From the director of Rambo: Last Blood comes this shark film that brings in a sense of religion and legend to life.

For nearly two decades, Paul Sturges has been working for a local oil company and every year, he goes to his wife’s native Mexico to do an inspection on a rig located in the ocean. However, this year is different. Paul has brought his wife Ines, daughter Audrey, and son Tommy as he plans a vacation after the inspection is complete. However, upon entering the town, it has become desolate. He learns from a mysterious man, El Rey, that the town is under the protection of the Aztec God Tlaloc from the “Demon”.

When Paul heads to the rig and leaves the family behind, he learns that he must travel halfway by himself due to this “demon”. Upon entering the rig, he finds only two workers there, who inform him that the drilling has led to awakening a megalodon the locals call “the demon”. When Paul learns his family has followed him to escape an assault from some local thugs, Paul is in shock but soon sees the prehistoric shark surrounding the rig. Along the way, the workers, Paul, and his family discover some dark secrets, but they must work together to find a way to stop the “demon”.

Shark mania has been really paving the way for the last decade, especially with the iconic Sharknado franchise as well as other films that pit human against nature. Recent films like The Requin and The Reef: Stalked had the “shark” surrounding stranded humans in water. While this film has that same riff, it offers something fresh as well with using Aztec religion mixed in with an environmental message.

Josh Lucas leads the cast as oilman Paul, who goes from confident family and corporate man to potential prey for the titular megalodon. Things go from bad to worse when he learns his family has come to the rig much to his chagrin, but it stems from an incident involving daughter Audrey, played by one of the two young breakouts, Venus Ariel. The other young breakout comes in the form of Carlos Solórzano as son Tommy, who not only looks addicted to his tablet, but actually researches the Aztec God Tlaloc, giving us a lesson in the process. Fernanda Urrejola is great as wife Ines, who proves to be a strength and even goes as far as confront her own husband when she discovers a secret about the rig.

Julio Cesar Cedillo is excellent as Chato, the elderly rig worker who becomes Paul’s greatest ally and sometimes rival when it comes to their methods of “business”. Jorge A. Jimenez’s Junior is the levelheaded worker who befriends the family and even tries to quell the tension between Paul and Chato on the rig. Nacho Libre’s Hector Jiménez brings some temporary comic relief as Chocolito, who takes Paul halfway through the journey to the rig. Raúl Mendez provides some mystery in his character of “El Rey”, a self-proclaimed mayor of the small town.

The Black Demon brings something fresh to the shark surrounding man genre, bringing to mind a meshing of Aztec mythology and an environmental message. The cast is great in this film and even some of the effects and stunts are impressive for this film.

WFG RATING: B+

The Avenue Entertainment presents a Chocolito/Lantica Media production in association with Mucho Mas Media and Silk Mass. Director: Adrian Grünberg. Producers: Javier Chapa and Jon Silk. Writers: Carlos Cisco and Boise Esquerra. Cinematography: Antonio Riestra. Editing: Sam Baixauli and V. Manu Medina.

Cast: Josh Lucas, Fernanda Urrejola, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Venus Ariel, Carlos Solórzano, Jorge A. Jimenez, Hector Jiménez, Raul Mendez.

The film will be coming exclusively to theaters on April 28.