Unseen Terror: Day 8

The Reef is a 2010 film from Australia which centers around a group of five people (two couples and their "captain") who go on a routine sailing trip. While trying to return home, the boat hits an underwater rock and capsizes, leaving everyone stranded. The captain Warren says it's best to just stay put on the boat and not risk going into the water, saying it's easier to wait it out and be rescued. The others insist they swim to the nearest patch of land , which is about 10 miles away and not dehydrate (though one has to wonder how you could truly dehydrate when you're surrounded by water). Warren stays behind and the swimming couples find themselves being stalked by a rather familiar looking fish...

Calling this film the Australian equivalent to Open Water might be a bit unfair, even though they are both purportedly based on true stories and feature sharks as the main "villains." I'm going to try and avoid making comparisons though, mostly due to not having a great memory of the aforementioned film.

Two things are very apparent with The Reef: Australian waters are really fucking scary, and the other is that there are stupid white people not just in the United States, but ALL OVER the world. I know this is based on true events, but I would figure that these people are accustomed to being surrounded by dangerous animals, not just ones stuck in the ocean, so why do they continue to do stupid things that put them more in harm's way? The script and acting here really kept me from legitimately enjoying this one (the first 40 minutes will really test your patience), which is a shame considering that when it finally picks up, it actually is pretty suspenseful. I believe the actors were shot with actual real sharks as well, so when they start getting nervous, you feel like it's genuine fear and not any hokey "OMIGAWDITSASHARKFUCKFUCKFUCK" type of shenanigans. Too bad they stink most of the rest of the time.

I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this one more, but then again, maybe killer shark movies just don't really scare me that much anymore. The last one I saw that I really enjoyed was Deep Blue Sea and even that was a bit on the ridiculous side. The Reef isn't a BAD movie, but it's buried underneath so much stupidity that I can't really give it a good recommendation, even with some of the moments I did enjoy.

Tomorrow, I'm visiting an 80s classic (at least, I hope it's a classic) with THE BURNING.