By Daniel Rutledge
When I first came across some information online about Shark Night, I got pretty excited.
It's directed by David R Ellis, the bloke who at the time had directed my two favourite Final Destination films, along with the way over-hyped and unfairly bashed Snakes on a Plane. On the back of the success of Piranha 3D - another cheap thrills film I really dug - I figured Shark Night 3D would be a lot of fun.
It's not.
I'm not sure why it even exists. Fans of Final Destination and Piranha 3D-type movies give a lot of the crappier aspects of the filmmaking in them a pass for the cheap thrills they provide - over-the-top gore and gratuitous nudity are the staples, but one may also reasonably expect some decent scary sequences and a few laughs along the way.
Shark Night has these features in either no quantity at all, or in such small doses they’re barely worth a mention.
Obviously a horror revolving around sharks has some people getting killed by the underwater killers, but you'll generally see more than red food colouring in the water which is all that is on offer here. All of the Jaws movies had gorier scenes than anything in Shark Night. Even something like the PG Jaden Smith Karate Kid movie was more violent.
Nudity wise there's a bit of side-boob, a lot of abs and some naked man butt, but if you're expecting anything raunchier than what you'd see on Home and Away you'll be demanding your money back.
A lot of the shark CG effects are so bad they make this thing look like an Asylum joint (Sharktopus, Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus etc). The animatronics are good in places, but most of the sequences that should be scary are poorly directed and cause very little tension at all.
But the film is not completely bad. The tone of it is nice and campy in what is seemingly the signature David R Ellis style. Sara Paxton is just as adorable here as she was in Ti West's The Innkeepers, in stark difference to the generally unlikeable remainder of the cast.
The reason why there are sharks in a lake killing people isn't revealed until the third act and is a very sinister twist on the genre that could've been great if it was delivered better.
There's also a post-credits hip hop sequence where all the main characters jokingly rap about the movie, ending in a rendition of Amanda Blank's 'A Love Song'. It's by far the best comedic moment of the entire film and most people will miss it, sadly, as it's hidden after the end credits in a movie most people will be in a hurry to get out of as fast as possible.
Despite these few enjoyable elements, Shark Night 3D is a baffling disappointment.
One and a half stars.
3 News
Shark Night 3D
:: Director: David R Ellis
:: Starring: Sara Paxton, Chris Zylka, Dustin Milligan, Katharine McPhee, Sinqua Walls, Alyssa Diaz and Chris Carmack.
:: Running Time: 95 mins
:: Rating: R16 - contains horror, violence & sexual references
:: Release Date: September 15, 2011
:: Trailer: Watch here
source: newshub archive
