Last nights Cineworld "Secret Screaming" screening ended up being "Dangerous Animals". The crowd seemed largely happy with that outcome and, as it not always the case with these screenings - pretty much everybody stayed for the whole film.
Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) meets charming Moses (Josh Heuston) and they spend a lovely evening together. To his disappointment, she skips away in the early hours to go surfing. She doesn't make it to the waves though as she's kidnapped by Tucker (Jai Courtney). On his boat, out at sea, she wakes up chained to her bed, with Heather (Ella Newton) in the next one across. Unfortunately for them, Tucker is a killer who likes to use his boats crane to feed women to the sharks that inhabit the Australian coastal waters.
There are certainly elements to like with this film. Jai Courtney is perhaps the films biggest strength. Tucker is certainly a horrible monster, with more than a hint of misogyny in his selection of vulnerable women as his targets. But he's charismatic with it, largely looking like he's having a blast with the role. He's matched by Harrison, the films real lead, and it's her survival story that the film revolves around.
The films budget feels relatively small, but I have to say that the sharks, a mixture of real footage in some early scenes and CGI when required later in the film look good. Actually, the film in general looks good, with attractive shots of the Australian coast and taking some time to explain the geography of the ship to you which is helpful when it becomes relevant later.
There's a lot of tension to the film, but I'm not sure that I'd describe it as being scary. The idea of being lowered into shark infested water is pretty horrible, but in terms of what you actually see, I didn't think it was particularly gory either.
I will say that perhaps this is the sort of film that you only need to see the once and won't require many repeated viewings once you know what's coming and where, but it was fun on this first viewing.
