Half the fun of watching Lionsgate DVDs is watching the trailers to foreign horror movies they had secured the American distribution rights to. It is about a one in three chance that the film is any good, but their trailers highlight the right things (gore, ridiculous premise, red ban, etc.) to put them in your queue. I am trying to think of one of these features that I had not anticipated seeing (How dare streaming deprive me of this.)
"Beneath Still Waters" was one that I had high hopes for. Yes, a lot of the distributor's films have decadent, Satanic orgies, but this film (trailer) is based on the concept of a modern under water city. This much makes it a cut above "Boy Eats Girl", "Cravings", "Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed", "Undead", etc.
In 1965, a dam was built to modernize Northern Spain. In the name of progress, a town had to be drowned. No one was there of course, except for the followers of the Satanic cult leader Mordecai Salas whom Mayor Borgia intended to stop via the dam's construction.
For 40 years, the evil was left submerged, but shortly after the mayor's death, Salas returns to destroy those who plotted his demise. As the dam's anniversary nears, madness spreads and zombies start to leave their watery tombs. The only person who may stand in his way is Clara, Borgia's granddaughter, but alcoholic photo journalist Dan Quarry and Clara's mother Teresa will not allow the burden to be hers alone.
"Beneath Still Waters" is amusing but that is a result of how corny it is. The chaos is comical since the evil that none of our lead characters experience is defined, and the underwater effects are just awful. There is some great implied gore, but the meaning behind that just is not there.
If the feature had a sense of humor like directors Brian Yuzna's "Bride of Reanimator", it could have been good DIY cinema. Still, the premise may just have been too ambitious. At least for half ass CGI that is.
Just because computers can create new worlds does not mean they should. If you cannot afford the usually expensive effects, do not try to use them. It comes across as insulting if your characters cannot properly interact with the artificial. All of the underwater sequences are a waste, so the film's gimmick is worthless. Because you do not care about the selling point, you will not care about the rest of the movie.
With children being decapitated is a tough premise to green light. Takashi Miike may have been able to make something out of the script for "Beneath Still Waters", and that is because he is a master of cheesy CG. Otherwise, this film was impossible to make without a sizable budget.
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment