‘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.
From child-eating witches to village-burning dragons, fairy tales have always had a foot in the horror genre. That’s why it makes sense that, for every The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are also darker and more adult-oriented stories about magical worlds inhabited by ravenous monsters and cruel villains.
Funnily enough, these sinister tales were precisely the ones that I gravitated towards back when I was a kid, and I was reminded of this while watching Netflix’s recently released I Am Frankelda, Mexico’s first ever feature-length stop-motion animation and one hell of an entertaining parable about the intersection between fiction and reality.
In honor of this special kind of horror-adjacent fairy tale, today I’d like to share this list recommending six Dark Fantasy films that horror fans might enjoy.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining Dark Fantasy as fantastical stories that don’t shy away from the more macabre elements that fuel classic fairy tales. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own grim favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
I’m fascinated by bizarre attempts at blockbuster filmmaking – especially when the resulting movies are somehow still fun despite their corporate-mandated origins. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is precisely one of these strangely compelling studio projects, as this surprisingly successful action-thriller boasts a lot of heart (and tongue-in-cheek humor) for a CGI-heavy creature feature.
Directed by Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola, Witch Hunters re-frames the classic fairy tale as an origin story for a duo of badass monster-slayers. Of course, it’s the flick’s anachronistic aesthetic and overall visual flair that make it stand out from other action-horror endeavors from around the same time.
5. The Wolf House (2018)
Made in the tradition of faux cursed films in the same vein as Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made, the eerie backstory to 2018’s Chilean animated flick The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo in the original Spanish) already makes it a nightmarish experience before the flick even really begins.
After all, the movie is presented to us as a faux propaganda film produced by the leader of a death cult (heavily inspired by the real life Colonia Dignidad), with this hybrid animated feature using complex movie magic to simulate a single uninterrupted shot as it tells the story of a lazy young girl who runs away from an isolated colony and encounters a creepy old house in the woods.
4. The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Out of all the Monty Python alumni, Terry Gilliam has had the most interesting career outside of the original comedy group. From fascinating canceled projects (such as his scrapped adaptation of Watchmen) to dystopian parodies that feel more relevant by the minute (1985’s Brazil), even his “lesser” films are still intriguing in their own way.
2005’s The Brothers Grimm is one such project, with this peculiar movie attempting to combine the comedian-turned-filmmaker’s unique visual style with a more blockbuster-oriented plot reimagining the titular brothers as con-artists rather than mere writers. The end result isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it’s still a legitimately fun ride with plenty of memorable monsters and wonderful performances by both the late, great Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.
3. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010)
2010’s Dante’s Inferno game may have a reputation as something of an unapologetic God of War clone, but I’d argue that the now-obscure game was aesthetically unique enough to deserve a bigger fanbase. However, while the title remains trapped on the seventh console generation, its highly underrated anime adaptation is a lot easier to get a hold of!
Animated by 6 different studios in order to make the 9 circles of hell feel unique from each other, this may not be a completely faithful adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s poem, but it’s still one heck of a great (not to mention gory) time that I’d highly recommend to fans of Netflix’s take on Castlevania.
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
My personal favorite entry in the Underworld franchise, Rise of the Lycans, is a highly ambitious prequel that actually works better if you haven’t had the story spoiled to you by the previous Underworld films.
While the rest of the series features plenty of urban fantasy elements as the movies combine machine guns and modern environments with gothic storytelling, Patrick Tatopoulos’ prequel fully embraces its fantastical origins and tells a classic tale about a doomed romance between a werewolf and a vampire amid a medieval uprising.
And the best part is that we get a lot more Michael Sheen as the fan-favorite Lucian.
1. Solomon Kane (2011)
One of my personal favorite movies on this list, MJ Basset’s criminally underseen adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s other iconic warrior is thoroughly steeped in horror ambience and features plenty of memorable monsters. However, it’s also a classic origin story for a swashbuckling hero that wouldn’t feel out of place in a tabletop RPG.
While I’ve already written about how the film deftly combines both horror and fantasy elements without breaking the bank, I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend the bizarre movie where James Purefoy expertly plays a puritan John Wick.
It’s just too bad that we never got the other films in this intended trilogy.
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