Dangerous Animals
When Heather (Ella Newton) and Greg (Liam Greinke) oversleep and miss their tour group outing, they decide to team up and try shark cage diving, but they pick the wrong independent tour operator in Tucker (Jai Courtney, "Suicide Squad"), a man with a stronger taste for blood than the sharks he admires in "Dangerous Animals."
Laura's Review: B
Writer Nick Lepard came up with the concept of combining the serial killer and shark movie and director Sean Byrne ("The Loved Ones," "The Devil's Candy") has run with it, a feisty heroine, free-spirited but guarded survivor Zephyr (Hassie Harrison, TV's 'Yellowstone'), adding extra bite.
While it has some pretty gruesome moments, "Dangerous Animals" is more thriller than horror, the filmmakers wisely highlighting the psychology of their characters. Jai Courtney, the Australian actor who failed to rise above lackluster franchise entries "Terminator Genisys" and "A Good Day to Die Hard," finally makes a splash as a villainous boat captain with truly sick taste in entertainment.
A pre-title sequence introduces us to everything we need to know about Tucker, whose old metal boat is docked at the end of a neglected looking pier whose only other resident is the neglected looking Dave (Rob Carlton) and his spunky little terrier, who appears to have a distrust of their neighbor. Greg helps Heather get over her nerves while overlooking the fact that Tucker's noted no one knows where they've gone As it turns out, Heather's thrilled by their close encounter with underwater maneaters, but when Tucker unveils his true agenda after they're back on board, she screams in unrestrained terror.
Back on dry land, we meet American surfer Zephyr in an auto parts store, the equivalent of a Home Depot for a woman who lives in an old van. The pretty blond catches the attention of Moses (Josh Heuston), a handsome guy in a white shirt and tie who resorts to blackmail (she helped herself to a Slurpee without paying) in exchange for a jump. While Zephyr is initially suspicious of the buttoned up real estate dude, they click, but after an amorous evening spent in the back of her van in his driveway, Zephyr splits before being served breakfast in bed. Moses knows where she intends to surf and she'll answer a text, but by the time he arrives all he can find is her van. Later, he'll see it being towed away and thankfully, continue to try and track her down when the police fail to take action.
Zephyr, who was abducted at night in that parking lot by Tucker, will awaken to find herself handcuffed to a cot in his boat's hold next to Heather, who appears to have already accepted her fate. Zephyr is a different story, but her fight only piques Tucker's bloodlust. She'll be strapped into his fighting chair for that evening's entertainment which Tucker will videotape for his future enjoyment - the lowering of Heather by crane into shark-infested waters, the fish primed with bloody chum.
Moses' determination to find Zephyr is based on more than his attraction to her as he understands her distrust of relationships is based on having been passed from one foster home to another. And Zephyr's dance with Tucker is deepened by her own understanding of his damaged background, something she wields like a psychological knife. Heather's psychology too, the child of a more privileged upbringing whose protective mother warned her against taking this gap year vacation, illustrates the difference in how serial killers relate to their victims, vulnerability playing right into their hands. This is more than we usually get from a horror thriller, and the cast all raise the bar with their introspective acting.
Cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe uses extreme angles to illustrate shifting power dynamics and maintain spatial integrity within Tucker's vessel which is often seen isolated at sea in drone shots. Thankfully, gore effects are kept to a minimum, Zephyr's own self-harm as a means to escape and rescue the worst the film has to offer (shades of "127 Hours"). The film's biggest drawback is the repetitive nature of Zephyr's near escapes, the woman getting away numerous times only to be recaptured. The film also relieves the tension with a few blasts of humor, "Dangerous Animals" the second thriller of the year to use 'Baby Shark' for yucks, its over the top climax inviting a laugh. It is also the second film of the year that presents surfing in Australia as a particularly dangerous sport, not because of the waves, but because of the locals.
Robin's Review: B-
Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is a free-spirited surfer who has followed her dream, but as a loner. The random passing of a stranger at the beach turns into a nightmare when she wakes chained to a bed and threatened to be fed to the sharks by a madman in “Dangerous Animals.”
While never a fan of horror films, especially ones about a sicko serial killer, I can recognize when something is done well or not. “Torture porn,” which is what I call “Dangerous Animals,” is generally a turn off for me. But here, we have a really strong heroine in Zephyr, a wacko killer who collects trophies from his many victims and…sharks!
Things begin normally enough when two strangers, to each other, book a trip for a shark cage adventure. The young woman, Heather (Ella Newton), is taken captive and the young man is stabbed in the throat and thrown overboard. Cut to Zephyr and her chance meeting with Moses (Josh Hueston) and an idyllic night together. She then heads off to a secluded beach to catch some waves - alone. There, she is spotted by the shark guy, Tucker (Jai Courtney).
Things do not go well for the young woman as the crazy shark guy abducts her. She ends up in a room on his boat, chained, with Heather in the same predicament. From her, we learn of the sick ritual that Tucker has in store for his prey and it is not pretty, involving chum and lots of sharks. A battle of wills begins with the monster running free rein on his captives as Zephyr fights to survive.
It makes sense that, in 2025, we have a horror movie with sharks on the 50th anniversary of the greatest shark movie of them all – “Jaws.” Here, though, the monster is not the Great White lurking just beneath the waves, it is that most evil monster ever. Man. And, Jai Courtney gives a single-minded and focused performance as the maniacal killer in control.
As is the norm in serial killer horror movies you want the monster to die a hideous death and get the comeuppance it deserves. Director Sean Byrne and writer Nick Lepard do not tread on much by way of new territory but do a good job of showing who the real monster is.
Ever since the introduction of the “Saw” franchise, I have avoided torture porn. It is not what I consider entertainment. Sean Byrne, though, combines the strong-willed, resourceful and very capable woman, a bad guy madman you love to hate and, of course, sharks, and makes it work.
IFC releases "Dangerous Animals" in theaters on 6/6/25.
