REVIEW: ‘Hot Spring Shark Attack’ Is Infectiously Silly

There’s never a bad time to be a shark fan, especially in summer of 2025, with Dangerous Animals putting a new spin on the genre in June and Shark Week kicking off on July 20. Sandwiched between the two is, let’s just say, something altogether more unique: Hot Spring Shark Attack. Like its title, Hot Spring Shark Attack is absurdity incarnate, skewering all notions of realism, “good” taste, and, critically, cynicism in a wild offering from Japan that gets more and more deranged the further it goes. There’s no choice but to succumb to the madness. 

Here’s a summary for you: when a greedy development company begins building an elaborate resort, drilling for their hot springs unleashes natures scariest beast- a series of sharks who travel using groundwater, surfacing through water sources throughout the area including, naturally, other hot springs, toilets, sinks, and even concrete? As the problem worsens, the ill-equipped police force, then eventually military, are forced to enlist the help of scientists in a submarine as well as a mysterious shark-punching figure in order to keep the aquatic foes at bay. 

Written and directed by Morihito Inoue, the title and concept of Hot Spring Shark Attack is an immediate litmus test of whether or not this film will be for you or not. To those who can’t resist, there’s plenty of unabashed fun in store. The screenplay moves in a wacky manner from plot to plot, each played for maximum shlock. The resort at the center of the plot has an ultra-quick 3D printer, for goodness’ sake, and the third act pivot towards a shark-fighting superhero is a perfectly hokey execution.

Hot Spring Shark Attack is Japan’s first shark movie.

Billed as “Japan’s first shark movie,” Inoue is not content to play the hits, despite his clear love for Jaws. Inoue seizes the opportunity to make a live-action cartoon that would make most anime look subtle. Impressively, the ensemble cast featuring Daniel Aguilar (Shin Godzilla), Shôichirô Akaboshi, Takuya Fujimura (One Cut of the Dead), and too many others to count plays to the peanut gallery, aware of exactly what kind of film they’re in. In other words, everyone’s in on the joke. 

Hot Spring Shark Attack is being marketed as a tokusatsu action film. For the uninitiated, tokusatsu is a label given to practical special-effect-heavy genre films from Japan. Tokusatsus can involve superheroes, war, science fiction, kaiju, or a mix of all of the above. While there is a good offering of practical work on display here, the label tokusatsu is a bit misleading. Outside of some shots using a rubber shark prop and customary shots of city models getting blown to smithereens, this is mostly a digital affair. 

Do the CGI sharks look good? No. Does it matter? Also no. That’s all because of the immense charm that goes into the low-budget production. With a small visual effects team, one can’t expect the film to look in any way realistic. What separates this from the (admirable in their own way) likes of Sharknado is the complete and total commitment to the insanity.

The Hot Spring Shark Attack sharks look ridiculous, but that’s part of the charm.

These sharks are creatures that can seemingly do anything, traveling through anywhere and dismembering the likes of bureaucrats, influencers, and common residents alike in deliriously lo-fi ways. The fact that it all looks so cheap is a feature, not a bug. It allows one to release themself from any notion of reality and simply have a good time. 

Few movies are as “not for everyone” as Hot Spring Shark Attack. Yet, its charm is infectious. A committed ensemble, a plot that dares to start off the rails and keep progressing from there, and a low-budget creativity make this the type of film primed for late-night repertory screenings. Hot Spring Shark Attack won’t make you scared to go into the water, but it certainly is frightfully fun. 

Hot Spring Shark Attack releases in limited theaters and on VOD on July 11.