Black Water (2007) Film Review

What would you do if stranded in a swamp with nothing but trees and water all around? Compound this problem with a huge, say 15 to 20-foot crocodile in the area, one that knows you are in that tree.

Me, I would probably be done right there. I would die from fright. Anyone with me has every right to use my body as bait or whatever. I would literally check out.

Basically, this adventure in the first place would be a big nope from me. To think Black Water is based on true events and it is even more messed up.

It starts with the best of intentions

Adam, played by Andy Rodoreda, his wife Grace, played by Diana Glenn, and her younger sister Lee, played by Maeve Dermody, set out on a fun multi-day trip involving fishing and other activities. Just getting away from it all so to speak.

On this trip the group decide to check out a crocodile exhibit where they learn how big and aggressive males of this species can be. There is a lot of foreshadowing here so pay attention, or just zone out during these scenes and get the crap scared out of you later. Your choice.

The group decides to do some fishing with a local tour guide. Their plans are almost dashed when they arrive at the pier to find out their chosen guide has already left. The man left offers to take the group out for some angling fun to which Adam, Lee, and Grace all accept. Lee, being the third wheel in a couple’s getaway is trying to give Adam and Grace space. This gives Lee an opportunity to see something she probably would rather not have thought about – their guide is gathering supplies and among them was a gun.

All set and ready to go, the group leave the pier with their new guide via a small boat heading into the swamp.

Doing things differently

You may be thinking from my write up so far that this movie is super slow and takes forever to build up to anything.

You would be wrong. All that stuff above occurs in the first 10 minutes or so of the movie. Just enough to let us know why they are in the swamp, who the people are, and build up feelings for any of them.

That is some quick build up for a horror movie. I like it. I don’t need 30 minutes of exposition dialogue discussing the mating habits of crocodiles or talking about tides and water levels in the swamp. Thankfully, the producers of Black Water agreed.

That information is relayed to us as the viewer, but it is done in such a way that it is almost background noise. You are not beaten over the head with those details, but they come in handy later for those paying attention.

Imagine that, a horror movie that treats the attentive fan as much as the gore seeking ones.

Things go awry rather quickly

The initial area their guide brings them to is a dud. No fish at all. That is when the guide offers to take them deeper into the swamp and to potentially better fishing areas.

Once deeper in the swamp the crocodile doesn’t waste time attacking the group. Their boat is quickly capsized, and they are all thrown into the water.

Adam is quick to yell for everyone to get out of the water and into the trees but it is too late for the guide. The guide is quickly dispensed with by the crocodile, leaving the body to float nearby as a grim reminder of what is coming.

Lee is the only one left alive and, in the water, eventually able to get on top of the capsized boat. This leads to some intense moments and I am going to go ahead and spoil them as we are nearing my arbitrary cut off for reviews of movies.

Lee does make it to the tree where Adam and Grace are but that is far from the last of their worries. Stranded, cornered if you will, in a tree in the middle of the swamp – no one having really paid attention to directions take to get there, the group must now find a way to survive.

What would you do in this situation?

Not your ordinary crocodile

Seriously, watch Black Water if you are looking for something new and different. What they did with less than five main characters is impressive. The action picks up quickly from the time you start watching. There is little to no “down time” so to speak, those periods in movies where they attempt to setup situations as tense or try to give you reason to care about the characters. That is all done quite well in Black Water as these scenes are often mixed to great effect.

I have never been face to face with a crocodile, and don’t plan to, but I have to wonder how much the actions of the croc here are “for the movies”. If crocs are this smart and cunning, I can see why it is pretty much a death sentence to be stranded in the swamp.

This crocodile is like the genetically modified sharks from Deep Blue Sea, without the involvement of people directly effecting it’s abilities as a killer.

More than your monies worth

I do want to say, the blood and gore is toned down quite a bit here. There is some of both but not on the level you would expect from a horror movie. The scares are of the jump and mental variety with the ones in your head being far more impactful. This level of mixing genres is a rarity for horror movies.

I watched Black Water via Tubi.tv which is a free streaming service. They don’t edit films “for TV” or anything, you are getting the full movie even though there are commercial breaks.

If you prefer an uninterrupted viewing experience, you can grab Black Water from Amazon, if you sign up for Prime you can get it in 2 days.