The Reef

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.

Andrew Traucki director of croc flick Black Water (2007)  hones his skills in this tense shark flick that makes Open Water look like Open season.

The story is simple, a boat becomes wrecked, and all but one of a group of five friends try to swim their way across the reef to a small island.

It's well filmed with no dodgy special effects in sight. The script is natural and is not forced or cheesy, the hand held camera work is effective and not a shaky mess. This is no low budget schlock. It's taught film making, wonderfully shot with some fantastic edge of the seat primal fear, courtesy of a real Great White Shark.

It's no Jaws, but as a basic survival film it works a treat. Shark lovers like myself will eat this up.

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.

"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

I think this film highlights decisions that people have to make in life death situations. The isolation of being in the ocean with miles of the unknown below where you swim, where currents change and waves are constantly battering against you is everyone's worst nightmare and then of course comes sharks. There was a lot of tension in this film and given the small cast they were all excellent in their roles and were very convincing. Nothing in the film felt fake and of course the footage of the sharks were real. This film is well worth a watch.