The real life shark attack that inspired The Reef
The Reef: Stalked is the latest in a shiver of shark films to be released, we look back at the real-life events from 1983 that acted as the inspiration for the original The Reef (2010).
"He's got my leg, the bastards got my leg!" Dennis Patrick Murphy let out the cry as a shark removed part of his leg.
Clinging onto the boat wreckage and flotsam of the New Venture trawler in the middle of the ocean, the only other people to hear his screams were his friend, Ray Boundy, and Murphy's girlfriend, Linda Anne Horton.
Dennis' blood filled the water around them, and soon the tiger shark was back. Knowing that he was doomed from blood loss alone, Dennis figured there was no escape from his fate...so he faced it, swimming away from his friends, hoping to bait the shark away to give them precious time.
The last Ray and Linda saw of their selfless friend was when the shark took the rest of him. They may have turned away from the horrific attack, but they couldn't drown out his blood-curdling screams.
The 15-foot tiger shark was gone. The only noise, that of the sea and the uncontrollable crying of Linda. Composed again, the pair were now focused on one thing, on getting to the reef by morning.
It was now about 4am, and Linda was sat in the sling of the lifebuoy. She didn't have time to move when what is thought to be the same shark struck, grabbing her around the arms and chest.
Boundy was still holding her hand when she was shook like a ragdoll, only letting out a short squeal. And then silence returned.
Ray Boundy, then 28 and the captain of the trawler, survived the ordeal, spending some 36 hours in the Coral Sea off Australia's northeast coast. Not that the lives of Dennis - also known as Smurf - and Linda were forgotten, as a memorial to them still resides in Townsville to this day.
Dennis was also posthumously awarded the for his bravery that night, trying to save the lives of his friends.
Flash forward almost 30 years and The Reef is released, which although taking its inspiration from those very real events, it is also a very different story.
In its eagerness to have us believe this retelling is true to what happened it ends with.
It is just a shame that the real story is not acknowledged in any way, which feels somewhat disrespectful and a misstep from the filmmakers in what otherwise is a great shark film, which is regularly in people's top three shark movies.
You could say the same of Jaws and the USS Indianapolis speech, but that was one scene and the Steven Spielberg shark classic wasn't sold as being based on true events.
Words by Dean Newman
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