Shakma

Shakma
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Hugh Parks Tom Logan
Screenplay by	Roger Engle
Produced by	Hugh Parks
Starring	Christopher Atkins Amanda Wyss Ari Meyers Roddy McDowall
Cinematography	Andrew Bieber
Edited by	Mike Palma
Music by	David C. Williams
Distributed by	Castle Hill Productions Quest Entertainment
Release date	October 5, 1990 (1990-10-05) (United States)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,500,000 (estimated)
Box office	Unknown

Shakma is a 1990 American

Sorensen investigates the players' disappearances personally and finds Richard's mutilated body before falling prey to Shakma himself. The sounds of Shakma's carnage alerts Sam and Tracy to his presence, but they are unable to use the elevator as Sorensen's body is jamming the door. Sam takes the stairs to the fifth floor and unsuccessfully attempts to tame Shakma before fleeing the floor along with Tracy. Tracy goes to the electricity lab to collect a strobe light that she uses to temporarily blind Shakma, and she holds the specimen room door shut while Sam goes to locate and remove Sorensen's body from the elevator. When Tracy confirms Richard's presence in the specimen room, she distracts Shakma while Sam goes to recover Richard, but Shakma returns before he is able to recover from the shock of discovering his body, and Sam and Tracy narrowly escape Shakma's pursuit once more. As Sam and Tracy begin a search for Gary and Bradley, Gary is killed while using the elevator, which allows Shakma onto the sixth floor. Tracy is killed in the floor's restroom shortly after.

Sam goes to the top floor to warn Kim (without letting her know of Richard's death), arms himself with a kitchen knife and continues his search for the others while Kim stays to attract the attention of Richard's girlfriend Laura, whose car is parked below. As Sam finds Gary's and Tracy's bodies as well as Sorensen's keys, Laura drives away, and Kim decides to go find Richard herself after leaving a hand-written note for Sam; she is killed by Shakma after finding Richard's body. Sam, after finding Bradley's and Kim's bodies, prepares to alert the police from Sorensen's office, but his grief over Tracy's death, in particular, drives him to kill Shakma himself. He sets up a trap to electrocute Shakma, who avoids the trap and mortally injures Sam. Shakma is ultimately burned to death when Sam manages to lure him into the incinerator. Sam collapses in a hallway and declares "I win" to a nearby monkey doll, before dying.

Cast

• Christopher Atkins as Sam
• Amanda Wyss as Tracy
• Ari Meyers as Kim
• Roddy McDowall as Professor Sorensen
• Robb Edward Morris (credited as Robb Morris) as Gary
• Tre Laughlin as Bradley
• Greg Flowers as Richard
• Ann Kymberlie as Laura
• Donna Jarrett as Brenda
• Typhoon (uncredited animal) as Shakma

Production

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The monkey playing Shakma is called Typhoon and was handled by Gerry Therrien of Action Animals.^[1] Although the title might be read to indicate it is a chacma baboon, Typhoon was actually a hamadryas baboon. Actress Amanda Wyss was terrified of the animal.^[2]

Filming took place at Universal Studios Florida.^[3]

Release

Shakma had a limited theatrical run before being released on

A new HD master of Shakma was released by Code Red DVD on Blu-ray in a limited edition of 3000.^[8]

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2019)

Critical reception for Shakma was highly negative upon its release, with many panning the film's weak humor, shoddy effects, and flat direction. Eric Snyder of MTV criticized the film's extended dull stretches, weak characters, soundtrack, and poorly executed attack sequences.^[9] Kurt Dahlke from DVD Talk panned the film, awarding it 1.5 out of a possible 5 stars, writing, "While it might sound delightfully bad, Shakma's tale of a murderous monkey knocking off role-playing med-students pisses on the line between so-bad-it's-good and downright insulting with willful disobedience. It's not funny, scary, or much of anything more than bewildering and tiresome."^[10] Maitland McDonagh from TV Guide gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, stating that the film "veers between the creepy and the profoundly silly", also noting that the role-playing aspect was "painfully dated".^[11] Katie Rife of The A.V. Club called the film "standard" and criticized the film's "laughable" dialogue, role-playing sub-plot, and acting.^[12]

Regardless, the film has gained a small cult following over the years.^[11]

References

External links

• Shakma at AllMovie
• Shakma at
  IMDb
• Shakma at Rotten Tomatoes
• Shakma at the TCM Movie Database