The Reef

"You look like a seal in that, sharks love seals."

In a thriller like this one you have to be careful about what you leave to the imagination and what you show. Thankfully The Reef finds the balance and manages to perfectly capture despair and isolation without sacrificing pacing or disappointing the audience with a lack of sharks.

I liked this film a lot, its only problem was being a little too derivative. It's very similar to both Open Water and its sequel. However, it takes the ideas presented in those and ramps up the events. Whereas Open Water's screentime was largely devoted to two people floating in the ocean, The Reef leaves four people isolated and picks them off one by one. It makes for a much more traditionally entertaining experience, but it's well done in a way that doesn't make it typical. There's actual suspense and build-up to the scares.

The shark scenes are done well, mixing real footage of a great white with our actors. When I heard this was how the effects were done before seeing the film I was iffy on the concept. However, it's nearly perfect. The digital compositing of the people into the shark footage and vice-versa is flawlessly done. There's only one shot that stands out as a bit unreal, but it's very brief and doesn't take away from the experience.

If you were one who enjoyed this directors other film Black Water, or enjoyed the concepts presented in Open Water (or the film itself), than The Reef is definitely a film worth checking out.

Critical rating- 7/10
Entertainment rating- 7/10
Shark movie rating- 8/10

5 Things More Likely to Kill You than a Shark Attack

To combat the negative portrayal this blog might give for sharks, I've decided to compile a list of 5 things more likely to kill you than a shark attack.

Each year there are about 100 reported shark attacks, with only about 4 causing death. According to The Shark Attack File  17 people were killed from a shark attack in 2011. This was an increase in number over previous years, but still nothing compared to the following ways of death:

5.) Malfunctions While Scuba Diving
You're more likely to die under water from complications with scuba equipment than being attacked by a shark. Over 100 people die every year from scuba divining incidents like these. Almost 6 times more likely than being attacked by a shark!

4.) Death From Jellyfish
The jellyfish is the true ocean-dwelling killer. Over 40 people die yearly from jellyfish attacks, and many, many more are injured from the creatures.You probably know someone who's been stung by one! I'm not in the least afraid of sharks, but if I see a jellyfish in the water you better believe I won't be back in there for a while.

Far scarier than Bruce!

3.) Falling Coconuts
Even more than jellyfish, if you're visiting the beach this summer you need to be on the look out for coconuts. Often a comical scene in television programs, the danger of falling coconuts is very real. So watch out next time you decide to relax underneath a palm tree!


2.) Cow Attack
More deaths from cow attacks are reported each year than any shark attacks. Perhaps they're tired of us eating them and their children!


1.) Defective Toaster
In 2007 there were 791 people killed by toasters.

So while you may think sharks are scary, this is what you really should be afraid of.

2-Headed Shark Attack

"Two heads is twice as many teeth!"

Thank you Asylum, you finally lived up to one of your film's titles. The promise of an entertaining shark attack movie was actually fulfilled, complete with blood and nudity!

2-Headed Shark Attack feels like a legitimate movie. The plot is thin but coherent, and the pacing is good, never getting nearly unwatchable like Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. The acting is, of course, terrible, but there are some recognizable people among the cast which somehow makes it slightly more tolerable.


Brooke Hogan gets stuck in between the heads of the vicious beast.

and the effects! They're actually really neat! They're totally awful, but in a self-aware way. There's an actual animatronic shark in this, instead of relying on CGI (which it also has a lot of). The film still has some annoying Aslyum-esque editing going on during the action/attack scenes, but it's much more entertaining than anything else I've see by them so far.

I was left with a sour taste in my mouth after Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, but 2-Headed Shark Attack made me a little less hesitant to try out whatever shark movie Asylum comes up with next.

Critical rating- 3.5/10
Entertainment rating- 7/10
Shark movie rating- 7/10

Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus

The Asylum must have spent 70% of their budget creating the cover for this movie. I should have learned my lesson after Titanic II, but the title of this movie caught my attention. How can you avoid something named "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus"?

Well you should, first off, the characters look nothing like they do in that artwork, and second they only show up for about 3 minutes of screentime in an excruciatingly painful 90 minute movie.

To put this simply, I hated every part of this movie that didn't have a shark or octopus on screen. There were admittedly a few entertaining sequences, like the infamous plane attack, but overall I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. Just look up clips of the two fighting on youtube and save yourself the trouble of sitting through 90 minutes of this crap!

Critical rating- 1.5/10
Entertainment rating- 2/10
Shark movie rating- 2/10