Some modern horror movies are curious commodities indeed. They copy tread worn scenarios, people their films with unlikable protagonists (even if they’re TV-friendly faces), and then expect us like lemmings to follow them anywhere. Truth to tell, David R. Ellis’ Shark Night doesn’t do much of anything new with its slice-and-dice premise even if the film’s one true claim to fame is a “surprising” twist midway through the film which is allegedly there to ratchet up the tension and take the film from being a Jaws-like thriller to a Friday the 13th-style wannabe. Instead of admiring the daring of switching gears midway through the movie, however, the viewer finds that the film gets more lame-brained as it runs, and moments that are meant to be poignant or heroic are instead ludicrous and laughable.
Shark Night (Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
Directed by David R. Ellis
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2011
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish
Region: A
MSRP: $ 39.99
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Review Date: December 30, 2011
The Film
1.5/5
Haunted by a terrifying near-drowning incident in her past, Sara (Sara Paxton) reluctantly returns for the first time in three years to her parents’ resort home in a remote salt lake area of Louisiana with college friends Nick (Dustin Milligan), Beth (Katharine McPhee), Malik (Sinqua Walls), Maya (Alyssa Diaz), and Gordon (David Joel Moore). Though local sheriff Greg Sabin (Donal Logue) is happy to see Sara back in the area, Sara’s long ago boy friend Dennis (Chris Carmack) and his creepy pal Red (Joshua Leonard) are less welcoming to the collegiates. When Malik’s arm is bitten off by a shark infesting the lake waters, the race is on to get him help in order to save his life, but surprises await the group of friends as continual shark attacks keep them stranded from help and without any means of contacting the mainland.
Where to begin detailing the absurdity inherent in this entire project? How about the way the sharks have of disappearing and reappearing at random intervals? When Nick goes diving (with no goggles in murky water) to try to find Malik’s chewed-off arm, where is the shark who only minutes earlier bit it off (and why wouldn’t the creature have eaten it anyway)? Malik rises from his bed in near catatonia from shock and loss of blood and yet is able to grab a spear to go out and kill a hammerhead (and is successful)! Why would two supposedly educated near-college graduates willingly get into a boat with two strangers (one with teeth sharpened into points) who moments before had been hassling them? How can someone stab another person in the throat with a knife and yet draw no blood or even cause an injury? All of these brutally inane plot points come courtesy of scenarists Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg who cherry pick their favorite shock moments from the last thirty to forty years of horror films and then mimic them (the film’s first sequence is such a blatant rip-off of Jaws that the film earns instant viewer animosity from their cribbing and then retains the negative vibes as we meet our cast of characters who rather than converse with one another do nothing but offer putdowns and sarcasm as a means of communication.) Though director David R. Ellis gave us Snakes on a Plane and two of the four Final Destination films, there really isn’t much here that’s frightening nor is there much suspense (or gore for that matter; the film’s PG-13 rating insures that). The film’s most entertaining moments, in fact, have nothing to do with horror but rather are a series of impressive acrobatic stunts pulled off by Sinqua Walls’ stunt double on a ski board.
There are a raft of familiar faces from television and movies who are part of the cast, and as talented as some of them can be (Donal Logue, for example, who’s fronted several television series or Joel David Moore who recurs on Bones and had an important supporting role in Avatar), the script gives no one a chance for anything but the most superficial of performances. The victims are all toned and gorgeous, supposedly making their demises all the more tragic (though the real tragedy is their participation in the film), and the villains are cardboard cutout sadists, sneering with maniacal glee over the torture-porn they’re participating in but barely rating the flicker of a viewer eyelash when they meet their own makers. Even the forced romance at film’s end is irritatingly predictable.
Video Quality
3.5/5
Filmed digitally and in 3D, the Blu-ray presents the 2D version of the movie in its theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio offering 1080p resolution using the AVC codec. Without 3D, the movie’s main claim to fame is completely missing reducing the images to an often digital look that can sometimes be glorious but can sometimes seem a bit foggy, underlit, and somewhat uninspired. Black levels are often milky looking, too, making for poor shadow detail. Flesh tones look natural and color saturation levels are certainly above average. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix relies too much on the hard driving score by Graeme Revell along with the rock songs which play during moments when surround effects would have been more appropriate and enveloping for the viewer. There are some ambient sounds in various channels but not enough to really immerse the viewer in this particular locale teaming with sharks of all kinds. Dialogue is clear and has been placed in the center channel. The music and specific “terror blasts” of bass at opportune moments give the LFE channel something to do.
Special Features
2.5/5
Unless otherwise indicated, the bonus features are in 1080i.
“Shark Attack! Kill Machine!” will be a boon for the gore fans: it strings together the eight death scenes in the film in order in one 5 ¾-minute montage. It’s in 1080p.
“Shark Night’s Survival Guide” offers 4 ¼-minutes of actual shark-related trivia to give credence to the sharks that are portrayed in the movie.
“Fake Sharks – Real Scares” offers interviews with director David R. Ellis as well as the film’s animatronics’ coordinator and its CGI coordinator showing how they skillfully blended their expertise into creating the monsters for the film. This runs 5 ½ minutes.
“Ellis Island” is the EPK for the movie, 4 ¼ minutes of brief interviews with the actors praising the director for his work on the project, and he, in turn, praising their efforts in making this physically demanding movie.
The theatrical trailer runs for 2 minutes in 1080p.
There are promo trailers for Haywire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Martha Marcy May Marlene.
The second disc in the set is the digital copy of the film with enclosed instructions for installation on PC and Mac devices.
In Conclusion
2/5 (not an average)
Without 3D to enhance the visuals, Shark Night has very little to offer. It isn’t bloody enough and lacks the intensity of the most compelling fright films for the slasher fans out there, and for a moviegoer only wishing for something scarily entertaining, it’s too inane to truly satisfy. This one is a loser all around.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
