Yes, You Read That Right: BAIT 3D Selected For Venice!

Simon de Bruyn, Contributing Writer; Melbourne, Australia

July 26 2012, 2:18 PM

When I was casting my eyes over the selections for this year's Venice Film Festival, I expected none of them to surprise me. Sure, there were lots of films on the list I couldn't have guessed would premiere there, but generally they all fell into the Venice-type art films I had come to expect from the prestigious Italian festival. There's a Jonathan Demme, a Spike Lee, a Redford and of course a Malick. There's also one De Palma, one Michael Mann, and a whole bunch of foreign films from directors I've never heard of.

So far so normal.

However, buried amid these worthy gems is a grubby bit of pirate gold, that once I spotted it began to glow furiously. This shiny piece-of-eight, of course, is shark exploitation thriller Bait 3D. Polished up and given the new name of Shark doesn't hide what it is, but as a predator the advantage will certainly come from this disguise. I had the good fortune to read a late draft of this a few years back, and it hearkens back to the golden era of 1970s disaster movies. A premiere screening in a city that has canals for streets will certainly liven things up. I don't think Venice knows what's coming for them.