Horror thriller “Killer Whale” has the kind of premise that should be either genuinely tense or gloriously ridiculous, and boy, do I wish director Jo-Anne Brechin‘s execution was better in her story of two best friends who are trapped in a remote lagoon while a vengeful orca hunts them down. That’s a solid setup for a fun creature feature. Unfortunately, the movie mostly ends up stranded somewhere between survival drama and bargain bin shark movie knockoff without fully committing to either.
The biggest problem is that the movie takes itself way too seriously for how silly it looks. The effects are rough across the board, not unlike something a teenager slapped together in the family basement. The whale itself looks pretty ridiculous, the green screen backgrounds are distracting, and the whole lagoon set has a cheap artificial look that makes it hard to buy into the danger. Bad effects can absolutely work in a campy horror movie, but here it feels like the filmmakers genuinely thought they were making something intense and visually convincing. This should make everything more awkward and fun, but instead it’s just sad.
What surprised me most is how much of the movie is actually focused on the friendship between Trish (Mel Jarnson) and Maddie (Virginia Gardner). Brechin (and co-writer Katharine McPhee) spend a lot of time building their emotional backstory and the trauma they’re carrying into this trip. To be fair, some of those scenes work better than expected. Virginia Gardner and Mel Jarnson have decent chemistry, and there are moments where the movie almost becomes a heartfelt drama about grief and friendship instead of an orca horror movie.
But if you’re showing up for killer whale chaos, the movie never fully delivers. It’s weirdly restrained for something about a bloodthirsty captive orca seeking revenge. There are a few tense moments, but not nearly enough fun kills, suspense, or over-the-top insanity to make the premise really work. Instead of leaning into the absurdity, the film keeps trying to elevate itself into something more emotional and serious than the material can support.
There’s still some entertainment value in how unintentionally goofy parts of it are, especially whenever the whale appears onscreen. But overall, “Killer Whale” feels like a missed opportunity. A killer whale horror movie should either leave you thrilled or laughing along with the madness, where this one mostly just drifts along before beaching itself completely.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 