The Drownsman

'The Drownsman' (2014) is an interminably soggy, low budget, zero voltage horror film about the tepid, water-logged exploits of a rather grubby, permanently damp Andrew WK-looking freak who gets his nefarious jollies by drowning nubile young females which proved to be about as diverting as boiling an egg, but without the edifying sustenance. Even if you distilled the entire film down to a 2 minute horror shot, it wouldn't scare the furry training pants off a baby meerkat!

This is your typical horror/slasher movie you get served here. A few good looking women (who are all friends), get haunted by something/someone. It's not really original, but it's entertaining enough to watch, if you lower your expectations enough. The physical aspect of the actresses work has to be stressed out, even though it shouldn't matter on your view of the movie in general.

The movie is also trying to give us something different every time we go into ... that other place. It's nicely choreographed and shot, if not anything else. It's predictable, but the tension is still there and you can watch it with a couple of friends as a party movie too.

I liked the idea of this horror film and the first 30 minutes of The Drownsman were good. I actually thought that this time and this horror film would scare me. But then everything changed. The characters stopped being interesting, the dialogues started to repeated again and again, the story from horror turned to a bad comedy. Okay, I passed my free time, I had some laughs - not the ideal thing when you are watching a horror movie. If this is only what you want from a movie in general, then The Drownsman is the right choice for you. And something for the faint-hearted, don't forget to take your bath or drink lots of water before watching it!

"Dabrowsky. During his speech. He called you the 'afraid of honor.' It sort of became the running joke of the night. Hannah did not find it funny."

Are you afraid of water or have another phobia when it comes to liquid substances, then perhaps it's wisely to ignore this film because this a rather soggy affair. Unfortunately, the whole spectacle largely fails. It ended up to be a disappointing slasher film (however it's only water that's splashing around instead of human blood). Most average, unoriginal horrors follow the well-known golden rules of this genre. Firstly, the main character always has ties to the menacing entity who makes the protagonists lives miserable. Secondly, there is of course no one who believes the main character. And third such a mainstream film is never fully resolved at the end. Believe me, "The drownsman" nicely obeys these rules.

Nevertheless, the opening scene looked promising and was imaged brilliantly in a certain way. The moment a young woman throws her head backwards while sitting in a tub and her long hair swishes water in the air with a perfect synchronous movement, was a moment that seemed to come straight out of a commercial for shampoo. Unfortunately, this highly aesthetically designed excerpt wasn't repeated during the rest of the film. It all looked extremely banal and ordinary. It wasn't really threatening or frightening. The way the victims kick the bucket, is downright lousy. Are you getting sick at the sight of blood, I can reassure you. There's not a spatter of blood to be seen here in this film. In fact the weapon used to vanquish the demon is something what actually isn't resistant to water. I thought a mop would be an appropriate weapon, so you could mop the villain away.

What bothered me the most, were Madison's (Michelle Mylett) three best friends. Three pedantic stupid chicks who, despite that they are furious about the fact that Madison has missed the wedding of her best friend, still are so kindhearted to help their friend with her nasty phobia. They ask Kobie (Gemma Bird Matheson), a medium, to help them out. She already has some experience with similar cases and according to her expertise it could be that they are dealing with a "haunting" ("Let's not call them haunting."). Eventually they use a fairly sadistic and extreme method to help Madison. They just immerse her in a bath. I think it would have been wiser to seek professional help.

As always I try to find something positive in a movie. The cause that created this wet demon, was a highly original idea. Also, the way it uses the medium water to move around, was not ill-conceived. And of course, the acting of Michelle Mylett was admirable. The way she portrayed the fear that came over her, during the appearances, was certainly praiseworthy. And the moments when "The drownsman" suddenly popped up, was reasonably successful but far from chilling. Unfortunately, these are also the only positive points I could come up with. The rest is just a storm in a teacup.

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The Drownsman has a few nice concepts, while they might not be novel, these are still intriguing to some degree. It creates a good visual with simple use of water and contrasting light. The characters are predictable in their looks or bad decisions, yet surprisingly audiences could warm up to them. If there's anything that hampers the movie, it dives too much to the genre familiarities, to the point that some scenes are near identical with other horror flicks.

Madison (Michelle Mylett) has awkward accident as she slips in a pier and nearly dies from drowning. As she wakes up she is haunted by an entity that dwells on water. Things escalate as her friends try to perform faux cleansing and unwittingly share the cursed stalking. The movie protagonists consist of all female, almost like a sorority in jeopardy. Acting is decent overall, and it's good to say that the movie treats its cast with appreciation, it doesn't put them on bras and panties and splash some water on them, even though it has all the excuses to do so.

The lead Michelle Mylett is pretty good, although these girls can be interchangeable at times. The personalities don't stand out much, they are what audiences would expect from any horror films. You'd have the lead who is a victim and her skeptical friends, eventually they all run and scream the same. In fact The Drownsman borrows many other aspects from previous works like Final Destination or Friday the 13th. There's a random puddle, it may be a trap put by psychopath ghost to trip someone and brutally drown them.

Some of the scenes might not hit the mark, especially those which inspired by genre clichés such as ignored premonition or creepy warning by equally creepy characters. They come across as a tad silly, furthermore the logic isn't exactly neatly constructed. The antagonist might appear literally from a spill, but then again human body is mostly water, what if someone pees or does it have to be normal water. So many questions unresolved to plot holes.

While it's overly familiar and bizarre at some points, the movie looks good and it sprinkles enough mystery to pique audiences' curiosity, at least for a rental or movie night.