''12 Days of Terror'' is a 2004 television film directed by

Jack Sholder Jack Sholder (born June 8, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired American Film director, director, best known for his work in the horror film genre, notably ''Alone in the Dark (1982 film), Alone in the Dark'', ''A Nightmare on Elm Str ...

and starring

Colin Egglesfield Colin Egglesfield (born February 9, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Josh Madden in the long-running soap opera '' All My Children'', Auggie Kirkpatrick on The CW's short-lived drama series '' Melrose Place'', and Evan Par ...

Mark Dexter Mark Lee Dexter (born 21 April 1973) is an English actor who trained at RADA. Life and career Dexter was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. As a teenager, he was an early member of the Central Junior Television Workshop which led t ...

, Jenna Harrison and

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untouch ...

. Based on a true story, it revolves around the 1916 Jersey shark attacks, as recounted in the book of the same name by Richard Fernicola, in which a juvenile

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocean ...

begins a series of attacks that takes place of the course of 12 days in New Jersey. On 1 May 2004, it premiered on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily ...

and later on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

Plot

On 1 July 1916, in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

during

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, local lifeguard Alex Trednot (Colin Egglesfield) watches over one of the beaches. After grilling fellow lifeguard Danny Bruder (Jean Michel Joubert), Alex is approached by best friend Stanley Fisher (Mark Dexter) and ex-girlfriend Alice (Jenna Harrison) on his opinion for a wedding cake. Meanwhile, beachgoer Charles Van Sant is attacked by an unseen force. Alex and four other lifeguards rush to save Charles, however his left leg is injured. Alex believes it was a

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...

, but because he didn't see it clearly, his story is dismissed and the beaches remain open. However, a local boat Captain "Cap" (John Rhys-Davies) believes Alex, having hunted sharks much of his life. Alex tries to convince Mayor Perillo (Patrick Lyster) to close the beaches, but he says he cannot unless experts confirm it is a shark. This disappoints Alex. Later that evening, President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

visits the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

and gives a speech about change and safety from war. Commissioner Meel (Paul Ditchfiel), Alex's boss, once again assures Alex the attack won't happen again. Alice comes to Alex and asks him that, despite being happy for both her and Stan, if he has any regrets, to which he asks her the same. On 7 July, after Charles Van Sant died, many more people come to the beaches. When Danny goes out to retrieve two swimmers venturing too far from shore, he too is attacked. Alex and other divers rescue him, but both his legs are gone and he quickly dies. Now knowing it's a shark, Alex approaches Meel and berates him, reminding him of what he said and how wrong he was. Alex quits as a result. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, wild animal wrangler Michael Schleisser (Jamie Bartlett) reads about the shark attacks and decides to go to New Jersey. At a press conference, Museum Director Dr. Frederick Lucas (Roger Dwyer) and Ichthyologist Dr. John Nichols (Colin Stinton) address they're investigating the shark attacks as well as attempting to prevent another. Meanwhile, Stan finds Alex in a restaurant and tries to convince him to retake his job. But Alex refuses, saying he won't work for someone willing to let people get hurt for good business. After Stan leaves, Cap comes to Alex and offers him a job to help put up steel nets to prevent another shark attack. While putting the fence together, one person on Cap's boat thinks he sees the shark and fires into the water, unintentionally hitting one of the divers. With the steel net in place, the beaches reopen. A group of boys ask Stan to play

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

with them. Alex and Stan have a talk and the two forgive each other. Dr. Nichols meets with Alex and asks him about the shark. Elsewhere in a basket factory, Lester works on putting baskets together. His friends ask him to join them in the river, but Lester is working and isn't off yet until his dad says so. Cap stands atop a bridge and notices the shark swimming into Matawan Creek. He makes a call about it, but is deemed crazy. Cap goes up the river, eventually reaching a small town and tries to warn everybody to stay away from the river. However, Lester and his friends are attacked by the shark. Stan and his friends run to the river to save Lester. However, they do not find him. Cap finds Alex and warns him about the shark. Hours pass and even when putting a net to catch Lester, they still don't find him. The shark is still around and scrapes one of the men searching for Lester. Stan's friends give up, but Stan stays to find him. After a few moments, he finally finds Lester. The next instant, the shark attacks and Stan drops the boy. Alex beats the shark with a pebble, causing it to let go of Stan. The shark swims away. While Cap follows the shark, Alex rushes to get Stan to a doctor. A mother having a picnic with her daughters notices the shark coming downstream towards a group of boys swimming. She tries to warn them, but one of the boys, Joseph Duun, is attacked by the shark. Cap arrives in time and rams the shark, forcing it to release the boy. The shark swims downstream back to the ocean. While on a train on his way to a hospital, Stan dies from shock and blood loss. This event saddens both Alex and Alice. Later, townsfolk launch dynamite and fire winchesters into the river to kill the shark. On 12 July, Cap apparently "captures" the shark. Alex goes into a hotel and consults with Dr. Nicholes, who confirms that Alex is looking for a juvenile

, although he considers the possibility of a

bull shark The bull shark (''Carcharhinus leucas''), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in ri ...

since it swam upriver. Nicholes tells Alex to find the shark where it has been successful, but not to find it alone. Alex meets Michael Schleisser and the two talk about the shark. Alex confirms that he is not willing to kill the shark for money nor revenge, only that he doesn't want anyone else killed. Alex approaches Cap and confirms with him the shark he killed is the wrong shark. Feeling sympathy for the Cap since people called him crazy, Alex says that they can find the real shark. Alex and Cap go together to kill the shark. While searching for and even encountering the shark itself (a 7 1/2-foot-long juvenile great white), Cap and Alex meet with Schleisser, who has a net under his small boat to capture the shark. The shark reappears and gets itself caught in the net. It tows Schleisser in its net, hoping it will tire itself out and die. At one point it stops and tips Schleisser over. Alex and Cap manage to save Schleisser and Alex traps the shark even more before it can escape. After several hours, the shark dies from exhaustion. The group takes the shark back to land and hang it up for everybody to see. Dr. Nichols confirms it to be a juvenile great white. Alex asks Dr. Nichols about becoming an ichthyologist and says to meet him in his office. After that, Alex and Alice get back together. After the shark was finally captured offshore, an autopsy was performed, and it is said that 15 pounds of human flesh with bones were found in its stomach. In the end, four people were killed, a fifth badly injured, and Lester's remains were recovered. Because a propensity for human flesh is unnatural in sharks, scientists are still investigating why this shark did what it did.

Cast

as Alex *

as Stanley Fisher (victim), * Jenna Harrison as Alice *

as Captain *

Jamie Bartlett James Bartlett (9 July 1966 – 23 May 2022) was a British-born South African actor best known for his role as the wicked puppet master, David Genaro, in '' Rhythm City'' and his theatre work. Career Television Bartlett was a well-known South ...

as Michael Schleisser * Adrian Galley as Engel *

Colin Stinton Colin Stinton (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian actor. Early life Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1947, Stinton moved to the United States as a child in 1952. He lived in a trailer with his family—traveling throughout the U.S. and finall ...

as Dr. John Treadwell Nichols * Roger Dwyer as Dr. Frederic Lucas * Craig Geldenhuys as Arnie * George Christopher Smith as Michael Dunn * Andrew Mark Smith as Joseph Dunn

References

External links

* {{Jack Sholder 2004 television films 2004 films Seafaring films based on actual events Films based on non-fiction books Films about shark attacks 2000s English-language films English-language South African films Films set in New Jersey Films about sharks Films set in 1916 Films directed by Jack Sholder