We all have guilty pleasures like watching a movie that is so bad that it actually becomes hilarious. Showgirls is a perfect example: the screenplay is ludicrous and the acting is over the top, but we all enjoy the nudity (both female and male) and the dancing and the stripping. Shark Night is another example: the plot of this horror movie is silly and predictable, to say the least, and the acting is wooden, but we can't wait to see how most of the cast is killed off.
A group of young people spends a long weekend in a gorgeous house located on a beautiful saltwater lake. They all represent a certain prototype: the innocent virgin, the jock, the nerd and so on. They quickly have a run-in with some bad guys, but very conveniently there is a sheriff nearby. It doesn't take long though for our group to figure out that there is something "fishy" in the water. And the viewer quickly knows who will survive the shark attacks and who won't. Of course, you might ask yourself how these sharks end up in a lake, but the movie gives a hilarious explanation at the end.
Shark Night neatly follows the well-known rules of horror movies. For example, whoever says that he will be right back, will never return. If you had sex, you won't survive either. And of course, the black guy gets killed. To be honest, the black protagonist of Shark Night really has no luck at all. It takes two terrifying attacks before he dies.
The movie was directed by David R. Ellis, who did have some experience with horror movies. He directed two of the Final Destination movies and the hilarious Snakes on a Plane, which is actually a favourite of mine. No CGI was used for the sharks, so it's all animatronics. In the USA, Shark Night was also released in 3D. The movie received mainly negative reviews. The plot is far from original, the acting is not exactly Oscar-worthy and given its theme, it's surprisingly not very gory (probably because of its PG-13 rating).
Although Shark Night is certainly not a worthy alternative of Jaws - the mother of all shark killer movies - it's actually quite entertaining. It's dumb, the reason why a lake can contain sharks at all is ludicrous, the bad guys are silly and there is, of course, a bit of nudity. Most of the protagonists die in a different way and the sharks look quite convincing. And finally, will the sympathetic dog survive? So sit back, turn off the lights, deactivate your brain - it will be necessary - and have fun!
Score: 1,5/4.
Director: David R. Ellis.
Duration: 90 minutes.
Actors: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack.
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