Bait

Sharks in a supermarket sounds like the punchline to some kind of terrible joke, but for the characters in Australia’s 2012 creature-horror Bait it’s very much a twisted reality.

The food chain is tested when a tidal wave lands two huge man eating sharks in a supermarket. A group of survivors left balancing precariously on top of what used to be supermarket shelves have to find a way to safety without being eaten, which is easier said than done when there’s two huge great white sharks swimming around looking for lunch.

Although not explicitly so, Bait feels more black comedy than horror thriller with over the top characters straight from Neighbours and very brightly coloured and shiny aesthetics. The film was clearly made for 3D and is one of those films that doesn’t translate well to 2D television at all. The sharks look less realistic than those in Deep Blue Sea (which were pretty terrible) and Deep Blue Sea was released over ten years ago, and it’s really obvious that they were designed to ‘pop’ in 3D.

Apart from the obvious 3D-ness of the film, which has the ability to turn scenes that could be effective and scary into cartoons, Bait is very enjoyable. It’s funny in parts, whether that’s intentional or not is up to you to decide, and the characters are easy to warm to, although don’t be surprised if the only one you end up rooting for is the dog (watch it, you’ll see what I mean). It’s a very claustrophobic and minimal film all set in one location, the visuals are OK but all the effort seems to have been put into making it as shiny and 3D ready as possible, with little to no thought put into how it might look on a 2D screen at all.

Bait is great fun and not a bad example of a contemporary creature horror at all. It’s an interesting and unique premise; sharks in a supermarket, but actually they manage to pull it off quite well, there’s no stupid scenes of sharks sliding down aisles or finding themselves rooting through stacks of baked beans, it’s stylishly done and avoids being the joke punchline that the premise easily could’ve been. Probably best watched in 3D, it’s a shame Bait didn’t really make much of a splash over here upon its release, it would’ve been a fun one to see in the cinema.

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