DANGEROUS ANIMALS

Dangerous Animals is wickedly fun horror goodness as Jai Courtney lights up the screen with a spectacularly deranged performance that makes this film a must see for horror fans, on top of gruesome kills and wince worthy moments that captures the thrills and excitement of a serial killer flick.

Ever since Jaws, audiences have been trained to be fearful of swimming and sharks in horror movies, with films like Deep Blue Sea and The Meg amplifying that fear. It’s easy to do a killer shark film, but what director Sean Byrne and writer Nick Lepard do with Dangerous Animals truly adds blood to the water within the horror genre. Posing the question of what is more dangerous, a bloodthirsty sharks or a deranged killer, this shark horror film brings a fun new twist to the subgenre that is never for a second light on bloody kills that will once again have viewers scared of heading into the ocean this summer… and the strangers they meet at the beach. Though, it is the insanely unhinged and pitch perfect from Jai Courtney that makes Dangerous Animals one summer horror film that genre fans cannot afford to miss on the big screen.

For years, Hollywood was trying to make Jai Courtney the next big star with casting him in big budget blockbusters like Divergent, Terminator Genisys, A Good Day to Die Hard and Suicide Squad, but every film mishandled his talents. Yes, he was often cast as a menacing villain or an action hero, which he has the physique and hulking stature for, but not a single one of the roles allowed him to tap into his true talents. Enter Bruce Tucker, the serial killer who feeds his victims to hungry sharks and films them in Dangerous Animals. It is proof that with the proper writing and role, that any actor can be spectacular. Every second he is on screen, Courtney energizes the entire film with an unpredictable, terrifying and psychotic presence that will make any horror fan giddy with excitement. From the world’s most uncomfortable singalong to “Baby Shark”, the unhinged excitement he gets from terrorizing his victims in one diabolical game of cat-and-mouse as he prepares them for his next feeding, or the menacing killer he transforms into as he chases Zephyr around his ship, there is not a moment where Courtney is nothing short of magnificent in the most cruel and horrifying way imaginable. To say the least, this is a career best performance from Courtney that is among one of the most memorable performances of the year so far that proves Courtney needs to be cast as more deranged killers in the horror genre going forward or else we are wasting his true potential as an actor.

There is no stealing the spotlight from Courtney for a second of the film, as he is without doubt its most valuable player, but the supporting cast is solid. Hassie Harrison makes for a tough as nails final girl as Zephyr, bringing a relentless fight to the film that makes her character the first worthy opponent that Tucker has crossed paths with, making a great case of why she should become the next it final girl for the horror genre. Josh Heuston is commendable as the love struck boyfriend, refusing to give up on Zephyr and willing to risk his own life to save her, doing exactly what the script asks of him and  with a tenderness that instantly warms the audience to his character. Ella Newton makes for a solid target for Tucker, perfectly contrasting Harrison’s Zephyr badass heroine with a scared young woman knowing that there is no escape, giving a truly scream worthy performance when it comes time for her to meet the sharks. And while he is only around for the opening scenes, Liam Greinke is firing on all cylinders as Greg, Tucker’s unassuming victim, trying to act all macho for the girl he is crushing on and coming across as the most obnoxious bro that makes for easy shark bait. Greinke perfectly masks his Australian accent as a Canadian tourist who comes across as the most stereotypical American tourist you can imagine, making for a fun performance that helps the film start off with a bang and some great laughs, that even this Canadian critic will forgive him for giving Canadians a bad rep on screen because Greinke is so entertaining.

Given that Dangerous Animals is a film about a serial killer feeding his victims to bloodthirsty sharks, you are not expecting a riveting story. You are watching this film for gnarly kill sequences, gore, and an unnerving tension, and this film delivers that in spades. From lots of uncomfortable laughs in the opening scenes as the audience watches Tucker’s unexpecting victims become shark bait, when the film is focusing on the psycho killer aspect, the screenplay is firing on all cylinders. Yes, the relationship development between Zephyr and Moses in the first act is a little lacklustre, but the reversal making Moses the damsel in distress and Zephyr is exactly what the film needs to fuel a thrilling third act. The kills themselves are bloody, gruesome and down right disturbing, giving the shark carnage and psycho killer mayhem that viewers want, especially one the film enters its second half and does not let up till the credits roll. Even with that one iffy moment of CGI at the film’s climax, it’s such a heart pounding and rewarding moment that it won’t prevent theatres from erupting into applause and cheering. Weaving a warped sense of gallows humour throughout, Dangerous Animals serves up everything you could want from a fun and bloody horror film.

With it being the fiftieth anniversary of Jaws, the greatest shark film ever made, this year, it is only fitting that the subgenre is seeing one of its best films since that iconic piece of cinema that has forever made viewers afraid of the ocean. Effectively capturing that same fear of the water with a wild twist, director Sean Byrne and writer Nick Lepard have crafted everything that audiences could want from a summer horror film: heart pounding tension as a cat-and-mouse game unfolds between a serial killer and his victims and gruesome and shocking shark attacks, all bolstered by a phenomenal turn by Jai Courtney. With a towering performance from Jai Courtney that is every bit as marvellous as it is psychotically unhinged that steals the entire film, Dangerous Animals becomes one hell of an entertaining summer horror film thanks great and bloody shark attacks, a great final girl performance from Hassie Harrison and all the serial killer madness horror fans could hope for.