wild violet | mythic mist - megalodon review by rada djurica

A news reporter arrives on the largest drilling platform ever constructed in the North Atlantic, just off the coast of Greenland, to document how safe the platform is. During one of the first drilling visitations, a large fissure is ruptured, which reveals a secondary "ocean" beneath the present one. This new sea is full of unique kinds of life, including a gigantic 60-foot prehistoric shark called Megalodon.

The film is filled with dramatic visuals, from the world's biggest oil drilling platform, rising 400 feet above the water like a miniature skyscraper, to a contrasting scene when the crew examines a stuffed pipe. And of course, the elevator that leads to the mysterious secondary depths, as well as the prehistoric creatures floating in the hidden cave.

This is a low budget shark movie done skillfully, with special effects, unknown actors and a few key indoor sets. Some aspects, however, stretch believability. For example, the premise that this super-sized drilling rig has a direct connection (drill and elevator) to the ocean floor 5,000 feet below. Or the fact that this rather pissed off shark attacks anything that moves when real sharks attack only if they sense blood.

Then there's the billionaire oil rig owner, who shows at a convenient time, a storm that hits the rig at the worst possible time and a scene where the shark shoots straight up, breaking through the ice. This is, of course, the same shark that was somehow unable to catch a mini-sub.

This is a typical sub-standard horror/thriller, which promises much but doesn't deliver enough, perhaps because of a lack of funds.