Shark Night

A movie about shark attacks with a misleading title (much of the action occurs in daylight), filmmaker David R. Ellis's Shark Night spends the first third of its running time introducing all of the prospective fishbait—a group of New Orleans college students (played by Dustin Milligan, Katherine McPhee, Sinqua Walls, and Chris Zylka, among others) headed out for a weekend of swimming and sailing at an isolated estate in the Louisiana bayou. The plot kicks into gear when a shark picks off one of the principals while he's waterskiing, after which efforts are made to get help for the victim. Unfortunately, the group is hampered by the entirely predictable fact that the area is a cell-phone dead zone, which means they will have to rely on the locals to sail them closer to civilization and call in a rescue helicopter. But here the script throws a major curve, meant to offer a commentary of sorts on the modern taste for real-life vicarious violence, but it's so patently absurd (especially in a film that takes pains to exhibit its female cast members in the skimpiest shorts and bikinis imaginable) that the twist is likely to raise chuckles rather than shudders, although it does at least offer an explanation for how sharks wound up in a freshwater lake. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Shark Attack! Kill Machine!” montage (6 min.), an “Ellis' Island” making-of featurette (5 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are featurettes on “Fake Sharks, Real Scares” (5 min.) and “Survival Guide” (4 min.), and a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a lame film.] (F. Swietek)