The world of low-budget cinema moves in cycles that are determined by what's popular at the time. Barracuda is a prime example of this as it's one of the many regionally shot films of the late 70's that treaded in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg's Jaws. Director Harry Kerwin even uses a lot of POV (point-of-view) shots in the opening scene where some divers are attacked by a giant fish of the title. It's just too bad that the rest of the script, which Kerwin co-wrote with star Wayne Crawford, is more concerned with anti-pollution messages (which, surprisingly, aren't that heavy-handed) and conspiracy theories rather than scenes of people being chewed-up by the title beasties - when your main creatures are relegated to a co-starring role, it's obvious the makers had more ambition than they could possibly bring to the screen.

Welcome to the town of Palm Cove where locals start getting attacked by the barracuda population and mysterious men in suits start milling about, marine biologist Mike (Crawford) starts to wonder just what's in the water. He's set out to shut down the nearby chemical company who he suspects is dumping in the ocean - a fact he hopes to prove by the water samples he's been taking. This gets under the skin of that company's owner and he soon finds himself put in jail by sheriff Ben Williams (William Kerwin). It's not so bad, though, because he gets to meet the sheriff's daughter Liza (Roberta Leighton) who instantly takes a liking to him.

From there Mike, Liza, and (eventually) Ben set out to find out why the fish are attacking, why everyone in town seems to be on edge and at each others throats, and just how deep the conspiracy and cover-ups can go. These are topics I was surprised to see in something that was advertised as a straightforward low-budget creature feature and I appreciated the effort even if it never really pays off.

Before we get to the finale and its lacklustre shoot-out and weak anti-government message though, we do get a few scenes of our title fish munching on the locals which Kerwin stages in really tight shots to try and distract you from the fact they look pretty rubbery - not that it really matters. There's also an unintentionally humorous moment where a girl finds a diver's head on the beach as well as some dopiness involving low blood sugar.

If you're any sort of b-movie fan, you'll definitely recognize a ton of people here. Star Crawford has had a lengthy career acting in such movies as Jake Speed, 3:15, and Valley Girl. He's also written and directed various low-budgeters even teaming-up with director/co-writer Kerwin on the earlier projects God's Bloody Acre and Cheering Section. Here he plays a rugged looking hero and comes across as likeable. Co-star Jason Evers is a familiar face from his many television appearances and is best known to genre fans for starring in 1962's The Brain That Wouldn't Die. And William Kerwin (Harry's brother) is best known for appearing in many Herschell Gordon Lewis movies, including Blood Feast. It's just too bad a lot of them aren't given more to do.

When all is said and done, Barracuda (that also goes under the sub-title The Lucifer Project, which is never explained) isn't a bad little cheapie drive-in flick. As I stated before, it has way more on its mind than being a cash-in and is much more watchable than I expected it to be. That's not to say it doesn't have some flaws, as the script doesn't really tie things together that well and tries to put way too many eggs in its basket. But overall it's a competently made time and does its job reasonably well - if you're interested in seeing the pinnacle of Jaws rip-offs, I suggest you hunt down a copy of the ultra rare Great White instead. (Chris Hartley, 1/11/09)

Directed By: Harry Kerwin.
Written By: Wayne Crawford, Harry Kerwin.

Starring: Wayne David Crawford, Jason Evers, Roberta Leighton, Cliff Emmich.

Picture Ratio: Full Frame.

Picture Quality: For a movie that's thirty-years-old, Barracuda actually looks pretty good on disc. The full frame picture does contain a few scattered specks and shows its grainy side during the underwater sequences (a few of them with heavy grain) but it's not bad at all considering.

Extras: Released by Dark Sky as part of their "Drive-In Double Feature" (click for artwork) series, Barracuda is paired-up, be it inexplicably, with the 1989 flick Island Fury. It's set-up to play like the real thing with ads for concessions and trailers inbetween the features but you also have the option to watch each film seperately without all of that if you so wish.

Visit Dark Sky Films for more info.