Line #51 Film/SharkNight


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Shark-Night-3D-Poster_1277.jpg]]
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3	'''''Shark Night''''' is a 2011 3D action horror film from the director of ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'' starring Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Creator/JoelDavidMoore, and Creator/DonalLogue and released by Relativity Media and Rogue Pictures.
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5	The story revolves around seven college friends from Tulane University who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana’s Gulf area. When their vacation quickly becomes a nightmare of shark attacks, they soon discover that the sharks are part of a sick, greedy plan on the part of several locals.
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7	The animatronic shark effects were created by the same team who previously provided the animatronic shark effects in ''Film/DeepBlueSea''.
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9	Could also be titled ''"Sharks in a Lake"''.
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11	----
12	!! The film invokes the following tropes:
13	* ActionGirl: Sara has the attitude of one. The first instance is [[spoiler: when she overhears through the corrupt Sheriff's radio that he's in league with the guys who caused the shark problem that killed her, she immediately grabs a knife, and sneaks up on him.]] The second is [[spoiler: she manages to grab Dennis's gun from him and points it at him to try and force him to let her out of the shark cage.]] Neither attempt goes very well for her, but give her some major points for having the balls to try.
14	* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: "In the End" by Fade is the theme song for the Japanese version.
15	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:Are Sara and Nick eaten by the shark as it jumps out of the water, or is that final shot just signifying that the water is still shark-infested?]]
16	* AnArmAndALeg: One of the sharks attack Malik as he's wakeboarding, and he loses his right arm.
17	* BareMidriffsAreFeminine: Beth is a TankTopTomboy who never covers her stomach even before spending most of the movie as a WalkingSwimsuitScene.
18	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Subverted- Malik is the first one to get attacked by the sharks ([[AnArmAndALeg losing an arm in the process]]), but he outlives about half the cast.
19	* CasanovaWannabe: Blake. The guy thinks applying spray-on tan everywhere, even his ''genitals'', makes him attractive. Beth is not impressed with it, as it left her nether regions with stains.
20	* CellPhonesAreUseless: Sara's lake house has no hard line and cell phones don't have any signal in the region.
21	* CruelAndUnusualDeath:
22	** [[spoiler:As a consequence for helping Dennis, Greg Sabin gets set on fire. When he goes into the water (where a tiger shark is swimming) to put out the fire, he is trapped inside the pool by Nick and then eaten alive by a tiger shark, scattering his blood throughout the pool.]]
23	** [[spoiler:Dennis and Red force Beth to strip to her underwear and throw her into a net filled with Cookie Cutter Sharks that nibble her to death while she screams in agony.]]
24	* CutLexLuthorACheck: How much money and resources did it take to catch, transport and maintain multiple large, dangerous, exotic animals of various geographic locations? Much less the cameras and computers they were using.
25	* DeathOfAThousandCuts: [[spoiler:Beth,]] is slowly torn apart by the Cookie Cutter Sharks.
26	* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: We spend about 20-30 minutes with the main cast before one of them gets attacked and another 5 after that before actually seeing a shark.
27	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Sara has fun engaging in an aquatic high-speed chase with a police boat, much to the horror of her friends. When she stops at her island, the fearful look on her face says everything, but thankfully the cop is a friend...and she apparently has done this before with him.
28	* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:Greg Sabin, the sheriff of the small town where the film takes place, is in league with Dennis and Red.]]
29	* DisproportionateRetribution: [[spoiler:Sabin's reason for assisting with the scheme is that he's tired of being looked down upon by "rich kids". Which makes no sense because they never really belittled him over the course of the film.]]
30	* {{Fanservice}}: Certain scenes with each of the female characters apply, but especially Maya and Beth playfully changing into their bikinis.
31	** FanDisservice: Red and Dennis force Beth to perform a ShamefulStrip to her underwear before [[spoiler: turning her into cookiecutter shark bait]].
32	* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Sabin. He acts all friendly to the characters, passing himself off as a NiceGuy. It turns out, he's in on Dennis and Red's scheme, and he is just as much a monster as Dennis is. Even after he is revealed to be a villain, he acts all chummy with Nick, offering to play some music for him as a final request]].
