MANILA, Philippines - A sexy summer weekend turns into a blood-soaked nightmare for a group of college students trapped on an island surrounded by voracious underwater predators in Shark Night. The movie is a terrifying thrill ride from director David Ellis featuring a red-hot young cast including Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack, Joel David Moore, Chris Zylka and Katharine McPhee.
Arriving by boat at her family’s Louisiana lake island cabin, Sara (Sara) and her friends quickly strip down to their swimsuits for a weekend of fun in the sun. But when star football player Malik (Sinqua Walls) stumbles from the salt-water lake with his arm torn off, the party mood quickly evaporates. Assuming the injury was caused by a freak wake-boarding accident, the group realizes they have to get Malik to a hospital on the other side of the lake — and fast.
But as they set out in a tiny speedboat, the college friends discover the lake has been stocked with hundreds of massive, flesh-eating sharks. As they face one grisly death after another, Sara and the others struggle desperately to fend off the sharks, get help and stay alive long enough to reach the safety of dry land.
Excerpts from the interview with Katharine:
What attracted you to do a horror/suspense film with Shark Night?
“Well to be honest, my manager sent me the script over a year ago obviously and was like ‘You know you are going to think this is weird but just trust me on it, there’s a really great producer that I really respect that’s working on this project and I think you should just take a look at it,’ and I was just like ‘Alright, okay.’ I read the script and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was written and how well the characters were developed. I originally went in for a different role and then they made a decision to cast Sara Paxton and then several weeks later they had me come in and audition for a different role, and I didn’t even remember what role it was. I actually thought it was even cooler, because it was even further away from me as a person, the party girl, the one that wants to get into trouble and say things that are inappropriate so I kind of like that about her. I guess I have a side of me that is like that, but not on a daily basis.”
From all the characters you have played, what character have you related to the most?
“Probably Beth, for the movie Shark Night, I mean I can relate with just sort of the frustration of breaking into panic. And screaming was hard for me as a singer.”
What’s the chemistry like with the cast?
“So far the chemistry is great. I think after the first table read we all gathered around I think after that table read we were all like ‘Wow, I think this is really going to be something special.’ Sara is everyone’s favorite so far. It was my birthday shooting one really long night and she wasn’t even there on set and she had a birthday gift there for me, she’s just a really thoughtful amazing woman.”