It’s coming round to the summer, which means that the latest wave of shark movies is making its way to the rocky shores of the streaming services, and with 1975s Jaws still being the daddy of not only shark but all killer animal movies, Shark Bait is going to have to work very hard to be in with a shout of living up to Spielberg’s classic.
And with that being the case it doesn’t even try, because Jaws was not a movie about a shark but a dramatic character piece about three men in a boat that just happened to have a shark in it. However, what Shark Bait does do is try to emulate the slasher shark attack thrills of Jaws 2, which is a much more realistic target to aim for, although aiming for a target and hitting it are two entirely separate things.
So, we have our group of teenage/early 20s youngsters who are living the dream by drinking and partying on a Mexican beach (or a Maltese beach, playing the part of a Mexican one) during spring break. The booze is flowing, the sun is shining and, after a warning from a strange local whose legs are missing, four of the group decide it’s a good idea to steal two jet skis before they have to leave for home. The fifth member of the group, Nat (Holly Earl), is a bit more sensible and doesn’t want to be so silly but she is coaxed into it and eventually joins in.
Everything is going well until the guys driving the jet skis get all macho and start trying reckless stunts, which causes an accident. One of the jet skis sinks and one of the group, Greg (Thomas Flynn), breaks his leg, causing lots of blood to flow into the water and attracting a very aggressive great white shark who can seemingly perform more tricks than Flipper. Not the ending to the holiday these kids were expecting.