1940s set Aussie shark-attack film Fear Below successfully opts for suspense over exploitation as director Matthew Holmes takes us into the murky depths of a bull-shark infested river.
The shark movie sub-genre is often a case of quantity over quality. So rare is it to find a good shark attack movie, in fact, that doing so is a case for celebration. It’s time then to break out the chum, because Fear Below is one of the better shark movies to be released in some time; a blend of heist thriller and shark-attack horror that never lets up on the suspense.
Set in 1946, Fear Below begins with a criminal gang accidentally driving their van – and the crates of gold bullion in it - into a river. Ruthless chief gangster Dylan ‘Bull’ Maddock (Jake Ryan) hires the Sea Dog Diving Company – comprised of alcoholic veteran Ernie (Arthur Angel), the resourceful Jimmy (Jacob Junior Nayinggul), and the “Rosie Riveter” styled Clara (Hermione Corfield) - to fish out their loot. Waiting in the murky depths, though, is a pregnant 15-foot bull shark, and she is hungry.
Director Matthew Holmes (The Cost) successfully separates his shark movie from an overcrowded pack thanks to a unique choice of period setting and shark-species antagonist, with the ultra-aggressive bull-shark getting its chance to shine in a predominantly great white dominate sub-genre of movie.
The bronze, brown muck of the underwater river is wonderfully captured by cinematographer Peter Szilveszter (The Legend of Ben Hall), while editors Sue Schweikert (Kane) and Matt Villa (Predestination) deliver razor sharp editing with the shark attack scenes that are fast, ferocious, limb tearing moments of pure horror.
Holmes especially delivers a film in Fear Below where the stakes outside the river are just as high as those within, as a gang of great white mobsters prove to be more monstrous in their cold-blooded actions than the natural born predator who has marked her territory and will not suffer fools that dare challenge her domain.
A taut and tense shark-attack horror thriller told with impressive period detail and an emphasis on character and stakes, Fear Below lives up its title.
