Night Swim

This film was bland. Can't say it was bad, can only say it was not worth it.

I like Wyatt Russell, what's not to like, he's the son of Kurt Russell, that's a lot to like. He heads up a movie with a long subplot about an ex-baseball player, for whom baseball is everything until an illness takes him out of the game forcing him to get to know his family better.

It would have been a nice family drama if the (lack of) horror did not get in the way.

This was not scary, not frightening, nothing got me excited, not enough star power in the film to look at to make it worth looking at.

I'm very surprised this made it into theatres instead of premiering on Hulu or Shudder.

I can only say wait for it to come out on one of these streaming channels cause it's a waste of money otherwise.

Plot

A family moves into a new home, unaware that a dark secret from the house's past will unleash a malevolent force in the backyard pool.

Cast

Wyatt Russell (Who does not have his fathers talent) and a bunch of folk I'm unfamiliar and unimpressed with. And a director I know only from a surprisingly enjoyable short film (Pig).

Verdict

This is a prime example of Hollywood losing their way when it comes to horror, it's so incredibly formulaic down to the letter of predictability.

Yes there is only so much you can do with a movie about a haunted pool, but still being an interesting premise I assumed they had a decent idea behind it and a screenplay that would pan out into something enjoyable.

In reality the concept is passable but that's pretty much all they had, no real content and a very meh ending. And the journey? Every trope, every cliche, everything you expect from a big budget horror feature and I'm so very very tired of them.

If you like The Conjuring, Annabelle, Insidious, Talk to Me and other trite horror films this is for you. If you like substance, skip it.

Rants

I want a pool, you see the the US it appears it's a very middle class thing whereas in the UK it's pretty much the top 1% and therefore extremely rare. Any day now I'll win the lottery and get myself an olympic sized one, outdoors but with the facility for it to be covered at anytime! Right next to my mansion, and multiple acres of land, my zoo and my unicorn paddock.

Breakdown

Interesting concept Weak leading man Couldn't be executed any more generically.

The story is bland, predictable and often boring. They rely too heavily on cheap jumpscares. Almost walked out of the theatre midway through to go do something more exciting like cleaning the bathroom. Pacing was fine, I guess, but everything was rather boring overall. The characters all have extremely convenient backstory's and skills and they aren't very complex.

The soundtrack was fine and there were some interesting shots. Acting was okay as well but nothing spectacular.

This movie falls into the type of horror movie that sits in purgatory in my "continue watching" list on Netflix.

Overall 3/10.

Baseball legend Ray Waller is forced into early retirement, diagnosed with a major illness, he and his family move into a new house, one with a fabulous swimming pool. Unfortunately for The Wallers, The Pool hides a deadly entity.

We've had many films about haunted houses, houses that hold evil spirits, and torment new residents, but this one changes things up a bit, this time it's a killer swimming pool, and I fear that's where the film's major limitation comes from, there's only so much you bobbing up and down in a pool with the lights flickering that you can deal with.

When I saw the trailer, I thought it was an M Night Shyamalan movie, I got Lady in The Water vibes, as I started watching, it became clear that he had nothing to do with it.

There are a couple of scares early on, but when you see 'the thing,' it is pretty laughable. Sometimes less is more, it worked better when you weren't sure what was under there, I burst out laughing when I saw it.

I really wanted that Estate Agent to get into the pool with it, she was one irritating character, her and that rum pudding.

No issues with the acting, and I never mind seeing Wyatt Russell in anything, but he's better than this.

I truly thought this was going to be good, sadly it just ordered so little, for a so called horror it's just very dull, but it's watchable.

5/10.

It was a very intriguing concept. I remember as a kid I would always have an irrational fear of an unlit pool at night. I would swim at my grandparents all summer long and can remember freaking out when I let the intrusive thoughts come up while the lights were out. This movie seemed to have a good foundation for something new. It started out decent but as the movie went on and the "monster" actually had some screen time I became unamused. The acting was good and I would recommend this for a Redbox night, but I wouldn't spend movie money on it. In conclusion....a great idea spoiled by mismanaged directing.