DANGEROUS ANIMALS Review: Best (and Most Unusual) Shark Attack Thriller in Years

Fans of "animal attack" horror are on a pretty lean diet these days for numerous reasons, both good (the limited use of live animals out of concern for their safety and well-being) and bad (cheap cg means talent and creativity are no longer required).

Killer shark films have been especially egregious on that latter point in recent years as Sharknado-level cg has become acceptable to too many, so when a film comes along that delivers the goods with its shark thrills and horror, you can't help but take notice. Dangerous Animals is a long overdue gift for fans of the subgenre.

"There was nothing for me on land," says Zephyr (Hassie Harrison), when asked why she's drawn to surfing and the sea. A rough life has led to her nomadic lifestyle, one where she relies on no one and lets no one rely upon her, and that, in turn, has led her to a coastal town in Australia and the promise of some challenging waves. She gets more than she expected, though, when a jovial madman named Tucker (Jai Courtney) abducts her, handcuffs her to a bed frame aboard his trawler, and makes his plans for her crystal clear.

He's going to chum the water, dangle Zephyr into the ocean, and then videotape her being eaten alive by sharks.

Tucker's shared his morbid hobby with dozens of people before, and he has shelves of VHS tapes to prove it, but Zephyr isn't going down without a fight. It's not long before the two loners are painting the ocean red, but only one will have their head above water by the time it's over. Maybe.

Different filmmakers work at different paces. At one end. we have people like Steven Soderbergh or Takashi Miike sometimes delivering multiple films per year. And at the other? Byrne, a man who made his debut in 2009 and has only just this month released his third feature. Where Soderbergh and Miike have an eclectic mix of bangers and curiosities, though, Byrne is aiming for quality over quantity -- and he's hit that mark for the third time in a row with Dangerous Animals.

Part killer shark flick, part serial killer thriller, the film succeeds at finding suspense and horror both on the boat and in the water. Byrne and writer Nick Lepard -- who also penned the upcoming Osgood Perkins horror, Keeper -- let viewers spend time with the characters before things go sideways, ensuring that we both fear Tucker's combustible madness and endear ourselves to Zephyr's charm and spirit. Once the two collide, the film sets off like a marlin racing for its life as the energy, intensity, and terror of it all builds to a spectacular finish.

As with his previous two films, The Loved Ones and The Devil's Candy, Byrne is unafraid of putting his characters through absolute hell. His films create a real sense of unease and doubt when it comes to the safety of these characters -- we instinctually know the lead protagonist is going to survive, but we don't necessarily believe it. Byrne manages that feat again here as Zephyr's attempts at escape and survival grow more desperate and grueling, and you lose any certainty that she's going to make it out alive. It's thrilling to find horror films that truly leave you worried for a character at a guttural level, and it's just one of Byrne's talents.

Another is in his casting, and Dangerous Animals once again nails it on that count as well. Harrison is terrific as she gives a sharp performance revealing secret pains and an unbendable will, and both come into play on the physical front as her fight to survive feels increasingly tangible and tenuous. She's equal parts likeable and tough as hell and reminds favorably of Sharni Vinson in You're Next.

Courtney, meanwhile, gets to showboat as a psychopath, and he absolutely revels in Tucker's eccentricities, both harmless and otherwise. He puts tourists' minds at ease with surprise renditions of "Baby Shark," he dances around in his underwear in anticipation for an upcoming kill, and he creates a sweaty, charismatic beast of a madman whose existence both frightens and entertains. He's over the top in some ways, but Courtney grounds him with a very human performance.

While Tucker becomes the central threat, the hungry sharks remain a very real part of the horror. Byrne uses various tools at his disposal to bring them to the screen, and while it includes a small amount of iffy cg, it manages to avoid becoming a distraction or an embarrassment. Instead, the film looks quite good with one scene even affording the sharks an unexpected emotional weight.

Byrne and cinematographer Shelley Farthing-Dawe use the boat's geography well to create isolation and a suitable locale for cat and mouse (and shark) games. Add in some terrific needle drops and Michael Yezerski's energetic score, and the film's propulsive momentum finds more fuel as a thrill ride for the senses.

Byrne's films are horror thrillers, but all three are also tales of survival at their core. What will you do to survive, how far will you go to see tomorrow? From the psychopathic prom date in The Loved Ones to the art-loving devil himself in The Devil's Candy to the one-two punch of serial killer and bloodthirsty sharks in Dangerous Animals, Byrne knows that the threat is only half the story.

The other half is a protagonist showing that threat -- the killer, the monster, the beast -- that their need to survive makes them every bit as dangerous.

The film opens today, only in movie theaters, via IFC. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.