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This low budget crocodile movie really delivers the goods. The fact that it was inspired by true events would mean little if you wound up with a fake looking crocodile, bad C.G.I., or an obvious studio setting. Fortunately none of the above are involved with this terrific, very realistic film. The crocodile is real, there is no C.G.I., and the on location filming takes place in an actual Australian swamp. The actors were obviously inspired to create as much realism as possible in their performances, and they succeed. You can place yourself in their predicament, which is testament to how realistically "Black Water" translates as entertainment. Highly recommended. - MERK

While on vacation on Northern Australia, Gracie (Diana Glenn), her husband Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and her younger sister Lee (Maeve Dermody) decide to take the Blackwater Barry tour in the swamp for fishing. Their guide Jim (Ben Oxenbould) uses a small motor boat and takes the tourist along the river to a remote spot. When they stop, they are attacked by a huge crocodile that capsizes their boat and immediately kills Jim. The three survivors climb a tree and when they realize that help would never come to rescue them, they decide to try to find a way out of their sheltered location. However, in the muddy water, their boat is flipped and the crocodile stalks the trio under the water.

"Black Water" is a tense, realistic and dramatic low-budget movie and in accordance with the warning in the beginning, based on a true event. The acting of the unknown Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody and Andy Rodoreda is top-notch, giving credibility to this simple but scary story. There are many similarities between this movie and "Prey", but in different environments. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Medo Profundo" ("Deep Fear")

Black Water is not your typical creature slaughter fest where it's one victim after the other with plenty of blood and gore. It's a rather intimate psychological suspense with practically no gore and little blood. It's set in some mangrove swamps in Australia. A few tourists are stranded far from civilization and no hope of rescue on trees surrounded by water with an immersed crocodile lurking unseen . It's a movie from the school of the least you see of the monster, the scarier it is. I was first taken aback by the long period of waiting without much happening. Heck, I even found it a little boring and was afraid it was one of those no-budget films always teasing the monster but never really showing it, or when they did, it was lame.

On hindsight, I think that the creators clearly tried to slowly make you paranoid about where the crocodile was exactly and in that they were rather successful. There was a nice build-up of tension and the characters looked genuinely frightened. The movie did have a real life aspect to it and the unknown actors (at least in North America) really helped. The crocodile was well done and although sometimes I thought it was a prop (when only the head was showing), it was apparently a real croc composited in. Not CGI, not animatronics and yes the characters eventually seem to be in the same frame and not always filmed separately. My most memorable moment involved the crocodile jumping out of the water higher than you would expect... I also liked the night with the flashes of lightning, going from dark to anguished faces constantly. I didn't like seeing the mostly calm water so much but I understand the reasoning behind it. I didn't expect this kind of realistic claustrophobic siege by one crocodile when I rented it but it turned out reasonably entertaining. Like the stranded characters though, it's better to be patient...

Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (good)

So the positives for this are quite numerous, its a very realistically shot and gritty story which is scare not least of which because it could really happen. The feeling throughout the movie is pretty visceral and really puts you in the position of understanding the fear this situation would evoke.

The problem is with the character writing. The characters are pretty inconsistent, its like the script writer kept forgetting which characters were supposed to be reacting to this stress by getting panicked etc and kept jumping between one character reacting by thinking things through to suddenly being the one being negative about all the options and another character being the thoughtful one. At the start of the movie one of the women is constantly panicking (understandable) and the other is a forceful character and then half way through its like they switch personalities. This is pretty jarring every time it happens which spoils an otherwise very good movie. Still a pretty decent film though.

Black Water (2007)

**** (out of 4)

Australian horror film about two sisters (Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody) and one of their boyfriends (Andy Rodoreda) who decide to take a guided tour down a river where they can fish and see crocodiles. Once out in the water and far away from land, their boat comes under attack by a large croc and soon the guide is dead and the three friends are stuck in a tree without much hope for survival. This film was clearly influenced by Open Water even though this film too is based on true events. I enjoyed Open Water but thought it had several problems, which could have been fixed and the problems I had with that film aren't in this one and I must say I think this film is the best horror movie I've seen in many, many years. off the top of my head I can't think of another movie that had my blood ice cold throughout it. There are at least five long scenes in this film where my blood was cold, the hair was standing up on my neck and I was curled up on the couch in actually terror. I've never had a movie effect me this much as I've seen so many that very few are able to get to me but this one actually did and boy was it a great feeling. I must say this film is a real joy as this genre has forgotten about scares and now basically goes for mindless gore. That's not the case here because each minute of this movie is meant to make you feel worried and put you in suspense. The execution is top-notch and the direction is downright flawless and never hits a bad note. The film runs just over 90-minute and there isn't much time given to the viewer to let them breathe because the film builds suspense every minute from start to finish. The film has a simple but very effective music score and the cinematography is great as well. Another big plus are the performances, which are excellent by the three leads. We don't get to spend too much time with them before the attack starts but it doesn't take long to really fall in love with all three characters and you can't help but want to see them make it out alive. Caring for them so much is another reason the suspense works because we don't want to see anything bad happen to them. Dermody really sticks out and I hope to see her in future movies. I really went into this film not knowing what to expect but it turned out to be one of the most memorable films I've seen in recent memory.

