Dead Sea

Had absolutely no prejudice towards 'Dead Sea' before watching out of curiosity. Was also not wanting it to be bad, despite having understandable nervousness as it was a low-budget creature film (a type of film that has a generally dubious reputation for good reason).

Actually, was kind of hoping that 'Dead Sea' would be one of those sort of guilty pleasure films regardless of how good or bad it was. The idea was not a bad one at all, not exactly unique but it intrigued at least, and the advertising was strangely fascinating. Do not know what it is with me and low budget films recently, but 'Dead Sea' is yet another film with a semi-decent concept done nothing with and basically just poorly executed. The least bad thing is the scenery, which is the only thing that shows any signs of real effort.

Don't know where to begin with the criticisms. Aside from the scenery, it is drably shot and sloppily edited with some abysmal effects. The direction has no personality or doesn't show any skill for visual flair, how to tell a story or how to direct actors let alone get the best out of them. The monster is criminally under-utilised to bare existence and bears no menace at all.

The characters are impossible to root for, it's one thing that very little is done to develop them other than a little overwrought padding but it's another when they are so annoying that you are actually rooting for them to be gotten rid of, as terrible a thing as that sounds.

Less said about the acting the better. Especially with the lead actor giving one of the most embarrassing performances seen by me in a while, the acting is so bad it's beyond description. The hateable characters and the incompetent direction does nothing to help them.

Nor does the writing, which is little more than cheesy and awkward gibberish. Despite a decent idea, the story was very difficult to get into with such a leaden pace and then such a jumpy structure, that, on top of having no suspense or thrills and lots of intelligence insulting ridiculousness, it became less easy to follow.

Overall, very poorly done. 1/10 (a rare rating for me these days, dislike giving them out). Bethany Cox

Right, well I have to admit that I was lured in by the movie's cover. I mean, a woman walking in chest-deep water and with unseen tentacles lurking beneath the surface of the water, well that seemed interesting to me.

But the movie was definitely nothing like I had expected it to be. And it most certainly was nothing like what the movie's cover indicated. Instead we are treated to a movie that jumps between different story arches, and none of them proved particularly interesting. I cannot honestly fathom what writer and director Brandon Slagle was trying to accomplish with this movie. The narrative was all over the place, and it was a confusing mess of a narrative, which made little sense.

The acting performances in the movie were fair, but nothing outstanding or memorable. And the only cast member I was familiar with was James Duval, and he was hardly in the movie at all.

If you enjoy thrillers, do yourself a massive favor and stay well clear of "Dead Sea". It quite simply isn't worth the time of day.

The effects in the movie were bland. They were passable, sure, but hardly anything worthwhile writing home about.

This movie was a huge swing and a miss. And it is without a doubt not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time, as it was quite a struggle to sit through it the first time. You know that when a movie is written, directed and starring the one and the same person, it is going to be a questionable affair, and "Dead Sea" was one such instance.

My rating of writer and director Brandon Slagle's 2014 movie "Dead Sea" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

If you like mystery monsters you'll appreciate this film. I liked the plot but I would have liked to learn a bit more of the history of the characters. I was lost at the beginning but towards the end it came full circle. Way too many settings. Enough to make you dizzy. You'll be in one place and before you can blink you're somewhere else. And it had just the right amount of flashbacks. Some films get carried away with those. I don't think they used any CG in this movie which I liked as well. It has gorgeous actresses that didn't act all ditsy or brainless — well not all of them — like most horror flicks. The dialog was a bit quiet in some parts where I could barely hear them speaking. Not a movie that would make me wake up in a cold sweat making sure all my body parts were still there. Anybody want to go swimming?

Pro's: It ends.

Con's: It's boring, boring to the point of complete tedium.

The characters are the most, miserable, nasty and downright unlikable cast you will ever see. I literally wanted them ALL to die.

The effects, they're aren't any, a little bit of blood in the water and lump of rubber that jabs into a leg over and over as the camera shakes around all over the place, so you can't tell what you are looking at. You NEVER see the monster barring a quick flash of some kind of teeth in the last few minutes.

The plot, seriously, it actually does have a nice idea in there somewhere but the story just keeps jumping from one set of people in one location, to another set in another location, while trying to cleverly follow about 5 different story threads. It just becomes confusing and fails miserably. The actual monster plot takes up about 5 minutes of the whole film, the rest might just as well have been a dull family drama.

The camera work, sound and lighting in this film are dreadful. Shaky camera work, bad lighting and sound that at some points, is so low that you can't hear anything and then in other parts, it's loud and bellowing.

The artwork for the poster is misleading and the people named on the poster are only in it for a few minutes. James Duvall must have about 2 or 3 minutes of screen time, it's ridiculous.

All in all a really dull, boring and poorly made, horror (sniggers) film. Avoid!

Do yourself a favour and don't bother.

I've watched some bad movies in my time', those sort of no brainers you go in knowing are going be bad like those on movies on the syfy channel, but jeez this is terrible. The only good thing about it is when it ends!

The acting is bad, the sound is bad, the filming is bad, and that stupid monster groan has no justification for being used at any point, it's beyond ridiculous.

I have seen better home movies shot on a iPhone!

If you paid to buy this I'd write to the makers and demand your money back, even if it was only 50 pence, it be worth the postage stamp for the principle of the matter!