float on their own. This one in particular sinks pretty quickly. Virginia Gardner is no stranger to survival horror. Between Fall and Halloween (2018), Killer Whale is her weakest battle yet.
When Will We Learn?
The story is one we’ve heard before. An aquatic theme park trainer is murdered by an orca, “Ceto”, after the death of her baby. Years later, two friends visit Thailand to see Ceto, who’s been relocated to a kitschy tourist trap. They’re quickly busted breaking into the facility, but meet Ceto again the next day while jet skiing in an atoll (ring-shaped island with a lagoon in the center). How Ceto escaped the off-brand Sea World and trapped herself in a different enclosure (albeit a natural one) is never discussed. It’s clearly used to reiterate the rules of what happens when an intelligent animal is held in captivity for 20-plus years. Ceto once again thinks she’s trapped in captivity. But in reality, the two friends are being held captive by an orca with a thing or two to prove to the human race.
Gardner stars as Maddie, who of course has a traumatic backstory. Maddie mourns the loss and tragic death of her boyfriend, Chad (Isaac Crawley). During the late shift, he saves her from an armed robbery at her place of work. However, he dies instantly by hit and run immediately after. The incident leaves Maddie partially deaf. This leads her to abandon her career as a cellist, and her drive for happiness to a degree.
Ambitious Yet Messy
My expectations with this movie were on par with every other sharksploitation joint that threatens us with clownery. Nothing too serious, but guaranteed entertainment violence. The exposition illustrating Maddie’s tragic past is so ludicrous. The viewer can easily be tricked into thinking the (already low by design) bar has been met. The very noticeable CG and green screen effects should be easily forgiven when it comes to out of pocket aquatic horror. The way this movie bloats, though – I’m gatekeeping the B horror label.
The meat of the story swells to something it doesn’t have the stamina to hold up. Viewers may find themselves looking into the camera like an episode of The Office over the inflated dialogue taking up space in places it shouldn’t belong. The immersion runs thin from the beginning of the carnage. This is due to rushed pacing and shallow character descriptions that don’t seem authentic. Mel Jarnson, who plays Trish, Maddie’s best friend, is clearly “the smart girl”, putting her project management skills towards the friends’ survival. But this is quickly unraveled due to the consequences of bad decisions. It would’ve been nice to stick with the smart girl, and the hot girl being two sides of the same coin.
Give Us More Whale
The most disappointing of all is Killer Whale’s lack of killer whale. The 2013 documentary Blackfish taught me that a curved dorsal fin is a direct sign of abuse in orcas held in captivity. Ceto has one. The extent of intelligent animal abuse could’ve been explored to further connect Maddie’s outlook on life to that of an animal in captivity. It could have been taken there. Especially exercising the underutilized superpower that comes with Maddie’s disability by way of her hearing aids. Instead, Brechin and co-writer Katharine McPhee swing to a different route focused on hidden relationship details between the two friends. We don’t need to know or explore that.
Final Verdict
It’s never set in stone whether we should fear or pity the orca, as the movie really ain’t really about that. Scenes featuring Ceto are fleeting, and suffer from terrible depth perception, spatial awareness and most of all – urgency. Can we please utilize the animal? Because this is a story that attempts to be far too bright and polished to be taken seriously. I’d love for us to get back to our sharksploitation roots.