There is definitely something unsettling about recreating in murky water. If you've ever been kayaking or on a small boat in crocodile or alligator inhabited waters, you'll know such a vessel feels quite insufficient. This is the fear that this movie attempts to stir up in its audience. This Australian horror film has fantastic acting and a great setting.

The mangrove swamps of northern Australia are eerily beautiful. The weakness of the film is the lack of physical movement. But when surrounded by water containing a blood thirsty beast, I suppose that does discourage movement. The problem is, the mind of the viewer begins to wander when these characters fail to do so.

There is much to appreciate about this film, specifically the cast and dialogue, but sadly, the suspense begins to wain as the story lingers on. I think I would have enjoyed this more as a radio play or podcast production. The lack of movement enabled me to look away too much while still listening to the story. It had my ears, but failed to hold my eyes. The movie is based on real events and I could see and appreciate the effort to make things exciting and suspenseful while still keeping the story realistic enough. Too often, these sort of movies get a bit preposterous with their overly aggressive and intelligent animals. This movie is a little guilty of this cliché, but admittedly to a much lesser degree than many similar movies I've seen.

While many people found this film simply too slow and simplistic I really connected with it. There is no plot as such, rather the film takes the form of a human survival story about three people trapped up a tree with a man eating crocodile lurking somewhere in the water beneath them.

Personally, I thought the acting was mostly very good, despite the roles being quite demanding at times, and I felt a sense of warmth for the characters. The situation they were in was quite terrifying and I really felt nervous for them. I found the whole film quite nerve wracking because of the sheer helplessness of their situation and the constant threat to their survival.

The crocodile effects were handled surprisingly well for such a low budget film, and believe me, I have seen my fair share of dodgy croc movies. The creature moved well and had real menace and, although the audience I was with didn't seem too keen on the film as a whole, they still jumped and gasped whenever the crocodile appeared.

Script-wise, I would have made a few changes, particularly towards the end, but this was not a major problem. For fans of slow-burning survival horror set within the realms of reality this will be an engaging film but unfortunately I think for many audiences seeking a thrill ride and higher production values from their cinema experience the point will simply be missed.

Black Water is a decent creature feature elevated by some refreshingly smart technical craft when it comes to how it shows the creature. It's not afraid to be a cruel horror film that puts everyone through the wringer and doesn't relent because its main three are nice people who have bright futures ahead. To make it better, it's all contained in a film that's 90 minutes long including credits and boasts an especially mean crocodile which likes to play with its prey first.

Maeve Dermody, Diana Glenn and Andy Rodoreda take turns having urgency in this perilous situation and they all do a good job of making their characters easy to root for. It's an emotionally draining experience for all of them where they make up for the thinly sketched nature of their characters by imbuing them with a genuine likeability and a satisfying level-headedness. Their panic feels reasonable and they never make colossally stupid decisions.

Directors Andrew Traucki & David Nerlich effectively employ a less is more approach for everything. Scenes where the saltwater crocodile is visible are wisely kept to a minimum and mostly saved for the third act but its presence is always felt with ample tension being sustained throughout. The decision to rely on real footage of crocodiles and transplant it into the film opposed to just using CGI works wonderfully, preventing it from feeling too cheap.

Deciding to take a special canoeing trip through the Australian outback, a small group of friends is stranded in the wilderness by a massive, flesh-hungry crocodile that's intent on not letting them leave and forcing them to find a way to survive against desperate odds before them.

This here turned out to be quite a lacking killer crocodile feature. Most of the film's problems are quite easy to spot here in that the viewer has to look at the main villain to understand the failure. This here has so little action with the croc that there are very few times where it has something going for it, as the film puts them in the water with it so early on into the running time following the boating accident on the river but it only shows up to attack rather sporadically. This ends up where that the main portion of the film is spent with everyone waiting in trees for it to leave that it just grows deadly dull waiting for that kill scene or attack to happen and they just spend an eternity not having anything transpire that long which just gets old. That highlights the other main issue with this one. Due to the way this one tends to make them more realistic route of having the group stuck there without doing anything special or outlandish in terms of handling the creature action, the utter lack of preparation for the unlikely event this happened really seems like it's just there to ensure they remain stuck in the situation longer than necessary. The old reliable standby of attempting to undergo the expedition without any form of contact with the outside world or even alerting anyone to their trip is just eye-rolling in the rather cliched use of this tactic. As well, the failure to execute simplistic tactics just because the croc is there seems to be incredibly overdone here and for a film so enamored with realism that this one tries for is a little hard to swallow. These here are what holds this film down for the most part. That said, there are a few enjoyable pieces to the film. The film's effort to remain wholly realistic for a change is where this gets some positive points in that there's a real sense this could potentially happen. This comes to the grounded nature of the film's setup as the crocodile is kept to believable actions and motions, much in the same way that their plans of escape are kept to logical, realistic actions to protect themselves. Likewise, the realistic-looking prop for the creature behaves beautifully as well and the rather ironic sense of cruelty that runs through its attacks provides some decent moments both in terms of kills and character actions. It's more than enough to save some of it but not enough to fix all of the problems.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Violence and animal violence.

