Sharksploitation is one of my favorite genres around. With no shortage of shark movies out there, ranging from the top tier ones such as Jaws or Deep Blue Sea to some of the other bombastic, garage-budget flicks like House Shark or 6-Headed Shark Attack, there’s a frenzy of different movies revolving around these fascinating, beautiful, and sometimes downright terrifying creatures. But, because there’s so many out there, shark movies need to really do something unique or have a huge bar of quality to stand out amongst the crowd. Sometimes that is going straight into ridiculous and camp territory, but for the latest film from Australian director Kiah Roache-Turner, it was time to take the sharks seriously again.
Known best for his 2014 Mad Max meets Day of the Dead action horror film Wyrmwood and last year’s spider creature feature Sting, Roache-Turner spent a great ordeal hyping up this new shark film, boasting about the animatronic effects and how this one’s gonna be just as good as the best shark movies around. Thankfully, the director was correct, as Beast of War shines best when out on the open ocean with the shark, giving us some genuinely inventive kills & thrills for a film about a bunch of soldiers stuck on a raft, while also not diving into too ridiculous of territory, with the exception of a few scenes here and there.
The most effective way to immerse somebody in a scary animal flick is the atmosphere. Cinematographer Mark Wareham truly understood the assignment here, shadowing our debris and shark with some spooky and desolate fog, pouring rain, and murky, dirty waters. The gore effects are top notch, with everything looking disgusting and very realistic. The film does incredible things with the lower budget it had, one that is comparable to fellow Australian film Primitive War. We don’t get a glorious, full on shot of the shark very often, but the massive silhouette of that animatronic was shot phenomenally, and really is proof that practical is the way to go here. There hasn’t been a shark movie in recent memory where the shark feels huge, and yet, this shark’s just 20 feet long, which is the biggest recorded Great White Shark size in history. For context, Bruce the Shark from Jaws, is canonically 25 feet, making this shark a bit more of a realistic scenario, and not a big, fantastical monster, which works extremely well for the film’s immersion and atmosphere.
Sadly, because this is a shark movie, the character end of things is going to be a tad bit lacking. There’s some decent development with the main character and his struggles with survivor’s guilt after losing a friend to a shark, but that’s about it aside from “this guy’s racist” and some other soldiers that are just there to be fish food. There is an admirable effort to collectively give these soldiers some thematic punch, as they are thrown from boot camp straight into the jaws of death (literally with the shark, and figuratively in its WWII setting), with no real sense of comradery, teamwork, or really, survival, and that is intriguing and incredibly interesting. Unfortunately, that’s the strongest part of the human element of this film aside from some small development as they go through boot camp and fight each other. Otherwise, you kind of forget their names and who they are as they’re picked off one by one by the shark, albeit in clever and fun ways for being adrift on a raft.
That being said, every single time this shark (which is what you’re here to see) is on screen, it is utterly fantastic and some of the best shark action we’ve seen in recent memory. It’s pretty clear why this film was such a hit at Fantastic Fest: despite the flaws mentioned above, I do think it’s the best shark movie since Deep Blue Sea. There’s been no other shark movie that has completely encapsulated me with its creature effects since then, and that’s a huge feat if you ask me. The shark, done by Formation Effects and Steve Boyle (who also worked on another shark movie, Bait), is one of the best in recent memory, bar none.
At the end of the day, if you’re here for a decent shark movie with some killer practical effects and an awesome shark presence, you’re gonna get every bit of your money and more. The film’s costume designer, Tracey Rose Sparke, also worked on Primitive War, so there’s some decent Australian film industry connective tissue and some genuinely great and period accurate costumes and weaponry provided within. This historical shark thriller still has some great bite to it and is a perfect watch for a foggy October night or a fun Saturday afternoon horror treat. Genre film is alive and well in Australia; they’re putting some solid creature features and animal attack movies out over there. Beast of War is no exception, so sink your teeth into this one as soon as you can!
| Overall Score: 7/10 Beast of War is a fairly solid shark movie, packing some awesome cinematography, an incredible practical shark animatronic, and some pretty inventive kills & thrills. |
