"Guardians of the Deep" could more or less be described as a rip-off of Peter Benchley's "The Deep", only
this version is a whole lot better and numberless times more entertaining! It's a very silly and immensely grotesque adventure movie, with highly implausible stunts and unrealistic characters, but the whole thing is so spirited and so vividly directed by Enzo G. Casterllari that you can't help but be amused. Spaghetti western hero Franco Nero (wearing a blond wig that nearly makes him unrecognizable) stars as a treasure hunter on a quest to recover $10 million from a plane wreck that lies on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. The valuable loot is located nearby a shark-infested cave, but that can't be an issue, as Mike also happens to be a fearless and ruthless shark hunter who doesn't even hesitate to crash down in the open sea with a parachute to take on a Tiger Shark with his bare hands, now how about that?!? His search is complicated when other parties learn about the treasure as well, like a CIA agent on "holiday" and a bunch of corrupt local police officers. "Guardians of the Deep" features a constantly high level of spectacle & suspense and the film benefices extremely from the lusciously exotic photography by Raúl Cubero. This film is very beautiful to look at
and to listen to, as the De Angelis brothers' score is downright phenomenal and dreamy. Although not exactly a legit entry in the "Sharksploitation" sub genre (like "Great White", "Monster Shark" or "Tintorera"), this film contains some of the greatest and most masterfully enacted shark attack sequences ever in low-budget cult cinema! The sharks in the cave assist Mike during the finale and explicitly devour a couple of his opponents. The action scenes are impressive at sea as well as on the mainland, with tough macho fistfights, wild car chases and shootouts. This puppy is quite obscure and difficult to find, but worth tracking down if you like tropical settings, shark-action and Castellari's versatile repertoire.
Review of The Shark Hunter
