As I watched The Reef: Stalked, I started getting this weird realization that I kind of liked it… and my heart sank. And it kept sinking the longer the movie went. Did this mean *gulp* I’d have to write a positive review for a cheap shark attack movie? What would that do to whatever limited and perplexing rep I have as a nobody reviewer? Would anyone trust any of my reviews again? Do they trust them now? Alas… I had to say “alas”. Either I write a decent review or I groupthink a bad review.

Not that I think The Reef: Stalked is a great movie and not that I think it has a title that exactly rolls off the tongue. But this generic shark attack movie does what most shark attack movies can’t… it has suspense. It seems to have a director who knows how to film a scene and a sound editor that can make the simple sound of lapping waves eerie.

The Reef: Stalked is apparently the sequel to The Reef… which I didn’t see. I took a chance I’d be able to keep up with the deep lore of The Reef franchise by stepping into part 2 blind. I think I was ok.

The film is about a woman who recently had a traumatic experience and, instead of spending her time in a support group with the gal from The Descent and the other gal from Fall, she decides instead to go on a kayak adventure with three friends in the middle of the ocean. A shark attacks.

Yeah, the characters are mostly blank slates and I think two of the ladies were sisters which they didn’t mention until an hour into the movie… and they have some cockamamie plans to kill the shark that didn’t make sense to me. And yet I was involved in their survival.

Hell, the shark even looked half-way decent (when it wasn’t stock footage of a real shark). Maybe it’s just because it was never on screen long enough to look bad… in which case credit again to the director for shooting around their limitations.

Maybe it was two too many Jaws movies in too short a time, but I liked this one. Sorry guys. I’ll do better next time.

Score: 78