The Reef: Stalked (2022) review: a lesser but well-made shark attack sequel

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The Nature Attacks sub-genre of horror is one near and dear to my heart, and despite its popularity in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s off the back of Jaws, and its resurgence in the late ‘90s and early noughties off the back of Anaconda, nowadays you have to pick the good ones out from a decidedly tackier crowd.
Director Andrew Traucki is a master of the nature attacks craft, and at the moment is one of the few directors out there rescuing us from the SyFy movie bottomless pit of bad CGI-washed killer animal flicks, by taking it all seriously again. And long may it continue…and it looks to be doing just that, as Traucki returns to the dangerous waters in The Reef: Stalked the new sequel to his heart-in-mouth 2010 film The Reef.
Virtually unconnected to the previous film, Stalked follows Nic (Teressa Liane) and Annie (Saskia Archer) – sisters estranged by a recent tragedy that still affects Nic – as they go on a kayaking and diving trip, but when a shark attacks and targets the group, this getaway becomes a seemingly impossible fight for survival.
Stalked is a beautifully shot shark horror thriller, with some incredible cinematography by Justin Brickle, that sparkles on the screen, and really puts you square in the location. Tirning the tranquility and calm of this natural environment on its head. As with his previous nature attacks work, Traucki opts for re-purposed real shark footage over an abundance of CGI, and once more it works an absolute treat, while he also proves again how adept he is at creating and building suspense. In fact, as it heads towards the midway point, this film seems to really be going for it, sadly the final stretch is a touch flat and convention does creep in to this simple story.
Setting up a high stakes ending, following a rescue sub-plot, the film instead seems to lose some of its momentum and the big face-off at the end is rather underwhelming and “easy”. Also, while the metaphorical edge of this female survival story is admirable, it does not quite hit the mark come the ending. Though the performances are of a strong quality and do help keep you interested in it all. Even if, the film could have benefitted from a darker, dare we say more vicious, finale.
Stalked does not have the unrelenting taut bite of the first film, nor is it a fantastic follow-up on the level of Traucki’s pandemic cinema hit Black Water: Abyss (again a sequel to his own work, in that case the 2007 croc horror modern nail biter Black Water). That said, it remains a very well made survival story of a methodical killer shark and a group against the odds fighting for their survival. And you must applaud the effort in fleshing out a story with a thematic edge.
I’d like to see Traucki have a crack at a killer snake film…been far too long since we got a good one of those.
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