Dangerous Animals director aimed to bring back classic edge-of-your-seat suspense with his “Wolf Creek on water” thriller

After a decade of making short films, Sean Byrne made his feature directorial debut with the captivating and disturbing 2009 horror film The Loved Ones. We had to wait several years for his second movie, but it was worth the wait: The Devil’s Candy, which had its festival premiere in 2015 but didn’t get a wide release until 2017, was another great horror film. Now, Byrne has finally made his third feature, a shark thriller called Dangerous Animals, and IFC Films is gearing up to give it a theatrical release on June 6th. During an interview with SFX magazine, Byrne said he aimed to bring back classic edge-of-your-seat- suspense with this film, which he described as “Wolf Creek on water.”

After the theatrical run, Dangerous Animals will be making its way over to the Shudder streaming service.

Byrne wrote both The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy, but for Dangerous Animals he was working from a script by Nick Lepard. Here’s the synopsis: When Zephyr, a rebellious surfer, is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below. This was Lepard’s first produced screenplay. Director Osgood Perkins is currently in post-production on another Lepard-scripted project, a horror film titled Keeper.

Dangerous Animals stars Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad), Hassie Harrison (Yellowstone), and Josh Heuston (Dune: Prophecy). The film’s IMDb page adds that Rob Carlton (Chandon Pictures), Ella Newton (Girl at the Window), James Munn (Girls’ Night Out), Michael Goldman (Monsters of Man), Jon Quested (Deep Red Water), Liam Greinke (Erotic Stories), Ryland Pearson-McManus (Buds), Teah Fraser (Young Rock), Jess Tredinnick (Audrey), and newcomer Sean Richard are in the cast as well.

Chris Ferguson, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Mickey Liddell, Troy Lum, Andrew Mason, and Pete Shilaimon produced, with Fred Berger, Michael Glassman, Mehrdod Heydari, Marlaina Mah, Jacob Yakob, and Joseph Yakob serving as executive producers. Giorgia Stawaruk was an associate producer and Sandy Stevens the line producer.

Byrne told SFX magazine, “It’s a shark film fused with a serial killer film – and it’s the first shark film I’ve seen where the sharks aren’t indiscriminate killers. I think that’s the real point of difference. What excites me most is that in this story, man is the real monster.” In fact, “It’s actually safer in the water” was one of the taglines suggested for the film. Byrne went on to say, “In a way, it’s Wolf Creek on water, but it absolutely takes its lead from Jaws in terms of suspense. For me, shark fins are the definition of tension – you see them slicing the surface, never knowing when or where the attack will come.” Saying that a lot of shark thrillers have gotten too “videogamey” with their over-reliance on digital effects, he added, “I wanted to bring back the classic edge-of-your-seat suspense” with his movie, which uses manipulated footage of real sharks for scenes.

Are you looking forward to finding out how suspenseful Byrne has managed to make Dangerous Animals? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Our reviewer Tyler Nichols liked the movie, giving it a 7/10 review that can be read at THIS LINK.

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