Solid genre thrills in ‘Dangerous Animals’
It’s not often we get an Australian film receiving a regular theatrical run, but “Dangerous Animals,” the new thriller from director Sean Byrne (“The Devil’s Candy”), is that rare exception. It’s a tight, lean, muscular genre piece that’s confident in how it delivers its shocks and slowly squeezes the audience in its grip of fear.
Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is a free spirit, an American surfer in Australia in search of killer waves. She lives out of her van, living off of bread rolls and pilfered ice cream, when she has a genuine encounter with Moses (Josh Euston).
Bonding over Creedence Clearwater Revival, the two share a special evening that ends when Zephyr takes off before Moses can serve her breakfast. She has intimacy issues, deep-rooted ones that hint at her upbringing.
She heads out to a surf spot Moses recommended, but unfortunately catches the eye of Tucker (Jai Courtney), a psychopathic serial killer who uses sharks to kill his victims. Tucker abducts Zephyr, hides her away on his boat, where she meets another captive, Heather (Ella Newton), and it becomes a race against time. Shark-feeding time, that is.
It’s a simple premise that would, in weaker hands, probably be a cheesy B-movie, but with a focused script by Nick Lepard (who wrote Osgood Perkins’ next thriller) and committed performances by its main duo, “Dangerous Animals” proves to be a taut high-wire act of tension. It’s got a classic structure, with a cold open that ends with the audience knowing that Tucker is a few levels beyond deranged.
Attacked by a shark as a young boy, he’s now got a morbid fascination with the creatures. He tells the tale to the movie’s first victims (which includes Heather), and it’s really the only backstory we get, but when Zephyr verbally rips into him later in the movie, a quick reaction shot lets us know that her blows land.
Nerve-wracking sequences
The scenes between Zephyr and Moses are handled with care, giving the couple room to show their chemistry, and establishing the stakes when Moses suspects something is afoot with Zephyr’s disappearance. He’s the only one who cares enough to do some sleuthing on his own. This leads to another set of nerve-wracking sequences, each trying to outdo the other for suspense.
Courtney has never been more memorable than as Tucker. His physicality alone is intimidating, but his leers and off-color jokes add another layer of sinister if that wasn’t enough. Harrison shows herself to be a very credible Final Girl; one hopes this puts her on the radar of more casting directors.
“Dangerous Animals” is also, perhaps surprisingly, shot with more beauty and care than one would expect of a horror film. There are some fantastic nature shots of the ocean and its inhabitants, contrasted by the brutality of Tucker’s actions that thankfully do not involve the kind of torture porn this kind of fare might suggest.
This is no grindhouse piece, but a no-frills, unrepentant pure genre thriller that keeps everyone guessing and on their toes with unpredictability, fake-outs, and a heroine to root for.
