On 20 June 1975, almost 50 years to the day, Jaws was first released on over 400 screens in the United States.  It propelled the career of a young Steven Spielberg, it became the highest grossing movie of the year, and it intensified our fear of sharks.  A new generation of filmmakers have since put their own spin on this niche genre, sometimes dramatic and sometimes comedic, but no other shark film has achieved such a cultural breakthrough.

The latest director to “dip his toes in the water” is Australian Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones) with Dangerous Animals, shot here on the Gold Coast.  Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys) stars as Tucker, a scruffy boat operator who runs a small shark cage diving business for tourists.  I’m reminded of the Latin phrase “caveat emptor” or, in English, “let the buyer beware”.  Customers should be reading Google reviews because Tucker is not someone you want to deal with.

Put simply, he’s a psychopath.  He kidnaps young people, often loners and backpackers, and dangles them from a crane at the back of his boat.  He adds a splash of blood in the water and then waits for hungry sharks to sink their sharp teeth into fresh meat.  It gets worse.  Tucker films the killings with an old VHS camcorder and unemotively rewatches the tapes while sitting inside his cabin eating breakfast.  You’d think cops might have caught on at some point but meh, it’s a minor plot quibble.

Tucker’s latest target is Zephyr (Harrison), an American on holidays in Australia to enjoy our wonderful surfing conditions.  She wakes up to find herself handcuffed to a metal bedframe in the boat’s hull and once the reality of situation sets in, Zephyr knows she has only has 24 hours to outsmart Tucker and escape.  Someone with a role to play is Moses (Heuston), a young, inquisitive Aussie she had a romantic fling with just prior to the abduction.

When the film is good, it’s very good.  First-time writer Nick Lepard has crafted a workable script filled with tense moments while Jai Courtney enhances the material with his unsettling performance.  You’ll be left wondering how Zephyr will extricate herself from life-threatening peril and you’ll feel the anxiety as she tries to keep her plans from the observant Tucker.  Coming in at a taught 98 minutes, the movie should also be praised for avoiding a long-winded set-up and getting straight to the suspense.

On the flipside, when the film is bad, yeah, it’s bad.  It’s laughable to see Zephyr and Moses having calm discussions, with a splash of romance, when realising they’re likely to die.  There are a few too many convenient plot points where a heroic character is seconds away from freedom but comes unstuck (one on a beach is particularly annoying).  Acknowledging the film was made on a shoestring budget, the visual effects and camera trickery are also too obvious.

Jaws playfully used the tagline “don’t go in the water” while Dangerous Animals flips that on its head by saying “you’re safter in the water.”  It’s an entertaining horror ride that reminds us that humans can be scarier than any shark.