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If films can be recognized by line drawings of specific scenes, their creators did something right. The motif “Boat vs. Shark” is from “Jaws”, “Zombie vs. Shark” from “Zombie Flesh Eaters” – and “Helicopter vs. Shark” from “Great White”, known in this country as “The White Killer”. ‘, not more exciting, but staged more entertainingly than the shark attack on a helicopter from the much more expensive ‘Jaws 2’. Here, the giant leaping fish bites off the legs of a man holding on to the skids of a helicopter (see Blu-ray cover above).
Enzo G. Castellari’s film was banned in the United States immediately after its release in 1981 after Universal filed a plagiarism lawsuit, allegedly also through Steven Spielberg’s intervention. A remarkable process, given that Spielberg’s blockbuster was already six years old.
Is “The White Killer” trash? Absolutely. But the passion, born out of a lack of self-mockery, with which Italians dream up American locations and action heroes (the seaside town is called Port Harbor, role names include Ron Hamer and Peter Benchley – sorry, Benton) deserves recognition. The rubber shark doesn’t look better than the ones from “Jaws” and “Jaws 2”, but better than the ones from “Jaws 3” and “Jaws 4”. Like pinball, he looks out of the water before he comes into close contact with people: Look at me! After that, the dummy fish mostly remains upright and uncontrolled, drifting like a cork in the sea.
The Blu-ray extras were not known at the time of writing. Did the 85-year-old Castellari contribute an audio commentary? In any case, lead actor Vic Morrow deserves an appreciation. He died a year later in an accident: while filming the “Twilight Zone” movie, he was decapitated by the rotor blades of a helicopter, as were two extras, six and seven years old. (Blu-ray, Anolis Entertainment)
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