Black Water: Abyss

Makes you want to root for the monster. Really quite a stupid movie with a soundtrack that sounded more like Love Story than a monster flick.

Well, did we really need another movie about a group of spelunking people getting trapped underground with no way out, a rising water mass and a man-eating creature?

The answer is no, not really. And the 2020 movie "Black Water: Abyss" from writers John Ridley and Sarah Smith didn't really impress much. Especially since it offered virtually nothing new to the genre, and there are other movies in the genre that proved to have more bite to it - pardon the pun.

And director Andrew Traucki didn't really manage to muster up a story that was all that entertaining. Sure, "Black Water: Abyss" was watchable, but it was awfully predictable and generic. And that made the movie suffer.

The acting in the movie was adequate, but the characters were slightly less adequate. But once you've seen one of these movies, you've essentially seen them all. And the characters in "Black Water: Abyss" were generic, sure.

And for a movie with a man-eating crocodile, then "Black Water: Abyss" just didn't pack enough of a forceful bite. The scenes with the crocodile were just too far between, and there wasn't enough scenes with the man-eater. So it was slightly boring.

I will say, though, that the crocodile was nicely animated and seemed very realistic. So that was definitely a plus. Just a shame it wasn't all that much in the movie.

The ending of the movie was just bland and super predictable. It was actually a ridiculous ending to the movie; one that you saw coming a mile away.

I am rating "Black Water: Abyss" a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. It offers nothing that we haven't already seen in other movies in the same genre.

'Black Water: Abyss' seemed like an odd title to me, but I didn't click on to the fact it was probably a sequel until reading it was after seeing it. Usually I like to see originals before I watch their sequels, however in this case I don't suspect it will matter too much. An opening scene for any horror/thriller is so important. It sets the tone for everything to come. The opening scene is this film is about as bland as they come. Almost no creativity or effort on the part of the writers went into it. Everything that happens is as bland and predictable as you could possibly imagine. The film does get slightly better as it goes along, but it never reaches any great heights.

I hate it when a character in a movie is said to be pregnant early on. It's supposed to make us care more about the fate of that character, but all it does it make them feel extremely safe. It does play into a side plot later on, but the movie would be so much better without it being there.

The plot of the movie is basically a group being stuck in a cave, with a crocodile running rampant. That sounds like a fun movie. I was hoping for something more along the lines of 'The Decent'. But in 'The Decent' they felt genuinely lost underground and like they could be miles from getting out and only digging themselves deeper. It created an extreme sense of claustrophobia for the audience. In 'Black Water: Abyss' however, it feels like they have only just entered the cave when the trouble begins, and like they are always very close to being able to get out.

There are a few scenes that create some genuine tension and the effects with the crocodile are quite well done throughout. Caving in Northern Australia sounds like the worst thing in the world to me and is something I'll never do, but I can handle watching a film about it. There isn't a whole lot to recommend about this one sadly.

I enjoyed the start, withe couple lost and arguing, and for some strange reason switching to argue in English, but as soon as the four main thrill seekers appear on screen, it all goes downhill.

I can't remember the last time I watched a good monster in a cave film, there seem to have been quite a few. You watch for ages before anything happens, it literally takes about fifty minutes for anything to happen.

I was genuinely glad when that crocodile got what it wanted. The good looking blonde dude was such a smug character.

Toothless, 4/10.

The film is long, generic and absolutely uninteresting.

I mean, a group of mostly inexperienced people decided to delve into a random cave and also bring a pregnant woman with them. You can't write characters that are more stupid that these, really.

It was mostly fine on a technical level, but there's just nothing interesting about the characters or the story, no interesting locations, visuals, anything.

I understand that maybe the creators wanted to make it look realistic and dry, but you have to have something in your film that will capture the viewer's attention, just having stupid people in it doesn't help, nor does help having a love triangle subplot in a crisis situation. And yeah, the ending is just ridiculously bad.

As I scanned through the reviews it become clear that this is a sequel to a popular film I haven't seen (which is much better), so I'll guess I'll check it out as well.

Surprisingly enough, this was a very weak attempt at a croc film provided that Australians have some really good films in the sub-genre, like Rogue (2007).

This is very skippable. There's absolutely nothing in this that will horrify or entertain you in any way.