Reviews

When I saw, I could be the first one to write a review for this movie, I thought to myself, that's a chance not to let go! And here I go... If you're familiar with horror flicks in general and animal terror-flicks in detail you'll find yourself reminded of the notorious "Jaws" (well, of course since it's the godfather of Shark-films), "Open Water" and, if you know who the director is, also of his latest film "Black Water". To be honest, "The Reef" hasn't many similarities to "Jaws". It has though many similarities to "Open Water", and if you liked that last named, you'll definitely like "The Reef". The style of direction here uses perspectives from the point of view of the protagonists and therefor also a lot of shaky-cam. Although this is no revolution in directing anymore, it surely succeeds in adding realism to this movie and giving the audience the feeling of being one of the group. The characters are all very authentic, without the typical stereotypes in the Hollywood-made animal horror-flicks, so it gets very easy to feel sympathy for and identify with the characters (like in "Black Water"). Because the director probably didn't have the biggest budget to spent for his movie he made clever choices in what to show and what to leave to the imagination of the viewer. It's always better to show effects only if they're worth to show, and so does Traucki in this movie. For example Traucki doesn't show how the yacht capsizes or delivers an exact explanation why it overturns, but not in the way that he's cheating the audience by keeping back important information. He just puts you in the situation of the individuals and doesn't give you the chance of seeing from a bird's perspective what has happened to the yacht. But what he shows to us is very well made. The shark looks, moves and behaves like a shark, like the animal that is the most dangerous predator in the seas, and not like an exaggerated monster from outer space. Unfortunately it's pretty easy to estimate what's happening next in the movie, but that's due to the simple setting in the sea, with water and almost nothing but water. What the film manages very well is getting never boring and holding the audience's attention during the whole duration of the movie. You can say that the movie shouldn't have lasted longer though, the duration is perfect. And now... go and see the movie yourself...or just take a swim!

I rented this movie at my videostore, because the cover caught my attention, the resume on the back sounded interesting and the average rating at IMDb indicated, that it could be a hidden gem for friends of the horror genre. Well, now I just watched this movie, and it didn't hold anything it promised...the story is weak, the characters stupid, not sympathetic at all and for that reason not to identify with at all. The photography of this flick is really amateur-stylish, but not in an innovative and thus good style, but just looks amateurish cheap. The directing is poor and so are the actors, who act all too wooden by one exception (the sheriff). At all this is a movie to forget about, and I definitely will.

What a movie! Up to me, this is a perfect thrilling picture, full of tension, a very believable protagonist, whose character is drawn pretty well and a really frightening villain. With really simple means Spielberg creates such a great atmosphere, he just doesn't need lots of explosions and all that stuff that seems to be so necessarily in nowadays thrillers. It's just a very simple story, but the way Spielberg delivers you the pictures, you have to identify with the character, you just have to put yourself in Mann's place and try to think of any possibility to escape from this wicked situation. Although this mentioned simple plot, the movie never gets boring, just in contrary, there are always new and surprising situations created that the (anti-)hero has to face. Well, in one sentence: I love this movie!

B-R-O-N-S-O-N!

What do you expect from a movie with Charles Bronson? You get it in this picture! Bronson as a retired killer, who returns to revenge his friend's death, is just great! He's stoic as always, has his typical unemotional expression on his face, is the tough guy you wants him to be, and just does what a man in his situation has to do... This is a typical 80s actioner, with a great Bronson. If you're a fan of Charles Bronson, I definitely am, then you gonna love this movie...if you like action films with explosion after explosion, and a great-looking baby face smart guy as the protagonist, this shouldn't be your choice... but otherwise see it and love it! And watch out for that scene in the Mexican bar... it's just extraordinary... it became an instant classic for me and my friends since we first watched it! BRONSON forever! :-)

First of all: This movie is underrated! And second to me, there's nothing, absolutely nothing ridiculous about this movie! Of course it's quite different from it's predecessor, so maybe some people would watch this movie with wrong expectations. But it is really entertaining movie with a mystic atmosphere and yes, good actors. Of course, if you really want to point out some things that might be unrealistic, go for it. Of course it doesn't and probably will never exist anything like a synchronizer that synchronizes the minds of two persons. And yes, of course it's not necessary to have these lights at the synchronizer, but who the hell did ever had similar thoughts about the beamer of the enterprise?! Or did anybody had problems that in any (even the good) sci-fi movie of the 80s, you had to see the same "futuristic" typo graphs, which aren't even stylish nowadays and probably won't be in one hundred years, in which time these movies took place? So where's the problem about these unimportant things, what a "synchronizer" looks or sounds like? What's important is THE STORY, THE IDEA behind the movie. And the idea behind The Heretic is an interesting, mystic one. Compared to hundreds of other horror movies this one is a really good film. My recommendation: Go and watch it yourself, and make your own mind. By the way, I'm really into horror-movies, occult-thrillers and i've seen lots of films and splatter films don't knock me off the chair, but I never had to laugh at no time in this film...and that's good for a horror movie!