Review: Black Water (2008)
By Luke Buckmaster on Apr 23, 2008 in Reviews
Every when-animals-attack horror movie comes with a corny tagline, and that tradition is faithfully maintained in the gnarly debut feature of Australian filmmakers Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich. The tagline for Black Water is characteristically trite – What You Can’t See CAN Hurt You! – but the film, which tells the sordid, squeamish story of three misguided tourists who take refuge up a tree while a crocodile patrols the water below them, is no laughing matter.
Unlike the gory popcorn spectacles sliding off Hollywood’s endless conveyer belt of camp and schlocky creature features (ala Lake Placid, Deep Blue Sea and Snakes on a Plane), the thrills, spills, fatalities and severed limbs in Black Water provide bona-fide, gasp-inducing fear and suspense.
Grace (Dianna Glen), her partner Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and her younger sister Lee (Maeve Dermody) take a holiday to Northern Australia, where they decide to go on a river tour. The official party has already left but Jim (Ben Oxenbould - aka Ben from Hey Dad!) doesn’t mind taking them down the river on his motor boat. They drift into a mangrove swamp, and a couple of hard bumps to the boat later they’re all in the water – with a new chomping companion who isn’t in the mood to make friends. Jim is gone, and the three remaining would-be snacks climb a tree and try to decide what to do.
Frantic performances from a frazzled cast enliven the characters, and jaunty, knife-edge direction from the two filmmakers maintain Black Water’s unwavering pace. It has a short running time (88 minutes) and there isn’t a dead minute in it.
Inspired by actual events, the film has a solid footing in realism, and the attack scenes use real crocodiles, not CGI ones. The integration of real crocs is a stunningly unnerving achievement; by contrast Black Water makes the (CGI) croc in Greg McLean’s Rogue (2007) look like an escaped character from a Windows screensaver.
Traucki and Nerlich coyly play with the properties of suspense, teasing us with glimpses of the beast and delivering action at just the right pot-boiling moments. In one deliciously unsettling sequence, two characters listen to the bones of their dead companion snap and crackle as the showboating crocodile slowly snacks.
The general consensus is that a) creature features must be taken with a grain (or a pound) of salt and b) the audience must be whooping dunderheads who take great enjoyment in watching fellow humans get mauled to pieces. Horror aficionados and the general public alike will get a real hoot out of Black Water, but instead of clapping and cheering the audience are more likely to gasp and squeal: the performances are gutsy, the atmosphere is airtight, and the filmmakers have damn near created an instant classic.
With its beautiful landscapes and spectacular beasts, the Australian outback is the perfect setting for a new wave of home-grown creature features. We just need more films as good as this.
Review by Luke Buckmaster
Directors: Andrew Traucki & David Nerlich
Screenplay: Andrew Traucki & David Nerlich
Cast: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodereda, Ben Oxenbould
Cinematography: John Biggins
Running time: 88 minutes
Australian theatrical release: April 24, 2008 (NT, other states to follow)
Watch the Black Water trailer:
Bookmark and Share:
Hi, I actually watched this movie about a month ago, and being Canadian, have heard the horrors of australian crocs like I imagine other people here of Canadian polar bears, moose (yes, a moose can kill you asap, if it happens to cross the highway in front of you, it’ll crush your car or truck like a bug and in most cases, get up and walk away!) but I didn’t expect such a nerve wrecking, spine tingling experience in watching the movie. I was on the edge of my seat, and to find out it was inspired by actual events makes it even more bone chilling. I loved the movie, much more terrifying than some “zombie virus” movie like I am Legend, which I was disappointed I spent 10 bucks to see.
Having said that, my favorite Australian movie of all time, might be one that is not popular with australians, not sure, but its Muriel’s Wedding, I cringed every time she stuck out that tongue, wanted to smack her upside the head for marrying the swimmer and thoughly loved the Abba music in the movie. Everytime I think of that movie, I smile because as screwed up as Muriel was, she found where she belonged in the end and that’s something alot of people search forever for.
lisa | May 28, 2008 | Reply
I hated this movie BUT it is a very important one I believe. Perhaps it takes something as horror filled as this to make humans begin to think again about our place in the scheme of things. We are such an arrogant species, believing we have the right to go literally to the ends of the earth for our ‘entertainment’ (and to further our exploitation). The wonderful close ups of the crocodiles, the bird life, the insect life, the flora and even the life of the water itself (magicical shots of black water throwing up stunning light shows)and the electrical storms, all highlight the fact that this is a domain to which we definitely do not belong. And I think the close ups of the human species shows how literally out of place we are in such settings. I will never see it again, but neither will I ever forget seeing Blackwater the once. As Wordsworth said, ‘Nature is red in tooth and claw.’ Perhaps we should just exterminate everything before it exterminates us??? NOT.
John | Jun 10, 2008 | Reply
Great Movie — just keep coming back to how I keep seeing tags about how the movie was ‘Inspired by actual events’ but nothing on what those actual events where - is the movie loosely based or have alot of actual events
sheryl | Oct 17, 2008 | Reply
re true story, I found this in 5 seconds from a google search:
Andrew Traucki: Everyone seems so sceptical of that title, based on true events. There are lots of real stories about crocodiles attacking humans in Australia because as the film states the croc population is increasing in Northern Australia, and so is the human population. The story that inspired Black Water was one that involved two teenagers being stuck up a tree in a flooded river because a crocodile that killed their friend came back, and kept circling the base of the tree. That premise is the basis of the film. We have altered the characters and some of the events.
syms covington | Nov 18, 2008 | Reply
I work in the film industry, I am disappointed in most of the creature features out today. I thought the film was great, I have heard that there is a new one coming out in late 2010 called “The Reef” about a shark, can’t wait to see it.
Patrice | Jun 20, 2010 | Reply