New Australian Film Features “One of Horror’s Greatest Villains in Years”
Us horror fans appreciate a good villain. We admire and look up to the genre’s heroes, but it’s the monsters that draw us in every time. Freddy Krueger…Jason Voorhees…Samara…none of their respective films would have the life they’ve had without them. Their evil fascinates us. Scares us. Entertains us, even. A well-crafted villain keeps us coming back for more, even if the films themselves aren’t (cheers to the Leprechaun franchise. I still adore you).
Filmmaker Sean Bryne has shown a knack for creating memorable human fiends. Both The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy feature antagonists that are as terrifying as they are intriguing. Bryne’s most recent film, this year’s Dangerous Animals, continues that track record with one of 2025’s best villains. You can stream it now on Shudder to see the performance that hooked fans and critics alike.
What’s Dangerous Animals About?
Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) travels the world alone, searching for the next killer wave to surf. A chance meeting with fellow surfer, Moses (Josh Heuston), sparks feelings that scare her. Maybe she’s finally found someone who understands her…or maybe he’ll only hurt her. Zephyr doesn’t get long to process the budding relationship before she’s kidnapped by Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney). A cage dive tour guide by day and serial killer by night, Bruce has an affinity for recording his victims as he feeds them to hungry sharks. He thinks Zephyr is nothing more than bait. But he’s dead wrong.
An Unforgettable Madman
In his review for Dangerous Animals, Dread’s own Josh Korngut referred to Tucker as “one of horror’s greatest villains in years”. I couldn’t agree more.
Courtney electrifies the screen as the deranged maniac. Every word drips from his mouth with threatening malice. When he’s not filling the scene with an imposing presence, he’s dancing around half-nude with a bottle of booze or gleefully singing a catchy tune about baby sharks. He’s pure madness incarnate. Not to mention unique in his belief in sharks as the gods of the sea. In Tucker’s mind, he experiences something spiritual in watching the great beasts devour the women he offers them. You love to hate him and his hypocritical nonsense.
Dangerous Animals offers more than an engaging villain. It also happens to be one of the more original sharksploitation films you can find. After Spielberg’s Jaws scared audiences out of the water, the shark horror movies that followed perpetuated the idea that sharks were monsters. Byrne takes the other side of the boat. Here, sharks are merely creatures, depicted as majestic rulers of the sea that deserve our respect. The ancient beasts are rarely, if ever, presented in horror with such awe-inspiring wonder as they are here. If you love sharks, you’ll love the filmmaker’s approach to them. Man is the monster of Dangerous Animals.
Craving a good sharksploitation film? Want to watch a charismatic villain reach for the heights of Hannibal Lecter and almost get there? Don’t be a chum-p. Chomp into Dangerous Animals now that it’s streaming on Shudder.
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