Movie Review: Dangerous Animals

By John Corrado

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, we get Dangerous Animals, a clever, entertaining spin on killer shark movies from director Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones). In Byrne’s film, the sharks aren’t the real villains, and the main threat is actually a different type of predator; a human serial killer who feeds his victims to the creatures.

The predator in question is Tucker (Jai Courtney), a jovial Australian bloke who operates a tourist boat allowing people to get up close and personal with the “misunderstood” creatures. But he is actually a sadistic serial killer who kidnaps women to use as live bait for sharks, dangling his victims into the water and filming the attacks for his own gruesome entertainment.

Tucker’s latest would-be victim is Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), an American surfer drifting through Australia. She has a one night stand with local real estate agent Moses (Josh Heuston), before sneaking off to surf in the morning, afraid of commitment. She is instead picked up and kidnapped by Tucker, who holds her captive on his boat, waiting to use her as the next pawn in his sadistic game. But Zephyr is scrappy and not about to be used willingly as shark bait.

If Dangerous Animals is indebted to killer shark movies of the past, namely Steven Spielberg’s flagship summer blockbuster Jaws, Byrne is playing with a clever filmmaking allegory as well that makes it feel fresh. This is never more true than when we see Tucker peering through the viewfinder of his camera like a deranged director, as he shoots his latest twisted snuff film. He carefully catalogues his VHS tapes of various kills, watching them back as he eats his dinner.

Courtney is having a ball playing this messed up Aussie, and like Josh Hartnett’s performance as a serial killer at a pop concert in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, this could signify an unexpected comeback for the actor. And, like Hartnett in Trap, Courtney strikes that balance between over-the-top and also chilling. As the obligatory female lead in a horror movie, Harrison does engaging work as the victim who fights back.

Byrne pulls off a careful balance between moments of camp (Courtney’s Tucker gleefully sings “Baby Shark,” setting the tone early on), while still keeping us engaged and building genuine tension. The film operates as a fun midnight movie, with enough one-liners and film references to let us know Byrne wants us to enjoy ourselves, while also functioning as a tight, suspenseful little thriller. It’s a good mix of summer movie, grisly horror, and modern play on the killer shark genre.