Last weekend I took a dive into a horror flick I've seen strangely little of, but have heard quite a bit about. Sean Bryne's Dangerous Animals sunk its teeth into theaters this past weekend. While I know that this is hardly Bryne dipping his toes into the waters of the horror genre with two of his previous works being The Loved Ones in 2009 and The Devils Candy in 2015, I had never seen either of those so this was my first brush with his work in the horror genre, and I'm pleased to say I had a blast with it. Those who know me know that I love serial killer and slasher flicks, and while I'm not as deep into the shark sub-genre as other horror fans, the prospect of a shark serial killer flick hybrid peaked my interest.
Dangerous Animals follows lone wolf surfer Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) as she tries to escape the clutches of the psychotic and shark obsessed serial killer Tucker (Jai Courtney). The film is packed with tension, especially when it comes to Harrison and Courtney's cat and mouse chases, most of which occur on a large boat captained by Tucker himself. While the film isn't as bloody as one would expect from a shark flick, there's a handful of standout scenes that will satisfy the gore hounds in the audience. One of my favorite aspects of the film is Courtney's performance, he brings an unhinged yet weirdly charming performance and was at some points eerily reminiscent of real life serial killers. His performance as Tucker felt like a serial killer you would actually find yourself reading about in a true crime book.
Harrison's defensive and standoffish character clashes with Courtney's charismatically creepy serial killer insanely well. I can always appreciate when a slasher heroine and her psycho opponent play off each other well, and this pair do exactly that. You route for Zephyr, you get excited as she develops a new plan, a new route, a new form of hope for survival. Yet at the same time, you can’t help but grin any time Jai Courtney takes the screen.
Another aspect I really enjoyed was the film's pacing, between the aforementioned cat and mouse chase scenes on the boat and the slow and agonizing kill scenes (or rather build up to the kill). They had me on the edge of my seat for pretty much the whole run time. Every time I thought "there's no way they can draw this out any longer," the film does exactly that without sacrificing tension. The whole film is captivating, from its gripping opening scene to its tense third act.
Overall, Dangerous Animals takes films like The Shallows and Peeping Tom and stirs into a deadly summer time slasher concoction. The film serves as a great kick off to summer for horror fans, and hopefully trailblazes a new sub-genre of horror, clashing deep sea creature features with serial killer slashers. If you enjoyed this review, be sure to follow our website for more reviews and editorials on the horror genre. Also be sure to follow me on Twitter/X @JacobAtTheMovie as well as Instagram and Letterboxd @JacobTheHarper.
Dangerous Animals is now playing in theaters.