October Horror Challenge 2023 #44: "Open Water 3: Cage Dive"

I liked the first two Open Water movies. Nothing will beat the experience of seeing the first one in theaters, feeling the isolation and desperation of the characters as they're trapped in the middle of the ocean without a boat and with a bunch of hungry sharks. The second movie is called "Open Water 2: Adrift" and it has nothing to do with the original movie. It's pretty clear that it's a low budget movie called "Adrift" and they just slapped the "Open Water" on it to cash in on the name recognition of the original. Similarly, this is a little found footage horror movie called "Cage Dive" and they attached "Open Water" to it trying to make more money. Even knowing that, I was still interested in seeing what this movie has to offer.

So this movie is about four friends who are trying to win a prize ina contest where they have to submit a video for consideration. They decide to go all-out and they travel to Australia to film themselves doing a cage dive with some hungry sharks. These people must have never seen a horror movie in their lives to know that this is all a very bad idea. Soon something happens to their boat and they're left stranded in Open Water, floating alone with little hope of rescue. As the hours pass, they get more and more desperate while they try to stay ahead of the sharks that surround them and the personal demons that threaten to drag them down. Will they be rescued in time or will they die alone in the ocean?

There’s something about almost dying that brings out the worst in people. When people think they're going to die, they're suddenly motivated to spill their guts about deep dark secrets they've been hiding, and that happens in this movie too. Honestly, not much about the movie sticks in my head except for the part where secrets are revealed and our characters must face personal drama while floating in the ocean. I'd like to hope that if this ever happened to me that I would be able to put my feelings aside and work with people together to get us out of that situation instead of getting into a fight in the middle of the ocean. These characters make a lot of bad decisions that don't help their plight, and I definitely wanted to yell at them throughout the movie, so it kept my interest. There's nothing here you haven't seen before, but since this is a found footage horror film that adds another element of interest that makes this movie stand out from other shark movies. If you think it sounds interesting, I suggest that you give sharkanormal activity a watch.