The Reef

Horrorphile

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The Reef

March 2nd 2011 02:43

Based on true events that apparently occurred in the 80s off the coast of Townsville, Australia, Andrew Traucki’s follow-up to his impressive debut, Black Water (2007), is The Reef (2010), and it does for ferocious sharks what Black Water did for ferocious crocodiles. To put it bluntly, if your worst fear is being eaten alive by a Great White then The Reef will ensure you have nightmares for weeks. It’s an excellent low-budget horror-thriller that boasts a very realistic-looking beast. How? Because director Traucki skilfully uses real shark footage edited and composited with the actors, just as he did with the croc in Black Water. It’s enough to make the hairs on your back bristle with abject terror.

The Reef Damian Walshe-Howling and Gyton Grantley

Damian Walshe-Howling as Luke and Gyton Grantley as Matt

Kate (Zoe Naylor), her brother Matt (Gyton Grantley) and his girlfriend Suzie (Adrienne Pickering) arrive on the Great Barrier Reef and meet up with Kate’s ex-lover Luke (Damian Walshe-Howling), who whisks them off on a sailing and snorkelling trip. On board the yacht is Warren (Keira Darcy-Smith), a local hired hand. The weather is perfect, and so is the tiny island they visit. But soon enough their holiday will turn to hell.

The Reef Zoe Naylor and Adrienne Pickering

Zoe Naylor as Kate and Adrienne Pickering as Suzie

Kate and Luke’s romance is re-ignited after a gorgeous dive, but they still have their differences. Back on board the yacht everything is going swimmingly, until a shallow reef shears off the keel, and the boat immediately capsizes. Everyone scrambles onto the hull. Luke announces the best decision is to swim back toward the island (which is no longer on the horizon), since the current is pulling them swiftly in the opposite direction. Warren and Kate refuse to swim. Warren knows the waters and what lurks below, while Kate is plainly spooked.

The beauty of the reef

Luke, Matt and Suzie set off, leaving Kate and Warren to hopefully wave down a passing plane or boat, but Kate changes her mind and joins the swim team, leaving Warren on his lonesome. So now we have the awesome foursome in the water, making their slow and steady way back toward the island, kicking and splashing and trying to remain as positive as possible, despite the gnawing sensation they’re being watched, or worse, followed … which, of course, they are.

The Reef Kieran Darcy-Smith, Damian Walshe-Howling, Zoe Naylor, Adrienne Pickering, Gyton Grantley

Warren (Kieran Darcy-Smith), Kate, Luke, Suzie and Matt hit an obstacle

The Reef plays on one of the horror genres most successfully tried and tested techniques for creating the perpetually sweaty brow and bristling spine; the extension of jeopardy. In this case four people swimming in the ocean and being pursued by a more than a little curious Great White shark, and he’s no baby either. He’s big, and he’s hungry, and these four people are acting like seals, which to the shark spells food. The question is, will they reach the safety of the island before he starts chomping?

Black Water was a waiting game, and so is The Reef. It’s nerve-wracking, and director Traucki ratchets up the tension something chronic. Especially frightening are the “empty” shots from the point of view of Luke submerging himself and peering through his diving mask into the deep blue … Or the shots from down under looking up at the group dog-paddling. As for the money shots, Traucki opts for a less is more approach. The Reef isn’t gory, or even very bloody, but there is definitely violence. There is definitely destruction to human life. But then, you knew that was going to happen just by looking at the poster.

Matt thinks he's seen a shark fin ...

Andrew Traucki’s screenplay isn’t interested in twisty narrative devices or superfluous sub-plots (apart from Kate and Luke’s history); The Reef is a beautifully-shot, solidly-acted nightmare joy ride. Just like Black Water it skilfully presents us with likeable characters and builds enough empathy with them before throwing them in the deep end with one hell of a scary beast, and lets your imagination do the rest. This monster is all too real, and this story really happened. If you enjoyed Open Water (2003), you’ll love The Reef. Jaws (1975), eat yer heart out!

... and he's right!

Here’s the trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

11 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Matt Shea

March 2nd 2011 03:26

Man, we're disagreeing today. I thought this was pretty average. I have trouble remembering this in detail, but I didn't care about the characters and thought a lot of the key elements were poorly handled or poorly placed. The actual shark attacks are great though, no doubt. It's definitely passable, but could have gone to production with a much stronger script.

Comment by David O'Connell

March 2nd 2011 05:14

20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic

Reasonable hopes for this. I quite liked Black Water which was really well made considering the miniscule budget and single location.

Comment by Bryn

March 3rd 2011 00:09

Horrorphile

Matt, I had a feeling either you or David, or both, were not gonna dig this one so much. Gotta say our sensibilities differ dramatically with some movies. One critic came out of the screening muttering, "Well, that's ninety minutes I'll never get back ..." But I thought it did its job very well, but you have to be able to appreciate that kind of job. As for stronger script, well, I beg to differ, unless you start contriving other sub-plots. It's a shark chasing people. Look at Halloween for example, it's pared back, lean and mean. A psycho chasing people. I'm not saying The Reef is anywhere near as good as Halloween, but Halloween isn't cluttered by trying to be a clever script, it's simply atmosphere, sustained terror, and a few shock deaths.
Looks like I'll be going on on a (severed) limn with this one.

Comment by Matt Shea

March 3rd 2011 02:19

I understand what you're saying, and I'm not asking for Magnolia on water-skis. I just didn't think they stretched the situation for all it was worth: throw a bit of tension into the group rather than making them a set of pool chairs away from a floating support group. Bloodied foot: why put it at the end when we already know the shark is going to attack again? Put it at the start, and maybe use it to set the group against each other. The scene where they are leaving the boat - make the decision a bit more agonising... and what happened to the flippin' dingy? For all that, I still thought it was half decent, but like you said, it's a shark chasing people: make the most of it.

Comment by Bryn

March 3rd 2011 04:59

Horrorphile

Fair comments. Yes, dinghy! Crumbs, I hadn't even thought of that! That's rather glaring, actually.

Comment by Bryn

March 3rd 2011 05:00

Horrorphile

Magnolia on water-skis ... hahahahahaha!

Comment by Matt Shea

March 3rd 2011 05:13

Yes, thanks, 'dinghy' - bloody hell, that's poor. It is glaring - I thought it was just me not paying attention but my compadre for the eve picked it up as well. Still, it sounds like a hate this film, and I should make it clear that I don't. Off to Drew's, gonna rewrite Magnolia with water-skis.