Shark horror movies have become their own genre of horror thanks to big titles like
Jaws and 47 Meters Down, but we can’t forget the smaller ones that kept it alive in the
middle! For anyone with a fear of sharks, this movie is made for you! 2012’s Bait
3D is a shark horror film that gave us bloody good kills and campy entertainment that was
a nice addition to an otherwise serious genre.
Spoiler alert! While I’m just giving my opinion on the film, that’s no substitute
for trying it out for yourself. Links to the film are in the description.
Could Josh be our suave, lazy, unbelievably lucky protagonist? Yeah. He’s one of them.
And Rory is the one waking him up.
I’d give him the same face. That’s a bottle of brackish water with some seaweed mixed
into the bottom! That’s not going to cure anything!
Thanks to Josh’s hangover, Rory goes to check the buoy on his own, while Josh goes
to check on his fiance, Tina.
Ha ha. This conversation could go one of two ways.
Aw! Still cool, but not the direction I was hoping for.
As the two of them walk the beach talking, Rory paddles out to check on the buoy.
It may not have happened yet, but we all called that he would be the first one. Rory is just
that cool, nice guy that never gets the happy ending. That’s a flashing warning to not
get attached to his character.
Ah! I was wrong! It was the OTHER nameless character we were following for some reason.
As the alarm sounds for a shark sighting, Josh rushes to the nearest jet ski to go out
and help bring Rory to safety. Josh tries to yell out to Rory, but he just can’t yell
loud enough, and…
Ha ha. Ok. So obviously, this film and many more just like it were never meant to be taken
seriously. This is just supposed to be pure unadulterated entertainment, and you don’t
get much more entertaining than that shark attack.
Ok. So maybe he wasn’t first to go, but there was no way he was going to make it past
the title screen, and sure enough there it is. Perfect timing.
After a year has passed, Josh is seen watching the news in his tiny apartment. After he goes
for a walk by the water, he starts to notice that something is going wrong with the animals
in the area. He brushes it off and continues on his way to the grocery store where he works.
It’s here that we meet a bunch of different ragtag characters that I’m sure are here
to be exactly what the title says. Bait.
While the film takes place in a basement supermarket, it was actually filmed in a regular ALDI market
in Australia.
We want you to not ruin a possibly very touching moment! Your shirt is two sizes too tight,
and I can’t even tell what you brought her! I doubt she wants it.
After a while, Josh is sent to the bathroom to clean up while the store is being held
up by armed robbers.
This is a shark movie! Yet they took all the time to set up everybody with their own interweaving
story.
Wait. Did he just take the new boyfriend of Tina’s?!
And now this is a tsunami movie! This movie has everything!
Oh my! Screw the sharks! Flying boat propellers are my new biggest fear!
After the tsunami kills most of the people, Josh emerges from the water and immediately
starts to help everyone he sees. Eventually, he sees Tina in the water, holding onto one
of the store racks. He jumps in to help her to safety, but she seems a little shell shocked.
Is that from the tsunami?! Or is the movie trying to hint at the shark possibly being
in there. Either way, that’s a great job with the makeup effects. Maybe it’s time
to get out of the water though!
Nope! Shark! Get the heck out of the water right now! As unpredictable as the movie is
so far, I’d still watch out for flying boat propellers too!
As the survivors in the store continue to gather on top of the store shelves, some survivors
are left in the car park.
This is Ryan, and as he comes to, he realizes the predicament he’s in and begins trying
to figure out how to break out of his car. Once he breaks the window, he starts to look
around for any other survivors, but finds no luck.
Obviously, this isn’t the brightest group of characters, so this should be entertaining
to watch.
The team of survivors in the store split up to try and find a means of escape, while the
survivors in the car park continue their ventures with no luck.
As the team members start to come back to the store shelves with no way to get out,
Josh notices that something is in the water, and he tries to call out to everyone to get
out of the water.
Yeah. I think everyone should listen and get out of the water right about now! So keeping
track of members that are down, we’re at one so far.
Wow. They didn’t even try to hide the shark for a while. They just took the camera, shot
the clip of the shark, and said everyone already knows this is a shark movie! No need to hide
it.
As the crew fight amongst themselves, the shark continues to circle them. It can’t
decide if they are food or not. Soon after, an aftershock shakes the building enough for
live wires to fall from the ceiling and come within a few inches of the water level. So
the crew decide to send someone to the breaker box to shut down the electricity.
Saw that coming. I can’t tell if this guy is just trying to give up since Tina has a
new boyfriend, or if he really does have a sense of responsibility to save these idiots.
Down in the car park, Rory is trying to figure out a way to save a couple trapped in a car
that a shark has taken an interest in. Rory decides he’s going to try to distract the
shark while the couple rushes for other cover.
Up top, Tina’s new boyfriend comes up with a plan for how to get to the breaker box,
but he’s been noticing the tension between Josh and Tina.
I’ve got money on him being the next one. Poor dude is just in the way.
This dude came up with plans for a makeshift personal shark cage?! With shopping baskets
as a cage, canned goods as weight, and a tube for air, he’s set for some deep diving.
