Dead Water

Nothing new to see here, no sharks, no scares, no story. Been done a million times before and much better! Although Casper is looking good for an old guy so the ladees might get some excitement from this but sadly not for me it bored me to tears!

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.

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.

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.

We went to the "World Premiere" of this movie along with 30 or so others. It's a distinctly average action picture set mostly in the middle of the ocean on high end boat.

The acting and production are OK, but the film is let down by its structure and its general lack of suspense. I think it is supposed to a mixed genre film: action/suspense. A fundamental problem is that the action really only comes in the third act. The low budget for the film means that the action is of relatively low impact. Another fundamental issue is the lack of suspense in the movie. One of the main characters is obviously a sleaze-ball, so there is no surprise later when he isn't what he seems.

There is a lot of scenes of the high end boat which really could be taken directly from the manufacturer's sales video. One of these is used twice in the movie!

Ok to watch if you are streaming one evening, though frankly there are better things to watch.