The water is just fine…

Make no mistake, Dangerous Animals is more about the sharks out of the water then the ones in the them but none of that matters when you’re having this much fun.

When Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), a rebellious surfer, is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer (Jai Courtney) and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below.

I’ll be the first to admit that Dangerous Animals has a pretty simple and ridiculous premise but it all works in a fashion that could only be described as blood curdlingly simple as director Sean Byrne finds the sweet spot between campy, claustrophobic and downright chilling.

Everyone involved in this really throws themselves into the piece with gleeful abandon as Byrne allows us to get invested in the true insanity of the moments.  While it lacks the visceral punch of his debut feature The Loved Ones and it doesn’t quite embrace the shark feature storytelling tropes, it makes up for in unadulterated filth as it oozes a lurid stench of blood, sweat and sex throughout.  Byrne goes out of his way to make this one feel filthy and that’s why it works.  Sure Buffalo Bill’s basement in Silence of the Lambs was terrifying….but when you put that on a boat and add sharks to the mix, you’ll find yourself at the edge of your seat, which also represents your sanity.  This story asks you to take the insanity of the moment and wrap it up in your arms in a warm embrace because Byrne gets a cinematic stink in our clothes that is hard to ignore.

In pairing with the undeniable mood of it all this whole thing works because star Jai Courtney is let off the chain to deliver a charming, sleazy and ultimately terrifying performance as our killer who enjoys watching his victims be eaten by the sharks below while dancing around his boat to the sounds of Stevie Wright.  At first glance, Hassie Harrison could have been mistaken for a low rent Jennifer Lawrence type, but she brings the “final girl” energy pretty early on in this film and it’s all an absolute delight to watch as she engages in psychological warfare with her capture.

No, Dangerous Animals is not going to be shattering any box office records or changing the genre as a whole, but in this day and age where everything needs to be layered with some sort of social message there’s value in the other end of that spectrum.  Dangerous Animals is the trash-tacular hit of a movie that we all need in our lives right now.   Just butter up the popcorn, lean back and maybe even stick your toe in the water so you can really enjoy this luridly visceral thrill ride that knows exactly what kind of movie it is.   There’s value in embracing what you are, and Dangerous Animals is just the right level of spectacular nonsense that will sooth any movie goer’s soul.