Hot Spring Shark Attack: Laughs Wear Fin Fast in Japanese Jaws Spoof

By Liz Braun

Rating: C

So much send up, so little time. Hot Spring Shark Attack is a broad spoof of Jaws, related monster movies, police procedurals, contemporary culture (think influencers) superhero sagas and other things. And it is initially quite a lark.

That doesn’t last. Written and directed by Morihito Inoue, the film boasts not much more than a goofy premise and amusingly terrible special effects. It’s only an hour and 17 minutes long but feels longer, and not in a good way.

Bodies keep turning up on the shores of Atsumi City, a spot known for its hot springs. The dead have injuries that look like the work of a shark.

Billed as the “Monaco of the East,” Atsumi is a tourist destination and cannot afford any bad press for its therapeutic hot springs; the mayor is determined to keep any deadly shark news under wraps. The cynical local police chief (Kiyobumi Kaneko) is just trying to get to retirement (“Should I be a writer next?,” he asks himself). And a determined young female scientist soon becomes part of the story. 

So: a mayor in denial, a disillusioned police chief determined to solve the case, a shark scientist weighing in — it’s Jaws for the 21st Century.

Meanwhile, Hot Spring Shark Attack has sharks a’plenty, but they are not just any sharks. These are some strange prehistoric critters made with cartilage so bendy that they can slither up pipes and be at home in unexpected places such as … hotel rooftop spas, hot tubs, manholes, random sidewalks and just about anywhere else.

They are re-animated fossils, somehow brought back to life through the land disruption at a construction site where a fancy hotel has been built. Or something. Moving through the movie’s action is a muscle-bound hero named Macho (Sumiya Shiina) whose job appears to be flexing and fighting sharks.

Anyway, visually, it’s all very roly-poly Fish Heads in spirit, primitive technically and absurd overall. The marauding gangs of sharks are the best visual comedy in the movie, sometimes looking a bit like bath toys, puppets or Lego creations and always presented in full tongue-in-cheek mode. 

The jokey Jaws homage and silly action have energy and amusement value for a while, but the joke (and the general chaos) begin to wear thin mid-movie. 

Hot Spring Shark Attack is not without its supporters, as the film won the Audience Award at last year’s Tokyo International Shark Film Festival. 

And yes, there apparently is a Tokyo International Shark Festival.

Hot Spring Shark Attack. Written/directed by Morihito Inoue, starring Takuya Fujimura, Sumiya Shiina, Kiyobumi Kaneko, Yuu Nakanishi.. Available in select theatres and on digital and VOD. Hot Spring Shark Attack is in select theatres and available on VOD and digital (Apple TV, Prime Video etc.)