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!
Review of The Reef
