20 Recent Horror Movies WAY Better Than Expected
3. Dangerous Animals
Dangerous Animals certainly never looked like a bad film, but the presence of Jai Courtney as a shark-obsessed serial killer absolutely set a particular expectation - that this would be a campy slice of meat-and-potatoes B-movie fun and not a whole lot more.
But director Sean Byrne - best known for his brilliant 2009 horror The Loved Ones - elevated a relatively by-the-numbers premise with his smart, economical direction, delivering both a taut serial killer flick and a wince-inducing shark movie.
Yet the real surprise here is Jai Courtney, who gives a stupendously entertaining, career-best performance as the murderous Tucker, and without which the film wouldn't be nearly as memorable.
That's not to forget Hassie Harrison's resourceful protagonist Zephyr, though, who proves herself to be one of 2025's very best Final Girls.
All in all, Byrne's film is a drum-tight 98-minute horror-thriller that knows exactly what it is and then proceeds to over-delivers the goods.
Given that Byrne has made just three films in sixteen years - and this was his first in an entire decade - hopefully we won't be left waiting quite so long next time.