Perigo em Alto Mar

Watched this on Netflix. Really good low budget Shark movie that sits above all other shark flicks except Jaws (1975). The direction and pace of this film is superb with lots of suspense and the acting from all the cast is great, I actually cared for the characters, not something I often feel! Big thumbs up.

"Your more likely to die from a bee sting then get killed be a shark." After the boat that they are on gets damaged and is unable to move, five friends must decide to wait it out on the boat or swim to an island. When the decision is made they soon begin to regret their choice. First of all I will say that I did enjoy the movie. I have not yet seen the movie "Open Water", but after watching this I feel like I have. This movie is repetitive but keeps you watching. People swim, they see a shark...over and over. Like "Open Water" this is a true story, which helps in the enjoyment of this. There really isn't much more to say about this movie, not too much to it, but it is entertaining. Overall, I liked it, but if you have seen "Open Water" this may be too much of the same thing to fully enjoy it. I give it a B.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I will.

*Also try - Frozen & Open Water

The Reef (2010) is a movie directed by Andrew Traucki. It's a new generation shark movie, and probably the one that gets closest to being a horror movie. It's an Australian movie so the actor's accent might be a problem for non-native English speakers that aren't used to it, I recommend toggling the subtitles on if possible.

The movie starts off in medias res, with a group of friends heading to Indonesia with a sailboat. We find out eventually, that two of the protagonists had a relationship in the past, that functions as side story that isn't too relevant, especially towards the end. During the trip the sailboat hits the bottom of the reef and tips over, making it unable for the characters to proceed. They choose to swim to the nearest island, about 12 miles from the shore, but a great white shark that swims in the area won't make things easy for them.

As I am always kind of skeptic about new shark movies, I didn't have high hopes for this one either. But it turned out to be better than what I expected it to be. As I said, it has some jump scares and it's the most realistic shark movie I have seen. It is not based on a true story but it could have easily been. It's the only shark movie that made me think twice before jumping into deep waters again.

In my opinion, the acting was good, with a lot of screaming and macabre reactions, that really gave me the feeling that I was watching a real event and not a movie. It's nothing too extreme, but that's exactly how a horror shark movie should be, realistic.

I would recommend this movie, alongside with Steven Spielberg's Jaws, as the shark movies you need to watch as a shark fanatic. Solid plot, good cast and overall a more than average shark movie worth watching.

Alright, so this is never going to win any Oscars, yet it was very entertaining.

The character development was good, I actually cared for each person, which for me is a great indicator. If you can pull that off, it's got a bit of quality right there. Nothing felt fake or over/under done. The shark shots were real, no fake plastic models to be found! The movie was often pretty tense, i found myself literally on the edge of my couch. It was nice to hear the Aussie accents and it didn't feel "americanised" in any way. A great little movie with dedicated actors and a solid, scary story! Well done.

When I saw, I could be the first one to write a review for this movie, I thought to myself, that's a chance not to let go! And here I go... If you're familiar with horror flicks in general and animal terror-flicks in detail you'll find yourself reminded of the notorious "Jaws" (well, of course since it's the godfather of Shark-films), "Open Water" and, if you know who the director is, also of his latest film "Black Water". To be honest, "The Reef" hasn't many similarities to "Jaws". It has though many similarities to "Open Water", and if you liked that last named, you'll definitely like "The Reef". The style of direction here uses perspectives from the point of view of the protagonists and therefor also a lot of shaky-cam. Although this is no revolution in directing anymore, it surely succeeds in adding realism to this movie and giving the audience the feeling of being one of the group. The characters are all very authentic, without the typical stereotypes in the Hollywood-made animal horror-flicks, so it gets very easy to feel sympathy for and identify with the characters (like in "Black Water"). Because the director probably didn't have the biggest budget to spent for his movie he made clever choices in what to show and what to leave to the imagination of the viewer. It's always better to show effects only if they're worth to show, and so does Traucki in this movie. For example Traucki doesn't show how the yacht capsizes or delivers an exact explanation why it overturns, but not in the way that he's cheating the audience by keeping back important information. He just puts you in the situation of the individuals and doesn't give you the chance of seeing from a bird's perspective what has happened to the yacht. But what he shows to us is very well made. The shark looks, moves and behaves like a shark, like the animal that is the most dangerous predator in the seas, and not like an exaggerated monster from outer space. Unfortunately it's pretty easy to estimate what's happening next in the movie, but that's due to the simple setting in the sea, with water and almost nothing but water. What the film manages very well is getting never boring and holding the audience's attention during the whole duration of the movie. You can say that the movie shouldn't have lasted longer though, the duration is perfect. And now... go and see the movie yourself...or just take a swim!