Just when 2012’s Bait (a.k.a. Bait 3D) was swimming the way of other killer shark movies made in Jaws’ wake, its story eventually changed direction. Director Kimble Rendall didn’t follow that set pattern of bringing humans to the water. Quite the opposite; Bait brought the water, along with man-eating great whites, to them. And the end result is one example of “sharksploitation” that’s only become more unique as time goes by.

If not for Teen Wolf, Bait would have been helmed by another Aussie who knew his way around deadly creatures. Scheduling issues, however, led to Russell Mulcahy handing the project over to Kimble Rendall. Even so, Mulcahy’s idea remained intact, albeit now revised by a whole team of writers. Whatever was changed in the process of switching out directors, though, didn’t include altering the movie’s setting of a supermarket. The thrill of Bait hinges on that unconventional backdrop, and getting the sharks to go there required writing in another terrifying part of nature.

Before reaching the “sharks in a submerged grocery store” part of the story, Bait leads off with its own tailored spin on buddy cop movies. Instead of a traumatized policeman, however, a former lifeguard named Josh (Xavier Samuel, The Loved Ones) is shown coping with the loss of his friend and co-worker (Richard Brancatisano), who’s also the brother of his ex-fiancée. Fittingly, as well as forebodingly, a great white was responsible for that work-related tragedy. And what a death it was — Brancatisano’s character is launched into the air by his sudden attacker, ravaged beneath the crimson waves, then finally dragged down to the watery depths.

Image: Xavier Samuel, Julian McMahon and Sharni Vinson in Bait.

Keep in mind, this isn’t a Jaws situation where the shark is concealed for most of the movie, in an effort to maintain suspense, but rather Bait’s center attraction is revealed both early and in its full glory. And like most viewers, Rendall would have preferred this had been done sans CGI, yet the opening and a few other shark-heavy sequences could only be pulled off with the help of digital wizardry. Making up for the few blatant instances of artificial sharkness, though, are convincing animatronics that are put to good use throughout — and not just when the waters are calm.

As impatient as it might come across, Bait still doesn’t unleash a tsunami on its characters without first setting up some narrative cardcastles. For starters, it’s been a year since Josh lost both his friend and ended things with his fiancée Tina (Sharni Vinson, You’re Next). And now Josh has barely clocked in for his shift at that doomed supermarket when he runs into his ex, who’s come here, of all places, to shop with her rebound (Qi Yuwu). This fateful reunion proceeds as anticipated and with virtually no resistance from either the new boyfriend or just the story itself.

Additional subplots ahead of the inciting disaster include a teen klepto (Phoebe Tonkin, The Vampire Diaries) at odds with her cop for a dad (Martin Sacks), a young couple (Lincoln Lewis and Cariba Heine) trapped in the parking garage with a recently sacked grocer (Alex Russell, Chronicle), and the two store robbers (Nip/Tuck’s Julian McMahon and Daniel Wyllie) who end up joining the other tsunami survivors. Needless to say, there are plenty of smaller crises to keep one’s interest whenever the sharks are busy sizing up their prey, and to ensure there’s always something happening on screen. This isn’t a movie with a lot of substantial cooling-off periods.

The tsunami has devastated this entire coastal area, but Bait concentrates on the aftermath inside the supermarket and its connected parking garage. There is enough potential for drama and horror there without needing to go out and find more. So Bait turns out to be a one-location movie that, thanks to some creativity and restless storytelling, offers movement and limits tedium. And instead of the one thread to center on, the movie has two, with neither one any less important than the other. The major difference between these plots is the tone; it’s dire and tense inside the store, whereas the garage characters provide levity. This mood juggling helps keep things relatively light, despite all the carnage and dreariness that come with emulating natural disasters.

Image: Lincoln Lewis and Cariba Heine in Bait.

The beauty of a movie like Bait is its commitment to the bit. Intentional joking aside, the whole story is wildly silly, yet it’s told with a very straight face. Although, to go and outright label this a horror-comedy feels flawed, given how aspects of the movie are genuinely grim. Even so, there is harmless fun to be had here, including the electrifying conclusion. Intentional or not, that cathartic final battle between the TASER-wielding, suspended Xavier Samuel and the last shark reeks of the showdown in Jaws 2. Nevertheless, the set piece is delivered without any winking at the audience, which makes it more amusing.

It’s not unheard of for Australian movies to fare better internationally than at home, and Bait was no exception. This fin flick was a flop at the domestic box office. Its massive success in China, however, led to a sequel-turned-standalone production called Deep Water until the real-life disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 caused it to be shelved. Nearly a decade later and the project, under new producers, has now been resuscitated with Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea) as the director. So even though that first version of Deep Water, which was a Chinese co-production, didn’t happen as intended, a deluge of Chinese, CGI-laden creature-features has since filled the void. One movie in particular, 2021’s Escape of Shark, even shares parallels with Bait.

Knowing Bait originated with Russell Mulcahy at the helm, the brain can’t help but wonder how the director of Razorback might have handled this movie. Yet Kimble Rendall, who passed away this year, turned in a solid, cross-genre actioner that works even when it probably shouldn’t. Paper-thin characters, dodgy visual effects, and iffy performances would be detrimental elsewhere. Bait, on the other hand, survives these shortcomings. It also essentially being an overpriced “B” movie, not to mention a who’s who of familiar Aussie actors, adds to its almost-peculiar sense of likability. No doubt Rendall’s history with humor in horror helped manage the gravity of the story, and his years of experience as a second-unit director made the in-camera moments more effective.

Admittedly, Bait doesn’t even begin to cross the threshold of madness that other subsequent sharksploitation movies have eagerly leapt over, but what it does do, it does well.

Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.

Image: Xavier Samuel in Bait.