Dead Water

Was nice to see Judd Nelson & Casper Van Dien in a normal film. For what it's worth its worth checking out.

My deepest fear would be sitting through this film again! The back cover of the DVD presents this film as a thriller, with three of the four pictures clearly showing action shots. 'Fear' and 'Terror' get a mention on the case. In reality, so little happens in so few locations that this could very easily be made into a play. But not a good play. Not the sort of play you would want to actually sit through. Halfway through the film a spider ran across our floor and I had to remove it - to give you some idea, that was a highlight!

I didn't expect that much from Casper 'Rico' Van Dien, as the last thing I saw him in was an episode of Monk and he hardly set the world alight with that performance. Judd Nelson on the other hand is usually good value for money, but he doesn't even appear until nearly an hour into the film. He probably gets five minutes of screen time, despite his name appearing on the front of the box. When he does appear, he mumbles his lines incoherently and doesn't seem at all bothered, which I'm guessing he wasn't. He looks good for 60 years old, but this wasn't the Judd Nelson we know from Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, Cabin by the Lake, Relentless etc..

I'm trying to think of something positive to say about the film, as I can usually find something (I've been watching the Andy Milligan box set this week, so my tolerance for poorly made films is very high indeed). In truth, there are no redeeming features. At 87 minutes including credits, you couldn't even say it was mercifully short, because an incredibly simple premise is drawn out to easily twice the amount of time it should've been. This could very well have been a 25 minute Tales From the Crypt episode, were it not for the lack of gore.

This film is abominable - AVOID.

Virgin Island, boat, two men and woman and Judd Nelson as the surprise. A predictable, «thriller» but if you regard it as commersial for green beatiful sea and a nice boat it's not the worst I've seen - though pretty close.

Dead Water starts with a combat veteran, his wife, and the brother of the veteran's best friend going on a multi-day trip on the friend's fancy boat. (The best friend died in combat.)

Whew! Now, personal tension between all three occurs, of the pesky superficial kind. The characters act in one fashion and then flip suddenly. But, did something happen when our combat veteran was away?

Well, all of that doesn't matter. The plot has only minor things to do, and it's written so poorly that the scenes jump in the middle of themselves from drunk fun to caustic accusations.

And to make matters worse, there is another plot that is inane. And doesn't need any description here as it will be obvious when it first peeks its head above water. (Get it? A movie on the ocean? Water?)

Acting is fair to poor, but it may also be related to how bad the dialogue is. If you are watching this for Judd Nelson, I'd pass as he has a small role that has no depth, and is really a throw away of a role.

Dead Water is dead in the water.

It's not a masterpiece but it had some good points. The story was reasonable, acting not bad, pace good and it has great cinematography. I've seen much worse with higher rating on IMDB