Open Water

REVIEW
Danger After Dark:
You can’t get too mad at the horror-happy acquisitions execs at Lion’s Gate: after all, for every disappointingly dire shocker they foist upon unsuspecting genre fans (Saw or House of 1000 Corpses, anyone? Thought not...), they also manage to release an equal number of impressive independent horror films deserving of wide attention (High Tension, Tobe Hooper’s effective Toolbox Murders “remake,” et al). Within this latter category lies the hugely effective and genuinely unnerving Open Water, a low-budget indie DV-shot shark tale that the studio admirably released wide in the summer, helping the film become that season’s sleeper genre hit (a few months after the movie terrified audiences at the Sundance film festival). Made for only $130,000 by husband and wife filmmakers Chris Kentis (director) and Laura Lau (producer) — both of whom are avid scuba divers who financed the film independently and shot with a small crew on weekends and holidays — Open Water was frequently labeled Jaws-meets-The Blair Witch Project upon its release, and while that’s a reasonably accurate comparison (the film does involve sharks, and it does manage to make its limited budgetary resources an integral, organic component in the film’s drama), it also oversimplifies the film’s accomplishments.

The story is simple (and, sadly, based on true events): married couple Susan and Dan take a vacation, and go scuba diving with a group of divers on a boat; hours later, the scuba guide botches the headcount for the return trip, and Susan and Dan are accidentally left alone, stranded in the middle of the ocean ... with sharks and barracuda soon circling them as night falls. Kentis makes this slim premise work remarkably well for a feature film, in no small part because he doesn’t rely solely on the much-publicized presence of actual sharks to generate suspense and unease. Rather, the film is a nightmarishly evocative study of isolation, loneliness, and abandonment, with the couple floating aimlessly amidst miles and miles of ocean with scarcely any hope on the horizon (literally and figuratively). In this sense, the film’s minimalist production resources perfectly compliment the primal nature of the material, and it becomes increasingly hypnotic and unsettling to focus on these two helpless figures adrift in our visual landscape for much of the running time.

And, yes, the appearance of the sharks does prove genuinely terrifying — and Kentis and Lau are to be applauded for their brave denouement as well. Worth the hype.

TLA Catalog:
When Susan (Ryan) and Daniel (Travis) finally get to take a vacation from their hectic lives, they are excited for a little fun in the sun on a far away tropical adventure. The last thing they expected was for their scuba-diving boat driver to inaccurately count how many people were on board resulting in leaving the two lovers stranded in the middle of the ocean. Indie filmmaker Kentis’ feature debut has him writing, directing, photographing and editing this Blair Witch-in-the-water film which captures a profound terror at times, especially for those who have a fear of the deep blue sea. While the only ammo the film really uses to scare tends to be the threat of a shark attack, it does manage to create a sincere tension and there is never a dull moment in the short and simple low-budget nailbiter. The acting is competent and we have to give the two stars props for their entirely on location shoot that also included filming scenes with real sharks. The film isn’t as terrifying as the sheer thought of this actually happening to you, but while watching you can’t help but put yourself in that situation and cringe.