‘The Reef’: The Scariest Shark Attack Movie You May Have Missed
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Summer (unofficially) kicks off this week, so it’s time we head back into the water…
With the release of Jaws back in 1975, Steven Spielberg not only paved the way for the “summer blockbuster” as we know it today, but he also wrote the book on killer shark cinema. In the 40+ years since Jaws came out, no other filmmaker has even come close to capturing the terror of Spielberg’s horror masterpiece, though many have of course tried. Countless imitators came in the wake of Jaws, with the shark attack sub-genre hitting new lows in more recent years thanks to silly Syfy efforts like Sharknado and Sharktopus.
All hope is not lost, however, as quality shark cinema seems to be on the rise.
Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows was, if you’re asking me, the best shark attack horror movie since Jaws, and last year’s Johannes Roberts-directed 47 Meters Down wasn’t too shabby in its own right. With the release of the big-budget The Meg on the horizon for this summer, you could say that sharks are back in a big way in the horror genre.
We even just got a direct-to-video sequel to super fun ’90s shark flick Deep Blue Sea, almost 20 years after the fact, further suggesting we’ve got a trend on our hands.
But make no mistake. As rare as it may have been, quality shark attack horror wasn’t completely nonexistent between Deep Blue Sea and The Shallows, with two films in particular standing out.
Released in 2003, Chris Kentis’ minimalist horror flick Open Water reminded audiences why they should probably think twice before going for a swim, while over in Australia, The Reef did much the same back in 2010. It’s the latter film that we’re here to shine the spotlight on today, as it hasn’t quite gotten the same attention as the American film that would seem to have inspired it.
Written and directed by Andrew Traucki, The Reef (based, horrifyingly, on true events) centers on a group of five friends who take a sailboat into Australia’s Great Barrier Reef for a little fun in the sun. Not long after they arrive, the boat runs into a patch of coral reef and capsizes, stranding the three men and two women quite literally in the middle of the ocean. Drifting further and further out with each passing minute, they soon make the decision to swim for an island several miles away; that’s when they realize they’re being methodically hunted by a Great White.
If there’s one thing about modern shark movies that sucks the fear right out of them it’s unquestionably bad CGI, and one need only re-watch Jaws to be reminded how much more effective a movie monster can be when it’s practically created in the real world. But The Reef, rather than utilizing digital effects or even animatronics, takes the sub-genre to a whole new level by employing real sharks. Yes, the sharks in Australia’s answer to Open Water are 100% real, and it’s because there’s not an ounce of noticeable CGI in sight that the film is so very effective at, well, scaring the living shit out of you.
Whenever you see a shark in The Reef, it’s obvious that it’s the real deal, and there are a few thoroughly breathtaking, pants-shitting sequences where the shark is in such close proximity to the actors that it’s hard to tell how Traucki even pulled it off. You fear not just for the characters but also for the actors, and there’s just something so potent and real about the whole thing. But what really seals the deal on The Reef being one of the best shark attack horror flicks in the past ten years is not just how terrifying those attack scenes are, but perhaps more importantly, how terrifying it is when you see nothing at all.
Like Open Water, The Reef could best be described as a minimalist horror film, and it’s Traucki’s “less is more” approach that really works wonders here. It’s 50-minutes into the film before we catch our first glimpse of the shark, and even after he does show up, Traucki mostly makes us – right along with the ill-fated characters – anticipate the beast’s return. We often have no idea when the shark is around or when he’s going to strike, and the fear and paranoia etched onto the faces of the characters really tells the whole story. When it comes to horror, what you don’t quite see tends to be way more terrifying than what you do, and The Reef knocks that particular method of restrained suspense out of the park.
As for the kill scenes, of which there are a few, they’re executed with much the same restraint. Some viewers may be disappointed that Traucki doesn’t go a little further with them, showing more and perhaps even adding some gruesome gore into the mix, but that’s just not the movie he set out to make here. The name of the game is realism, and The Reef smartly dials back the action in service of that realism.
So if you’re looking for a genuinely scary shark film, look no further than The Reef. Pair it with Open Water for a double feature that will ensure you never go into the water again.
At the time of writing this, The Reef is streaming through Amazon Prime.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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