Leofwine_draca Packed with more murky underwater photography than you would find in your average nature documentary, BARRACUDA is in all respects a cheaply-made film. Starting off like some derivative JAWS rip-off, we witness lots of scenes of divers and swimmers getting attacked by "something" under the water. Cue lots of limb thrashing, extreme close-ups, blood bubbling to the surface and even a cheap severed hand. The slow police department (seemingly made up of the Sheriff and his slow-witted deputy) haven't got a clue. So it's up to our hero, a marine biologist student complete with a '70s bushy hairdo and a fine line in horrible shirts, to discover the truth.Well, in most respects this is a pretty awful film. There's hardly any action in it and the gore is kept to a minimum - just the aforementioned underwater death scenes. When characters get shot, they just fall and die with no visible wounds. The music is derivative and the acting is amateurish at best. There are a minimum of locations (a police station, a doctor's lab, the beach) and a lack of narrative which sucks the excitement from the film, turning it for the most part into a dull, boring effort packed with stiff cardboard people. Even a romantic subplot is contrived and lame. The sound and picture quality are poor too, but then I did pick this up for 50p at a car boot sale.But...about two-thirds of the way through, the film changes direction and becomes interesting. A government conspiracy angle is introduced as it becomes apparent that a local cooperation is dumping chemicals into the ocean which are turning the barracuda deadly. Not only that, but the town's water supply is also infected with the same chemicals and making people depressed, stressed out and violent. And on top of all this, a squad of shady government agents, who resemble "men in black", are executing anybody who knows anything about the situation - be it nosy reporters, police, our hero. Thus, the film just about gets by on the strength of the story alone, and deserves kudos for not just being another underwater menace rip-off. The bleak ending is also very effective, and shocking, and totally unexpected. Let's just say that it's extremely downbeat and a risk that paid off for the makers of this no-budget thriller.

Filmfandave Barracuda: The Lucifer Project is a movie with a social message that has its potentials but fails to realize them due to its pedestrian acting and mediocre directing. The plot is similar to that of Piranha but the suspense is barely existent, not to mention the lame special effects created for the barracuda attacks. Another thing that may make viewers dislike the movie is its downbeat ending, which I personally do not mind. Despite all that, the forbidding music helps to elevate the occasional suspense.The plot tells about mutant barracudas violently attacking swimmers and divers in the seas near the shores of a US coastal town. A young marine biologist and a local town sheriff try to uncover the mystery that involves shady medical experiments related to government projects.Viewers expecting to find another Jaws-like excitement will be sorely disappointed. The second half of the film diverts its plot from the barracuda attacks to unraveling the mystery of the attacks. From that point till the end of the film the narrative takes a different route to deliver the "excitement" through lots of dialogues and very little action to the point of leaving the main conflicts in the story unresolved! With the rather unsuitable title, it was obvious that the film-makers wanted to cash in on the success of Jaws. Who would have wanted to watch this had it been called "The Lucifer Project"? Anyways, the film went into obscurity.Barracuda belongs to the B-movie category and is watchable enough for those who are into low budget nature-gone-wild flicks. Because of its loose ending, it should have been made into a sequel.

Rattrap007 I started watching this film thinking it was going to be another 70s killer animal movie or a Jaws rip off. For the first 1/3 or so of the film it seemed that way. It had several underwater attacks by the title fish, but after a point it became a mystery about the why the fish are aggressive and soon became a conspiracy movie.The film is decently acted for the most part, but there are parts and roles that are just very poorly acted or awkward. Papa Jack's son reminded me of Buford T. Justice's son Junior in the Smokey and the Bandit films. He acts more or less like an idiot or adult child. There is one scene with extras who get in a fender bender and start arguing. The acting here is really bad and comes off a little cheesy. Same goes for the diner sequence with the waitress spilling the glass of water and arguing with the cook. Both seem very unnatural.The barracudas themselves look like puppets when biting people. When it is the tail end you see it seems like a set hand was just holding the puppet by the head and shaking it in front of the camera.Overall it is an OK film. It is cheesy enough to be fun for a watch, just don't expect anything great.

Backlash007 ~Spoiler~ Barracuda is NOT the movie you think it is. It is not a rip-off of Jaws and it is not as much fun as Piranha. There is only one scene really of Barracuda even attacking people. What this actually is is a government conspiracy movie that is a bit boring. The government is tampering with the water supply of a small town with a form of rage serum. These aren't the rage infected zombies from 28 Days Later however. These poor townsfolk just get upset and yell at each other. The serum also leaks into the ocean and that's were the barracuda come in, briefly. The movie vaguely reminded me of Halloween III only it's not as much fun. It has the same silent, suited men stalking around that were in Halloween III, and the bad guys win. That was the best part of the film: seeing the heroes get blown away in slow motion, Sam Peckinpah style. So, in closing, creature feature buffs should stay away.