33	* FinalBoy: Nick fits all the parameters for the trope that would usually be given to the FinalGirl of a film like this. He's studious, kind, helpful, dark-haired, and dialogue indicates that he's a virgin. [[spoiler: He survives the movie alongside Sara.]]
34	* [[invoked]]FollowTheLeader: InUniverse, the bad guys got inspiration to do their SnuffFilm from the Creator/DiscoveryChannel's "Shark Week" and the fact that it's one of the most-seen events in cable TV. The implication is that they are insane enough to try to sell this to Discovery, or at least say they will to justify continuing their scheme.
35	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
36	** Malik playfully stick his right hand into the mouth of a fake alligator head on display. [[spoiler: He loses that same arm when he's attacked by a shark.]]
37	** Sheriff Sabian lets Sara go even though she engaged in a high-speed chase with him across the water. He's a Sheriff, but he's still willing to bend the rules for a friend. [[spoiler: And that includes a group of murderous guys making snuff films with sharks in the lake.]]
38	* GenderFlip: The dynamic present with Nick and Blake is directly reflective of the dynamic present in most horror movies between the virginal, kind, and proper FinalGirl and her blonde friend whose more sexually active and a bit less outwardly friendly. [[spoiler: And Blake is the one of them to die.]]
39	* GetRichQuickScheme: The bad guys have shot 46 of those snuff vids (and counting) but apparently haven't actually sold any of them, yet. The case could be made that selling them is just an excuse for making them.
40	* HandicappedBadass: Even with only one arm, Malik still manages to beat the shit out of, and kill, a hammerhead shark.
41	* HateSink: The sharks are just animals that are clearly hungry for some food. While a couple of moments show them having an almost demonic visage, they're ultimately not evil, and can't really be hated. However, the human villains are completely despicable pieces of work with nothing redeemable about them. [[spoiler: Greg Sabin engages in extensive KickTheDog moments with Nick, taunting him about his fate with the tiger sharks. Dennis and Red even throw the adorable Sherman into the water with the sharks out of spite against Sara, though Red at least showed some hesitation.]]
42	* HillbillyHorrors: The human villains are redneck SnuffFilm makers that feed people to their pet sharks.
43	* HopeSpot: Blake and Gordon both get ones while trying to escape the sharks.
44	* IfItBleedsItLeads: One of the villains invokes the popularity of [[Creator/DiscoveryChannel Shark Week]] as proof that people want to see violence, which he's [[SnuffFilm more than happy to provide]].
45	* JustDesserts: The movie antagonists [[spoiler:Dennis]] and [[spoiler:the Sheriff]] get eaten by, you guessed it, the sharks they tried to use for their SnuffFilm.
46	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Carl the bait shop owner is last heard ordered by Dennis to release the final shark into the lake and becomes the only culprit to get away with his actions.]]
47	* KickTheDog: More like ''toss it to the sharks''. [[spoiler:It survives though]].
48	* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Maya and Beth are both innocent NiceGirls who get horrible deaths via the sharks]].
49	* LighterAndSofter: This was obviously intended to be a teen-friendly alternative to the R-rated ''Film/Piranha3D''.
50	* LovableJock: Malik, who just got accepted as a draft pick, and immediately goes to thank his tutor.
51	* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Sara is a bit of a risk taker, ActionGirl and BadassDriver, while Nick feels a bit like a twenty-first century gender-flipped FinalGirl in terms of being studious, helpful to friends and hinted to be a virgin (based on Beth’s joking line to Sara about whether she's going to steal his innocence).
52	* MisplacedWildlife: Averted; normally every shark featured in the film, save for the bull shark, wouldn't be able to survive in an ordinary freshwater lake, but when this is brought up we're reminded that Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish/saltwater lake.
53	* MostGamersAreMale: Gordon and Nick are both gamers, and the people they're playing with, who are seen on screens, are also dudes.
54	* MrFanservice: Almost all of the male characters are seen shirtless, and they're all really easy on the eyes. Blake is the InUniverse case of this.
55	* MsFanservice: Most of the female cast certain qualify but Beth played by Creator/KatharineMcPhee gets into the most {{Fanservice}}y scenes. Also Sara whenever she's in her aqua teal bikini.
56	* NakedOnArrival: Blake is introduced [[PublicExposure posing nude]] for an art class (albeit with a SceneryCensor).
