Dangerous Animals

Australia's known for its deadly wildlife, but Dangerous Animals asks-what if the most dangerous predator was serial killer steve irwin? This sunlit survival horror follows Zephyr, an American surfer abducted by a shark-obsessed madman (a delightfully unhinged Jai Courtney) who feeds tourists to great whites as eco-reparations. It's a wild premise, but the relentless tension, grounded action, and unexpectedly emotional beats make it work. With beautiful real shark footage, clever set-ups and payoffs, and one of the gnarliest self-surgery scenes i've seen in a while, the film manages to be scary, ridiculous, and empowering all at once. A brutal, blood-soaked ride that somehow still finds time for a killer dance scene and a touch of heart.

I was not familiar with any of the 3 leads and found them all to be excellent. Hassie Harrison seems like a young slightly prettier Jennifer Lawrence and that is a huge compliment. Jai Courtney was terrific as the villain He delivered some great speeches and in one scene channeled his inner Buffalo Bill to great success. Josh Heuston was also new to me and he had great charm and elicited tons of empathy in his role. About 15 minutes in I was thinking, "OK, now what are they going to do with this setup." It seemed like it would be claustrophobic and limited with where it could go. Was I ever wrong. Kudos to Sean Byrne for a great script and solid direction that really kept he tension high. Most of you are going to see this when it lands on Shudder. I think it is not going to be as great as on a bigger screen for sure. I would have rated this higher, but an 8 and up film is somewhat exceptional. Comes very close, but I think I will have forgotten the film in a year or two and that kept my score a 7. Try to catch it at your theater if you can.

Warning: puns abundant (^_^) For a B horror, 90 minutes is a safe bet so I dived in. Also, the film is in regular format, no bells and whistles, non-sense 3D up-charge version, no pesky glasses.

Time is well spent on dialogues and interactions enough to engage sympathy, kudos to the cast. Fantasy and horror films, often underrated by critics' circles, require good actors who can compel audience to suspend belief and buy into the lore / situation. Formidable villains raise the stakes, and Jai Courtney delivers. Instead of a leading man role, being a vicious, obsessive killer with superficial charm gives more opportunities to Courtney to widen his dramatic range. Other characters also pulled off compelling performances that make audience root for their struggles.

Gore-horror scale: graphically high. I turned away since I'm not a torture porn fan. I'm more of an escape plot-twist fan. Either camp won't be disappointed. The story keeps an even pace, actions not too frantic to follow, and not poetically slow.

I especially was impressed that within such tight runtime, the story managed to portray sharks as both a terrifying force of nature and an endangered species that must survive the disruptive human activities (leisure or business wise) in their habitat.

After the hilarious mashup Shark-nado, this killer-nature slasher genre is a welcoming addition to the cinema goers. You can't watch a great white jumping on a 50" home TV screen after all.

I saw an early screening of Dangerous Animals without watching a trailer or knowing anything about it. When it started, it felt like it was going to be one of those super low-budget movies that feels so limited and never reaches the heights afforded by bigger budget movies. Luckily I was wrong.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie for the entire runtime. The horror/thriller elements are done well. You can feel the tension and savor the suspense. Several moments made my jaw drop.

I've been a Jai Courtney hater for a while after his roles in Terminator 5, Die Hard 5 and Suicide Squad. But I LOVE his performance in this movie. Not only is it the best acting I've seen from him, he is legitimately scary as this character.

Overall I had a great time with this movie and would recommend it to any genre fans. And it's more enjoyable the less you know going in.

(1 viewing, early screening 6/3/2025)

Excellent indie thriller with jai Courtney giving a fine performance as our truely dangerous animal.

All the thrills and horror on the boat keep you guessing and cringing with terror as this film rolls on.with stunning cinematography and breathtaking violence to hold you till the end.

All the cast did a fine job and the script holds up better than most in these type of movies.

Oh and the sharks do make an appearance and yes truely terrifying beasts of the sea, but the real animal is jai Cortney.

Filmed on the gold coast and qld this local film will not do tourism any favours. But hey I don't think it will stop them neither.