Like most, I thought 'another crocodile movie'. So far we've had Primeval and Rogue in the last 12 months, what can they do that's new? Where both those films were about action and violence, this one's about fear and tension.

The performances aren't Oscar-worthy when there's nothing going on, but in times of distress or terror, these people suffer so much it's like torture. There are holes in the plot and maybe crocs don't really behave like this as others have pointed out, but the fear is so effective it's a stretch to say you'll enjoy this movie. It'll leave you feeling as uncomfortable as The Passion of the Christ.

Ok, but not great. Reasonably tense, but not very original - pretty much your average killer-animal drama, but this time with a crocodile. Tedious in parts.

What? Yeah I know this is called "Black Water", but the resemblance with another movie, is just so obvious (not story-wise, but pattern-wise), that I had to call it like it is. A cash-in of sorts, on the whole "Open Water" mania.

Which per se isn't a bad thing, if the movie is well made. And this one has the ingredients for it. Unknown, but good actors, a "happy" (or not so happy) accident and the whole things starts. This doesn't play on "open" water territory though (that's a good thing). And although I myself am not very much impressed by these movies, I have to admit, that there is a certain kind of fan group out there (why else would they make these if there wasn't). So in a Nutshell: If you liked Open Water, you'll enjoy this!

Worse than similar survival near predators movies like Anaconda (1997), Terror profundo (2017), Infierno en la tormenta (2019), Mar abierto (2003). Less emotional, less adventurous, less content like science, places, people, unpredictability. I expected more realistic crocodile, and something more emotional and creative. Characters look ordinary, annoying, boring. Did not feel any empathy whatsoever. Somehow unrealistic, unconvincing, desperate. Makes us feel annoyed and desperate. But at least it is real, simple, and based on real life possible scenarios of survival, which reminds me of so many situations from personal life, as simple thing as being lost in forest or homeless...

"Black Water" is one of the most tense films I have viewed in a long time. The story moves fast as it follows three tourists (all great actors) into a swamp on a tour with a butch tour guide on a small boat. Soon after dropping anchor in a remote area of the swamp, they are flipped over by something huge in the water.

Hastily, the three manage to make it into a tall tree nearby as they realize that a crocodile has attacked them. Throughout the next two days, they have to desperately try to escape from the crocodile's evil watchful eye, and he doesn't seem to want to go away. The movie drags just a tad bit, but what can you expect from the setting and the limited budget? It's so much better than "Primeval" and other recent crocodile/ underwater predator thrillers. The tension is heavy, and all three leads give terrific performances. Truly chilling, this movie struck a deep chord of claustrophobic fear in me. Apparently based on true events.

Released in 2007, "Black Water" is an Australian crocagator flick made for only $700,000, which shows that you can make a quality movie on a very low budget. Not that "Black Water" is anything especially amazing, but it is the most realistic crocagator flick I've ever seen.

PLOT: While on vacation, a man, his wife, her sister and a guide go fishing in a mangrove swamp in northern Australian where they get attacked by a croc, who is hardly ever seen in the muddy waters. They find sanctuary in the trees but know they'll die of thirst if they don't make an effort to escape the remote swamp. But how?

The story is said to be based on true events, which I don't doubt since the film smacks of near total realism. This of course sets it apart from most crocagator flicks, like "Alligator," "Crocodile" "Lake Placid" and "Lake Placid 2" which have too much goofiness to take very seriously. While I enjoy those movies, especially "Crocodile," I always prefer realism if given the choice.

The plot is reminiscent of "Night Skies", also from 2007, just substitute the croc for aliens.

Aside from the totally realistic vibe, "Black Water" has solid no-name actors in the main roles, particularly the two sisters played by Diana Glenn (Grace) and Maeve Dermody (Lee). Not only are they worthy actors but they're appealing in a girl-next-door type of way.

There are only a few negatives I can cite: One is the thin plot. The story as detailed above is the WHOLE movie. As a result, there's quite a bit of down time, particularly as the survivors mark time in the trees trying to figure out how to escape.

For this reason the film would have probably worked better at the hour mark. As it is, it's 89 minutes with credits and some parts are really ssslllloooooowwwww. But the film makes up for it in realism. What would YOU do if you and your loved ones were attacked and cornered by a huge croc in an isolated swamp in the middle of nowhere?

Speaking of realism, this brings up my third cavil: A certain character is attacked by the croc and taken away. This person later wakes up in what is apparently the croc's storage area for kills. The problem? The character is healthy & fit enough to take on the croc amongst other activities. As believable as the movie is, this is totally unbelievable.

I'm giving "Black Water" a grade of B- with reservations: If you're in the mood for a relatively fast-paced, partly goofy, horror thrill-ride, look elsewhere. If you want the awful truth, including many long sequences of heart-wrenching uncertainty and horror, check out "Black Water."

The movie was shot in Oatley, Sydney, New South Wales, and Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

GRADE: B-