Film & TV

DVD Review: The Shallows

Keen surfer, Nancy, is trapped only 200 metres from the shore of an isolated beach when a great white shark starts hunting her as the tide begins to rise.

Since 1975, any film with a great white shark in it is inevitably compared to Jaws. The Steven Spielberg directed horror yarn made audiences afraid of the water with its chilling depiction of primal terror. Similar movies have had to live up to the kind of suspense Jaws generated, with many failing. In spite of the occasionally outlandish moment, The Shallows is a rare example of one that works. It is an effective chiller filled with many nail-biting moments that carves its own niche amongst the plethora of shark-infused tales.

Nancy (Blake Lively) is a keen surfer always on the lookout for nautical adventures. When surfing near a secluded beach she receives more than she bargained for. Trapped only 200 metres from shore, she becomes hunted by a great white shark. Using her skills and ingenuity, Nancy attempts to free herself from the deadly predicament. Faced with a rising tide and the lurking danger of the watery beast, Nancy’s future looks bleak with each passing second.

The Shallows is a shocker, making much of its limited budget. It looks a million dollars due to the excellent photography with each crest of the wave over-lapping Nancy like pleasurable rainbows. This aids in creating the scene of both beauty and horror that she witnesses. How she tries to out-smart her insidious foe is part of the macabre fun, refusing to let go until the final reel. Basically playing the only character you mostly see in the film, Lively excels in showing the terror and courage her character endures.

The rendering of the CGI shark is well handled, looking incredibly vicious. Making it less effective are the increasingly silly scenarios placed with Nancy. The Shallows almost veers into Jaws: The Revenge territory, with a seemingly super-human creature able to correctly predict Nancy’s actions. How it is able to leap obstacles is far-fetched, taking away from the early realism for which the film apparently strived.

Despite an uneven tone, The Shallows is a fair horror flick teasing out what it can from the surrounds. It may not linger in the memory like Jaws but is a reasonably entertaining slice of hokum sure to make viewers think twice about taking a dip into the ocean.

Reviewed by Patrick Moore
Twitter: @PatrickMoore14

Rating out of 10:  6

The Shallows will be released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from 30 November 2016.

This review was first published on 14 August 2016 for the cinema release

More News

To Top