Syfy got in on the annual summer shark craze with its very own Sharknado Week, named in honor of the Sharknado franchise that will come to an end with the upcoming final installment. As you might expect, Sharknado Week is very different from Discovery's Shark Week, with the programming consisting of the best and cheesiest Syfy original TV movies featuring sharks. The latest shark-themed movie to hit the airwaves was none other than Nightmare Shark, which delivered a sharky take on Nightmare on Elm Street, complete with a shark version of the iconic Freddy Krueger bathtub scene. Oh, Syfy. Never change.
In Nightmare Shark, a group of folks who survived shark attacks are hunted by a supernatural shark. The creature haunts them in their dreams, scaring them out of their minds and setting up the perfect premise for a Syfy original. Read on to discover what viewers thought of it!
You may have thought that Sharknado Week viewers would object to Nightmare Shark quite obviously pulling elements from one of the most famous horror movies of all time and simply adding a shark, but that wasn't the case with a lot of folks on Twitter. In fact, the prevailing opinion seemed to be that all the nods to Nightmare on Elm Street made Nightmare Shark all the more enjoyable. Hey, if a sharky Krueger is what Syfy viewers want out of a night of entertainment, then Nightmare Shark was the perfect way to spend an evening!
Would a shark-filled take on Nightmare on Elm Street really be complete without a young woman being stalked by a supernatural monster in a bathtub? Sure, the dorsal fine of a shark and the claws of Freddy Krueger aren't exactly interchangeable, but some may find the shark even scarier than the claws.
Another Twitter user was so inspired by the similarities between Nightmare Shark and Nightmare on Elm Street that they decided to write their own version of the Freddy Krueger rhyme. This person fell a bit short with coming up with a line with a final word rhyming with "eight," but A for effort, I say!
Despite the fact that the shark of Nightmare Shark was a vicious supernatural fish that caused no shortage of death, some on Twitter didn't really blame it. Should we really fault the shark for doing what supernatural sharks do best and going after shark attack survivors?
Another person on social media suggests that the characters in the TV movie are really to blame for some of the horrors they experience. If these characters don't know better than to explore dark spaces in bizarro towns in the middle of nowhere, then these characters deserve to be eaten by a shark. It's not the shark's fault these people wandered into its domain, right?
At least one person took issue with the twist that one character was able to fire a shotgun under water. Personally, I have to wonder if this was the first time this person watched a Syfy original TV movie that there were any expectations of realism. Shark Week is where TV viewers get realistic shark specials (and the occasional crocodile bite); Syfy is where you get Nightmare Shark.
All in all, the popular opinion seems to be that Nightmare Shark was another fun addition to Syfy's library of shark-based horror originals, and it was a great way to spend an evening during the week before the premiere of the final Sharknado. You can watch Sharknado 6 on Sunday, August 19 at 8 p.m. ET on Syfy. For some non-sharky viewing options in the not-too-distant future, swing by our fall TV premiere schedule.
