Black Water

Black Water, co-directed and written by David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki, is very simple in its execution yet effective. The film is a low-budget Australian movie that will unfortunately not get the recognition it deserves because as far as creature features go, this is one of the best out there. The setup is rather basic; Grace, her husband Adam and her younger sister Lee are touring some mangroves in the Northern Territory when a saltwater crocodile flips their boat and leaves them stranded in the trees. The whole movie is about their survival while the crocodile is lurking below waiting to strike.Unlike Greg McLean's Rogue (another killer croc movie released earlier in 2007), Black Water is not about the audience having fun guessing who's gonna be eaten next, it is about hoping and praying that the three people will get out safely.

The three unknown actors do a great job with pretty demanding roles, considering it was filmed on location with a real crocodile instead of CGI. The characters act realistically in the situation and the dialogue seems natural and not forced. Suspense is built up throughout the entire film, we do not see a lot of the creature but just knowing it is near is terrifying enough. This is edge-of-your seat stuff and highly recommended if you enjoy original and (most importantly) scary horror films.

4/5

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.

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 (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.

"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.