57	* ObviouslyEvil: The Rednecks. You can practically hear [[Film/{{Deliverance}} "Dueling Banjos"]] every time they're on screen.
58	* OfficialCouple: Malik and Maya.
59	* PreviewsPulse: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDmLLGTQlXY Shark attack, doot-do, doot-doot do-do, shark attack, doot-do, doot-doot do-do, shark attack...]]
60	* ProductPlacement: The film was cross-promoted with the Creator/DiscoveryChannel's Shark Week. [[{{Foreshadowing}} This comes in handy later]] when the villains reveal that Shark Week has become their major source of inspiration for their actions.
61	* TheSavageSouth: All of the villains are highly stereotypical rednecks.
62	* ScaryBlackMan: Malik's first scene has him storm into Nick's room threatening and full ready to kick Nick's ass for not doing a good enough job as a tutor...until it turns he's just screwing with him and is there to thank him.
63	* ScaryTeeth: Red has creepy pointy teeth.
64	* SenselessSacrifice: Malik, who's dying of blood loss, uses his body as a distraction so Blake can escape, only for a different shark to get him.
65	* ShamefulStrip: [[spoiler:Dennis and Red force [[MsFanservice Beth]] to strip to her underwear at gunpoint before they feed her to the Cookie Cutter Sharks]]
66	* SharkPool: The villains keep their sharks in one, and slowly lowering people in it seems to be their go to strategy for their SnuffFilm. [[spoiler:The Sheriff]] tries to lower Nick into one of these, only to fall in it himself.
67	* ShoutOut: Of course, there's several to ''Film/{{Jaws}}''.
68	** The opening kill is a ShoutOut to the one in the first ''Jaws''.
69	** A great white shark tears apart a shark cage also like the original ''Jaws''.
70	** A shark is able to keep up with a speedboat, like in ''Film/{{Jaws 2}}''.
71	* SmoochOfVictory: Sara kisses Nick at the end of the film after saving her from drowning and the shark that was about to tear her apart.
72	* SnuffFilm: The main villains are making these by feeding people to sharks with Frickin' Video Cameras strapped to them.
73	* ShownTheirWork: The way Nick applies a tourniquet is the actual way you're supposed to. Most fictional depictions are with a belt, but the best way to do it is by tying cloth around the limb and using something solid to twist the tourniquet to tighten it.
74	* TheStinger: [[spoiler: As soon as the end credits are over we are treated to a rap music video performed by the cast and the crew.]]
75	* StockFootage:
76	** The opening and closing credits feature stock footage of several species of sharks and one blink-and-you'll-miss it scene from ''Film/DeepBlueSea'' (specifically where the shark eats the parrot).
77	** One clip is a rather famous shot of world renowned shark expert Valerie Taylor testing out shark proof chain mail with blue sharks. Valerie and Ron Taylor shot all of the live shark footage for ''Jaws''.
78	* ThreateningShark: The plot of the movie centers around the protagonists being attacked by sharks, which we wound out later was {{Invoked}} by the human villains, as they want to make SnuffFilm out of people getting eaten by sharks. Also, the film features not just one species of shark, but seven species.
79	* TokenMinority: Malik is the only black character among the leads, and Maya is the only Latina character.
80	* TooMuchInformation: At one point Beth explains Blake's stupid move of spraying spray-on tan on his genitals and how it made a mess one time they were having sex, and her friends stop her before she can say TheBodyPartsThatMustNotBeNamed (hers, specifically).
81	* ToplessnessFromTheBack: When Maya and Beth when they take off their shirts to change into their bikini tops, we only see her bare backs as well as some {{Sideboob}}.
82	* VasquezAlwaysDies: Somewhat inverted- Tattoo-sporting rebel girl Beth gets reduced to a quivering ball of girlie fear after the first few attacks. She gets some of her own back by stabbing Red though, then she [[spoiler: literally gets used for shark bait.]] Whereas [[FinalGirl Sara]] seems to be the more the girly-girl but toughens up somewhat near the climax and survives.
83	* WalkingShirtlessScene: All four of the guys, while they're partying on the beach.
84	* WalkingSwimsuitScene: Sara spends the whole second half of the movie in a teal bikini with only a shirt on (and even then it's open).

Context Film / SharkNight