Now was all of those supplies on top of the store racks?
As the boyfriend comes face to face with a shark, the shark passes him by since he doesn’t
feel like food to him. He makes it to the room with the breakers, but…
Come on. Really?!
At least they’ll give him a noble sacrifice of a death.
After the boyfriend cuts off the power to the store, he tries to shed his suit so he
can reach the air bubbles above him.
They did his character right. Tasteful goodbye.
As unlikely people begin to mingle, friendships are quickly made in the midst of the destruction.
Doubts are also cast on the situation and whether or not they will actually make it.
Just when things look bleak again, Josh notices something.
Is this the first time anyone has looked up this whole time?
As we cut back to the car park, Ryan is attempting to cause a distraction to lure the shark to
him using a hand from one of the deceased people. As they see it working, the couple
get out of the car and make a break for a collection of cars.
Ok. That’s a crappy thing to do, but when it comes down to it, you do what you’ve
got to do.
Back up top, Josh manages to get a rope around the air duct, and the store owner volunteers
to go first.
Yeah. That’s not a very reassuring answer. I would need just a little more than that
for me to feel comfortable letting someone go.
I can’t even blame him for that. Did you see how many there were?!
Are you sure about that mate? It might be a little easier to make it now that he’s
half the weight. That’s two for the sharks now by the way. Three if we’re counting
the dog. So three it is!
Meanwhile in the car park, Ryan is still trying to find a way out, but every way he looks
is flooded or blocked. In an attempt to reach his other companions on the other car, he
accidentally falls into the water.
That seems like a good swap to me.
That’s four for the sharks!
Back up top, everyone seems to have lost hope except for the bank robber that survived.
He thinks it’s time to outsmart the shark. While they prep for another suicide mission,
the cop agrees to be the bait this time so everyone else can escape to safety.
Well that didn’t take long to attract the shark’s attention. Oh! And now we know for
sure that her name is in fact Jaime.
As Jaime makes her way to the meat hooks, the shark tries to get her, but she fights
back with a meat tenderizer. Once she gets the hook and a leg of meat, the robber pulls
her back to safety, and we call that a successful mission!
Josh takes this time to explain his side of things to Tina. He explains that the day her
brother died was the one day that Josh let him do his job for him. He blames himself
for it everyday, and all he wants to do is say he’s sorry.
There’s the obligatory personal growth that has to be in every film. Everyone has to learn
something, and our main characters learned about the power of forgiveness...and the power
of a great white’s appetite and bite!
The team dangles the meat in the water, and they all start patrolling for the shark. Once
the shark appears, it swims right by the meat.
It can’t be full already!
This guy hasn’t participated at all this whole time. I honestly forgot he was even
there for a bit. Now he’s just taking hostages? What is happening?!
This movie just keeps escalating out of nowhere. It’ll be nice and calm for a few minutes,
then it’ll throw the next big thing in your face like chum in the ocean!
See?! We just can’t get a break to take anything in! Everybody has something going
on. I love it!
The woman gets pulled out of the water, and the robber takes the hook and impales the
survivor to use him as the live bait. As soon as he gets kicked in, the shark returns and
devours every bit of him.
The body count is up to five ladies and gentlemen!
Meanwhile in the car park, Ryan and the girl try to keep their spirits alive as help is
on the way.
Yay! It’s alive! Death toll is down to four once again!
Back upstairs, the crew is about to try and escape through the door, but then they hear
Ryan sending a message through banging the pipes. Sure enough, Jaimes decides that she
is going to go rescue him, and Josh goes after her.
Jaime and Josh open the door to the car park, and they’re surprised to find out that there
is another shark down there.
I feel like this gun might’ve been worth risking getting earlier. Especially now that
I’ve seen how short of a distance everything is from each other.
That stylish dive was completely unnecessary, yet now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee
it.
Epic. Just pure epic. And oddly believable.
Upstairs, the group comes up with a plan to use the electric current to clear a path through
the main gate. Just as they start to follow through with their plan, the group from the
car park makes their way back up to the rest of the group.
As another aftershock loosens the restraint on the shark they trapped, the robber sends
the electric current going while Josh prepares to take out another shark.
Josh’s moves looked like they came straight out of a Mission Impossible movie.
Once the robber turns the switch again, the car that had been blocking their way explodes,
and the robber and Josh emerge from the water. As the survivors leave the grocery store,
they see that help hasn’t come yet, and everything is different now.
While this film didn’t even pass a million in its home country of Australia, it did manage
to make a good 26 million dollars off of China and Italy alone. It was set to receive a sequel,
but no further films have been announced since then.
This film is an interesting masterpiece of indie development. Intertwining stories that
all come together thanks to a common tragedy, and of course sharks are always fun to watch.
I kind of wish they had followed through on a sequel, but maybe it’s for the best that
it’s a one and done film.
Again, this is just my opinion on the film, and you should totally try it out for yourself.
Let me know what you thought of the film in the comments below, and go ahead and comment
what I should watch next. Don’t forget to like the video and subscribe if you’d like
to see more videos like this one. I’ll see you in the next one.