Sharknado vs. Ghost Shark

* I’m just going to go ahead and put a SPOILER ALERT on this entire article. If you don’t want to be spoiled for Sharknado or Ghost Shark, stop reading now. *

Sharknado premiered on the SyFy channel in mid-July of this year, and there’s no arguing with the fact that it took the world by storm.

Pardon the pun.

But I’m here to tell you that SyFy’s original film Ghost Shark – which premiered just over a month after Sharknado – is very possibly the better of the two movies.

sharknado 1 ghost shark 1

That is, in terms of being ridiculous – and ridiculously amusing.

Here, have a comparison chart:

sharknado ghost shark chart

I mean, don’t get me wrong. Sharknado is insane. But let’s not lie, both Sharknado and Ghost Shark lose their elements of surprise about halfway through. It gets to the point where one can’t help but expect the absolutely unexpected, to know that yes, they will go there.

Okay, sure, Sharknado has sharks flying through the air and eating people as they do so.

sharknado 2

sharknado 4

But – the sharks in Sharknado have no agenda.

Bear with me here, seriously. Sure, they’re probably kind of uncomfortable. Something tells me they can’t breathe very well when they’re, you know, flying through the air. Even in those waterspouts.

Ghost Shark, on the other hand (yeah, I’m outright calling the shark Ghost Shark there; that’s on purpose) does have an agenda. He was basically tortured to death in a magical cave.

That’s right, Ghost Shark (the movie) doesn’t take place in L.A. – but it takes place in a seaside town that has a magical cave. I mean come on.

And as you can see from the above chart, Ghost Shark can appear anywhere  – that’s right, anywhere – there’s water.

To wit…

ghost shark 3
This is Ghost Shark pulling a bikini-clad car wash girl into a bucket of water. That’s right, just a bucket of soapy water.
ghost shark 2
And this is Ghost Shark soaring around in the rain. But lo! These people are under an awning! There is no water, and Ghost Shark can’t eat them!

So there you have it. Sharknado and Ghost Shark are both deliciously campy – but my personal belief is that Ghost Shark/Ghost Shark wins out because that one shark is downright badass.ghost shark 1

That, and the idea of grown-up Ruthie Camden facing down the ghost of a Great White is crazier to me than Steve from 90210 and Vickie from American Pie reconciling a marriage after running from shark-bearing tornadoes.sharknado 3

Author: Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. She founded Ice & Fire Con, the first ever Game of Thrones convention in the US, and now runs its parent company Saga Event Planning.


Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary

Do not copy our content in whole to other websites. If you are reading this anywhere besides TheGeekiary.com, it has been stolen.
Read our policies before commenting. Be kind to each other.