The Reef: Stalked

One of my absolute favourite places to be, is on a beautiful beach. Especially on a hot day, where you can enjoy your coffee, a couple of sandwiches and perhaps a beer as well. Not thinking about time or when you have to go, just enjoy the day as it is. Read some of the latest movie reviews in the newspaper, or perhaps in Empire Magazine ( my personal favourite movie magazine ). I always go swimming in the ocean, becuase i love the free space that you get there. No pool filled with people so you can´t swim anywhere. Don´t get me wrong, i enjoy swimming pool´s as well, but swimming in the ocean is more my thing. You never know if you will encounter any fishes or other sea creatures in the ocean, so if you go snorkling you might find some surprises. I have seen quite a lot of fishes now and then, but some of them don´t like to be near as you approach them. So what if you would encounter a shark, what would you do then? I think most of us would panic, wich is of course no surprise. Speaking of sharks, there are a lot of films out there outside of Steven Spielberg´s cult classic Jaws that can be found on DVD or Blu Ray. You have the traditional shark films, and then you have the crazy ones that may not make a lot of sense, but are entertaining anyway. I suppose it all depends on what kind of shark film you prefer, and there are several titles worth checking out. One of the better ones ( if you ask me ) is the 2010 shark horror film known as The Reef. Directed by Andrew Traucki ( director of Black Water, worth checking out ), The Reef tells the story of a group of friends, sailing to Indonesia. To get to their destination they have to sail through a coral reef. Their sailing boat is damaged and their journey ends. Using the supply they can get their hands on, they have to try make it to land. But there is a great white shark near by, and they have no other option but try and survive. The Reef is in no way a big budget film, but it is a well made shark film. The acting is good and i do think the shark scenes are effective. If you have not seen The Reef i suggest you pick up a DVD copy online, and give it a try. I was surprised to see that director Andrew Traucki have directed a sequel to The Reef, simply called The Reef: Stalked. Since i didn´t know this sequel came out on Blu Ray, i decided to pick up a copy while i picked up some other films as well. Is this a worthy sequel to The Reef, or should they have skipped this sequel right from the start?

Nic ( Teressa Liane ) lost her sister Cathy ( Bridget Burt ) after her boyfriend Greg ( Tim Ross ) drowned her. Struggling to deal with all the pain and sadness, she decides to go on a kayaking trip with her friends Jodie ( Ann Truong ), Lisa ( Kate Lister ) and is suprised to find Annie ( Saskia Archer ) joining as well. They decide to do this kayaking trip in the memory of Cathy. Everything seems well at first, until they find out that something is following them out there.

The first thing that i have to say that this sequel does right, is to not copy the original film completely. There is a different plot here, and this is actually a good idea if you are going to make a sequel. Instead of just making a similar film to the first one, bring something else to the table. And this is exactly what this sequel does and i am thankful for that. I also like the idea that they don´t use another sailing ship in this film, but bring in kayaking instead. That gives this film a different look and a different feeling, surrounding the atmosphere of the ocean. The characters of this film are very easy to blend with, and they feel natural. I especially enjoy actress Teressa Liane ( who fans of TV series The Vampire Diaries will recognize, where she played the character Mary Louise ) in her role as Nic. You can tell she is traumatized finding her sister killed, and it affects her everyday life. So for her to go on a kayaking trip, with the memory of her sister drowning is of course a very big step. Teressa manage to balance her character in a realistic way, and is able to show emotions of the trauma she is carrying. Actress Ann Truong ( who played the character Shin in the Netflix TV series Cowboy Bebop ) is the cool character Jodie in this film. It feels like Jodie is in control with herself, and is able to deal with most situations in life. Actress Kate Lister ( who you will most likely recognize as the character Jeannine Murphy in the Netflix mini series Clickbait ) plays the role as Lisa. It feels like Lisa is the kind of woman you would love having at a tea party, she seems so easy to talk to, no matter what the subject is about. So how is this film from a shark attack perspective? I would say it´s actually not bad at all, better than a lot of low budget shark movies. It is not as good as the original film ( i just had to make that clear ), but that does not mean you should not see The Reef: Stalked. If you are a fan of shark movies, and especially films in this genre that have a bigger budget, i feel that this film have enough to offer to be worth a watch. Director Andrew Traucki have no problem getting back into this genre, since he knows how to make effective shark attack scenes. The Reef: Stalked is definetely one of the better shark films i have seen in recent years, and that alone gives you a reason to pick this film up on DVD or Blu Ray. I would love to see director Andrew Traucki return with another The Reef sequel in the future. Perhaps if he could do a sequel that takes place on a fishing boat, or how about a floating house? I guess we will have to see if he would consider making another one. What are you waiting for? Get your copy of The Reef: Stalked today, or i might have to send my missile sharks after you ( yes i did train some of them, in a secret facility in Norway, don´t tell anyone though ).

Rating: DDD