Directed by Sean Byrne — Screenplay by Nick Lepard.
Dangerous Animals is a survival horror shark film from Aussie director Sean Byrne that follows a female American drifter surfer named Zephyr (played by Hassie Harrison), who, after a romantic encounter with a young Aussie real estate agent (Moses, played by Josh Heuston), has cold feet and skedaddles away to to a beach to surf, without saying goodbye. However, before she can catch the waves late at night, she runs into Tucker (played by Jai Courtney), an eccentric Aussie boat captain who makes money taking tourists out to swim with sharks in cage dives. However, Tucker is not a friendly stranger, as he actually abducts Zephyr and traps her on his boat. It turns out that Tucker is a sadistic murderer who gets off on videotaping people getting eaten alive by sharks. While Zephyr tries to escape the boat, Moses partakes in an official search for the woman whom he was smitten by.
As someone who grew up in a household with a father who has always been absolutely obsessed with shark films, I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what makes a good film in the subgenre and which films stand out. Nowadays, with the Sharknado films and the various The Meg films, the genre has gotten turned into a little bit of a joke, which is a shame given the rich history of the subgenre. The subgenre, of course, features Stephen Spielberg’s iconic early blockbuster film, Jaws, which not only still holds up but is actually turning fifty this year. For me, personally, the best shark films other than Jaws are Renny Harlin’s Deep Blue Sea, Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows, and Chris Kentis’ Open Water. Frankly, I’ll probably be adding Dangerous Animals to that list now.
Now, let’s not get carried away. I think there are a couple of elements here that don’t fully work for me, but when this film is good, it is really entertaining. First things first, the underwater and shark-heavy scenes are just really good. The filmmakers have done a good job of putting to the big screen how much in awe of these animals they are. Then there’s the tone and the extent to which it is allowed to be grisly. This film is quite dark, grisly, violent, and nasty in ways shark film aficionados and horror-thriller fans will probably really get excited about, but I also really liked how the film would sometime opt for a tongue-in-cheek tone, e.g., jokes, opening title card with a punk-like font and a fun needledrop. That blend of dark viciousness and out-there dark humor is a balancing act that Jai Courtney is particularly adept at working with, and the film is sensationally good when it rests entirely on his shoulders. Courtney’s drunken murderer character is silly, cocky, and a showman, and Courtney absolutely nails the role, which sometimes feels like an Aussie drifter version of Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs.
So, what are the drawbacks with Dangerous Animals? Well, to be fair, it has a fairly simple animal message at the heart of it. It being that sharks can’t help being who they are, but that humans are the real — yep, you guessed it — dangerous animals. I also just think the film relies too much on jump-scare noises that, frankly, I don’t think it needs to be entertaining. In certain scenes, those noises are more eye-roll inducing than shocking. Then, as a personal nitpick, I found it frustrating that the film teases two much darker potential endings only to settle for one that is far too predictable. Finally, I have to say the film is at its strongest when it isn’t focused on its protagonists, and, though it feels harsh to state, the film is just not as engaging when Jai Courtney isn’t on-screen. Even still, this is a definite recommendation from me, because of how much the film lights up when Courtney gets to perform.
7 out of 10
– Review written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 