Network seasons may be ending, but on Animal Planet, “Monster Week” has just begun. This Shark Week knockoff offers viewers plenty of chances to catch freshwater oddities featured on “River Monsters” (7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, TV-PG). The frights continue throughout the week with “Man-Eating Zombie Cats” on Tuesday and “Man-Eating Super Wolves” on Wednesday.
The over-the-top frights culminate with Animal Planet’s first official B-movie spoof, “Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys,” airing next Sunday. This campy feature comes from the team behind “Sharknado” and stars Shannen Doherty and Christopher Lloyd!
Now I suspect many of you are wondering: What is a lamprey, exactly? I wasn’t sure myself, I only knew it was something like an eel. Once I read the Wiki entry I realized this is actually a pretty nightmarish-sounding fish: It’s described as jawless, and “the adult of which is characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth,” and that some species of lampreys “bore into other fish to suck their blood.” That’s definitely creature-feature worthy.
Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys is from The Asylum, which are the same producers who brought you Sharknado. From a branding perspective, it’s interesting to see Animal Planet verge into Syfy’s movie turf. The premiere is part of the network’s Monster Week, a 9-day programming event that kicks off May 18, with Blood Lake airing on Sunday, May 25. It also includes episodes of Animal Planet’s River Monsters and Nature’s Most Wanted. Check out the Blood Lake trailer:
