Editorials
Swimming With Sharks: Revisiting ‘Bait 3D’ 13 Years Later
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.
Editorials
‘Bloodstone: Subspecies II’ Revisited: A Bigger, Bolder Follow-Up to Full Moon’s Vampire Cult Classic
Horror sequels are a peculiar thing. In most cases, follow-ups to scary movies tend to retread the same formula with different victims and more over-the-top scares. This is because audiences tend to be more interested in the antagonists of these pictures than anything else, with even main characters becoming disposable when the time comes to produce a sequel.
That’s why some of the most memorable horror sequels are the ones that actually manage to hold onto interesting survivors from previous films while also pushing the story forward instead of having the same thing happen again to a different group of people. From Scream 2 to Dream Warriors (and arguably even The Exorcist III: Legion), there are quite a few of these innovative sequels to go around.
However, if there’s one franchise that deserves more attention when discussing bigger and better continuations that make the most of episodic filmmaking, it has to be Ted Nicolaou’s Subspecies.
The Full Moon classic spawned an indie horror icon, but bizarre sequel Bloodstone: Subspecies II is even more beloved than its predecessor.
Building a Bigger Vampire Saga
While the film itself takes place almost immediately after the events of the first movie, Bloodstone only entered production a couple of years after the release of the original as both Charles Band and Nicolaou weighed the pros and cons of returning to Romania to continue the series. In an effort to maximize efficiency, the team decided to invest in a trilogy where parts II and III, now fully written by Nicolaou, would be filmed simultaneously over the course of a single grueling shoot.
Much like the first Subspecies, Bloodstone’s low budget meant that the filmmakers once again had to cut corners and re-use as many of their resources as possible. Thankfully, the process was much easier this time around as Nicolaou, with the help of Romanian cinematographer Vlad Paunescu and his wife Oana, became more acquainted with local customs and made new friends. Shooting abroad still came with its own unique set of challenges due to a lack of translators and the occasional safety concerns, but the crew managed to make things work by filming things guerrilla-style and setting up shop in abandoned caves and real medieval ruins.
The director’s newfound contacts, coupled with the relative success of the first movie, meant that he was basically given free rein over an assortment of shooting locations usually considered off-limits for indie horror. That’s why Bloodstone features insanely ambitious lighting and effects work even during scenes shot in the middle of a bustling Bucharest. The filmmakers went so far as to project Radu’s Nosferatu-like shadows over local monuments as if he were a Romanian boogeyman, an idea that was actually encouraged by local cinephiles.
In fact, many of the more elaborate scenes here had originally been planned for the first movie before being discarded due to the lack of available resources. It was only with the support of Romanian fans and filmmakers that Bloodstone was able to give Radu a chance to be even more menacing the second time around.
Michelle’s Transformation Takes Center Stage
However, when it came to the American part of the crew, not everyone was able or willing to return for another round of Romanian adventuring. That’s why Radu’s human-loving half-brother Stefan (Michael Watson) is unceremoniously killed off at the beginning of the film while the role of Michelle had to be recast. Denice Duff took over for Laura Mae Tate, with the character now being joined by her sister, Rebecca, played by Melanie Shatner (yes, that Shatner).
In the finished film, we follow Michelle as she awakens to her new life as a vampire and discovers that Radu has murdered her lover. Struggling with grief and her newfound bloodlust, Michelle contacts her sister overseas, with Rebecca soon travelling to Romania on an ill-advised rescue mission. Meanwhile, Radu (Anders Hove) reaches out to his undead Mummy (Pamela Gordon, underneath heavy layers of impressive makeup effects) and promises to deliver her the coveted Bloodstone artifact while also making Michelle his eternal consort.
Revisiting the movie, I was impressed with how introspective this story is when compared to the original. The sequel assumes that you’re already familiar with the previously established characters, so the story wastes no time in exploring the immediate aftermath of the previous film’s events. From Michelle’s reluctant transformation into a creature of the night to Radu’s obvious mommy issues, Nicolaou is way more interested in pushing these characters into new and uncharted territory rather than recycling existing plot points.
Practical Effects and Gothic Atmosphere Still Impress
Yet, much like the first film, it’s Romania itself that makes the movie worth watching. The ruins of Castle Vladislav are even more majestic now, and visiting the moody streets of Bucharest with its surprisingly punk-rock nightlife made for a nice change of pace when compared to the original film’s quiet village setting. Once again, the abundance of interesting locations makes the movie feel much more expensive than it really is, with the filmmakers surrounding our characters with a living, breathing environment that would be impossible to recreate in a studio.
The increased freedom also allowed Nicolaou to flex his filmmaking muscles and tackle more ambitious blocking/composition in the sequel. The low budget and tropey script mean that the visuals don’t always work, but it’s consistently clear that this neo-expressionist style could only come from a passionate team attempting to pay homage to the shadowy horror classics of yesteryear. If the retro atmosphere isn’t enough for you, there’s enough practical gore here to satisfy even the most demanding of horror hounds!
Radu himself is also far more interesting now that Hove is more comfortable working alongside an international crew, with the actor having gone on record explaining that, while he spent more time drinking vodka than working while shooting the first movie, the sequel was a much more creatively satisfying experience for everyone involved. The character’s relationship with his abusive Mummy is also a highlight of the expanded mythology, especially since the practical effects that bring her to life are just as freaky now as they were back in ’93.
My only real gripe with the horror elements of the picture comes from the glaring absence of the diminutive stop-motion minions from the first film, though I guess the surprisingly entertaining addition of Professor Popescu (Michael Denish) and his archeological antics mostly make up for that.
Bloodstone: Subspecies II is obviously the middle chapter of a trilogy, with the ending feeling a lot less definitive than its predecessor as several plot threads are left to dangle in the wind, but I appreciate how the flick explores new ground while remaining faithful to nearly all the ideas that made the original such a good time. While I don’t think it’s as big of an improvement over the first movie as some fans make it out to be, Bloodstone is definitely worth revisiting if you’re a fan of old-fashioned vampire yarns.
Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion to this initial trilogy, Bloodlust: Subspecies III!
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