It seems to have been impossible the past 25 years to make a shark movie that can match Spielberg’s classic Jaws for sheer terror, but Andrew Traucki’s Australian horror The Reef has succeeded where so many others have failed. Obvious comparisons will be drawn to 2003’s Open Water, but unlike Open Water (which in all fairness was still a decent movie), which played heavy emphasis on the relationships of the characters and how they deteriorated as matters got worse, The Reef focuses a lot more on a great build up of suspense, mixed with some highly effective scares.
Traucki is starting to make quite a name for himself in the creature feature department, tackling a shark in The Reef as well as a crocodile in his 2007 film Black Water. He has come a long way thematically in the three years between films, with both production values and action now significantly better. There are several similarities between The Reef and his 2007 debut, both seemingly based on actual events, and with The Reef more or less being a remake of Black Water, just with a different predator. Like Black Water, The Reef sees a group setting out on a trip by boat, only to find themselves capsized and at the mercy of one of natures greatest predators.
Despite being set in the ocean, the Great Barrier Reef to be precise, The Reef gives off a very strong sense of isolation. Regardless of seemingly being surrounded by nothing but space, the group have nowhere to go except for swimming a specific route that may or may not lead them to land. People think to films like Alien and The Descent when asked to name a horror film with heavy focus on claustrophobia, but The Reef shows us that wide-open spaces can evoke the same sense of claustrophobia and isolation as small cramped spaces.
The shark itself makes for one terrifying predator. Much of the footage used is of a real shark, as opposed to the now-dated Jaws and its not-so convincing model. The scenes in which the shark was attacking the group in no way felt over or under done, it just came across as tense and believable. The cast are clearly all very talented, giving off very believable and realistic reactions to what’s going on around them.
OVERALL SUMMARY
The Reef, although likely to be strongly compared to both Open Water and Jaws, stands on its own as a terrific tense horror. If ever there was going to be a film that would make you wary of going out to sea this is it. The cast are believable and the scares are intense. Prepare to find your hands vise-gripped to your sofas by the end credits.
