Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'Nightmare Shark'

Written by Scott 'Sharky' Edwards'

Dreams can be something that you take seriously, but most of the time since we don’t remember them, we cast them aside. Not really knowing the power of dreams or what comes out of them can be depressing for some people, especially when they want to take control of them. But nightmares on the other hand are things that most people want to forget, yet if there is something bothering them, they never will. While I have not been able to figure out what to dream about on a nightly basis, I have found out that if I watch a zombie flick before I fall asleep, I will wake up hungry for steak and eggs in the morning, so at least I have that going for me.
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Waking up after having the same nightmare, Ava is trying to find the reason behind it since she really needs to find a way to sleep. Her boyfriend Enzo might have stumbled across the perfect opportunity to solve her problem as he has just received an email from Doctor Novak who is not only working on a drug that suppresses these dreams but will pay them for testing this wonder drug. Thinking that this is some sort of phishing scheme, Ava goes along with it just to make Enzo happy, but she will keep her reservations about it until after she meets with the doctor. Arriving at the doctor’s house out in the mountains, it appears that the old man has his affairs in order, but there is something just a little bit off about the situation as she meets with two other couples that are experiencing the same thing that she is.

After getting the baseline readings on his new subjects, Doctor Novak sits them all down and has them open up about what traumatic thing happened to them that has caused these shark themed nightmares. Starting with Ava, she remembers her boat sinking and sharks eating her parents when she was very young. Gina and Kaplan are next and recall the time when they were forced to battle for supremacy over an Atomic Shark, along with Rob and Jolene having to battle for their lives against a corrupt politician, with sharks to boot, it turns out that the same shark has been affecting all of their dreams the same way. Coming clean that he is seeing the same shark as well, Doctor Novak is looking for answers, but he may have some other way of using them when all is said and done.

As the night closes in, the groups all retreat to their rooms for some rest and relaxation, but as each member starts to get tired, their dreams will come to not only haunt them, but hunt them as well. As Ava suffers from the wickedest night terrors, Doctor Novak has a special treatment for her as he sedates her and places the young woman in his MRI machine to try and map her dreams. As other members of the group start to nod off as well, they come face to face with their nightmare shark nemesis, but the dreams are really starting to take hold of them. Trying to find out what is happening to them, the group sees that Doctor Novak is not really trying to help them but trying to bring forth something that the world has never seen, at least not when everyone is awake.

To say that this movie is a wild ride would be an understatement, since it is beyond difficult to know if you are living in a dream or reality for most of it. Getting that out of the way, it was really interesting to see what dreams kept the group members from Atomic Shark and Trailer Park Shark up at night. With wild dreams for each member and a shark that could kill in dreams, I can say that this is like all of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies rolled together on crack, with a shark of nightmares, and that is good thing. Having some great shark kills, an ancient beast, a doctor with alternative motives, plenty of sleepy people and uncertainty revolving around reality, this movie might make you want to think twice about surviving a shark attack, as it never really seems to let you be, even on the mainland. Stay Scared.

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