The Reef - DVD Review

'the early shots of the group of swimmers being circled by the gigantic great white are relatively visionary, certainly chilling and by far the film's best moments'

The Reef claims to be the 'scariest shark thriller since Jaws' which, when you take a look at the competition (which includes all three Jaws sequels and the fun but distinctly un-scary Deep Blue Sea), might not be as hyperbolic a claim as it initially appears. Andrew Traucki's low budget 'shark-em-up' puts five people on a capsized boat in the middle of the Ocean and forces them to answer the question; 'stay put or swim for shore?'. It's a simple premise but Traucki's got an ace-up-his sleeve with The Reef's unique selling point: every shark in the film is a real-life great white shark, shot specially to play the be-finned predator.

On reflection, this was probably the only choice available to the director; visual effects and animatronics are expensive when compared to sticking a camera and some bait in the Australian waters for a few days. Regardless of the thought process behind it though, the footage of the sharks is edited together well with the pre-recorded captures of the main actors and Traucki switches between placing the shark in the foreground and the background to give the sense of being stalked and a realistic sense of size, scale and depth. Some of the early shots of the group of swimmers being circled by the gigantic great white are relatively visionary, certainly chilling and by far the film's best moments.

Aside from those elements though, The Reef is one of those films that gets a bit bogged down with a 'haven't we seen this before?' feeling. Obvious comparisons have been drawn to 2003's Open Water but parallels could equally be drawn to any creature feature you care to mention. There's a period of about forty-minutes or so when we know 'something' will happen and Traucki, like many directors before him, plays on that in obvious ways; there's a 'jump' shot as a fish swims from off screen straight in front of the camera for example and several moments when people say things like 'I think I saw something'. It's not that this isn't effective in creating a certain amount of tension but it's all incredibly predictable and a little bit tame. The score, by Rafael May, can't even entirely avoid comparisons with the Jaws 'dum-dum' theme.

The all-Australian cast are a touch hit and miss; Kieran Darcy-Smith is under-used and a bit flat, Adrienne Pickering (who admits on the extras to being terrified of sharks in real life) is convincing when there's a beastie around and screaming is required but less so when dialogue needs to be delivered, whilst the lead pairing of Damian Walshe-Howling and Zoe Naylor have obvious chemistry and develop well throughout.

It's by no means a disaster of a direct-to-DVD release, just a startlingly average, un-original one. Having said that and as a little bit of Googling will tell you, if you want to watch people being eaten by large sharks, there are many worse options available.

The Reef is out on DVD in the UK from 24th January.

Look further...

'successfully frightening enough to thwart any person who plans on swimming along the Great Barrier Reef any time soon' - Great Expectations - 3/5


  1. www.kennethwgrimshaw.com14 January 2011 at 12:18

    You must read: The Greatest White Shark Story Ever Told!
    "My Friend Michale" a true story about the Real Jaws.

  2. I think that Open Water is probably the best shark film - truly harrowing.

  3. You know what, as I read the first paragraph of your review I thought you were taking about 'Open Water'! I haven't seen either, but never heard of 'The Reef' until today. Geez, they sound so alike...

  4. Ken - I'll let you off that piece of blatant self-promotion Ken, at least it's on topic!

    John - I remember OPEN WATER being exactly as you describe it but equally, a bit like THE REEF, I remember them struggling to pack enough stuff in to keep me entertained for ninety minutes. It's JAWS for me, probably followed by DEEP BLUE SEA.

    Edgar - they are incredibly similar. Variations on a theme.