[8.50/10] The Reef (2010)

The Reef (2010)

Full review: "Black Water" director Andrew Traucki delivers this marvellously-crafted predator flick, that follows Luke, who welcomes his friend Matt and his girlfriend Suzie that come from London and Matt’s sister and Luke’s former girlfriend Kate that comes from Sydney to sail with him and the sailor Warren in a sailboat. However, the vessel hits an underwater rock and capsizes with an opening on her bottom. Luke advises that they should swim in the north direction to reach the Turtle Island, in Queensland, Australia, while they have strength since there is a current moving the boat in the opposite direction of land but Warren prefers to stay on the hull waiting for help since there are sharks in the water. The quartet swims, but they are hunted by a great white shark. "The Reef" may seem quite similar to Chris Kentis's shark feature "Open Water", but in fact it's a far superior film in many ways. Visually, "The Reef" is surprisingly slick and incredibly well-photographed! Andrew Traucki proves himself as a fantastic and very gifted director with great sense for detail. His incredible eye for aesthetic images, perfect camera skills and brilliant shooting style make him a virtuoso behind the camera. His open water and panoramic shots are as brilliant and stunning as his underwater shots, and the variety of camera angles he uses is just as impressive. Thanks to his genuine talent and great skills, "The Reef" is not your regular shark movie, but a gorgeously-crafted horror flick, that is as beautiful as it's thrilling. Moreover, he's capable of creating a great, massive tension, that makes your heart pump hard, and breathe heavy, especially during the attack scenes, which are frighteningly realistic, tense and very well-executed. The shark itself looks 100% real, and it's bigger, scarier and meaner than the sharks in "Open Water". The story, while nothing groundbreaking, is perfectly-paced and consistently engrossing throughout, without a single dull moment. Acting-wise, "The Reef" truly delivers. Adrienne Pickering, Zoe Naylor, Gyton Grantley and Damian Walshe-Howling are all equally good and credible as the four friends, isolated in the middle of the ocean and terrified to death by the giant white shark that hunts them. They're so convincing in their roles, that it's hard to say who stands out the most. Their characters are well-developed, sympathetic and thoroughly believable, and all the actors project a wide range of emotions, such as genuine fear, frustration and despair, as victims of an unfortunate fate.

Overall summary: It's no "Jaws", but Andrew Traucki's "The Reef" is a brilliantly-shot, incredibly realistic, and super-intense edge-of-your-seat horror flick, that easily ranks among the best shark-themed films of all time, and is every bit as stunning and compelling as it's terrifying!