Sharknado, a new made-for-TV film in which Ian Ziering and Tara Reid battle sharks falling from the sky, debuted in the US last night – and promptly became a major talking point on Twitter.

Airing on Syfy, the channel responsible for such TV movies as Arachnoquake, Sharktopus and Aladdin & The Death Lamp, Sharknado was the top trending topic on Twitter, with viewers transfixed by its preposterous premise – a freak hurricane sucks sharks up from the ocean, hurling them at Los Angeles, causing the waterlogged populace to be terrorised by the flying predators.

In the film, which is directed by Anthony Ferrante and written by Thunder Levin, Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210) plays a bar owner, the appropriately monikered Fin, who sets out to save his ex-wife, April (American Pie’s Tara Reid), and their daughter.

Corny lines such as “we can’t just stand here and wait for sharks to fall out of the sky” and “we’re going to need a bigger chopper” pervade the film, which clearly has its tongue firmly in its cheek.

Unsurprisingly, the film’s concept made it a target for Twitter commentary, with writers, producers, actors gleefully taking aim at it.