Black Water (2008)

Suspense Horror

Australia

Directed by David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki

All Interactive Entertainment

Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

R4

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

The film has a fairly conventional plot. Husband and wife and sister-in-law are on holidays in the Northern Territory of Australia, where the crocodile population is increasing after hunting was banned. On a fishing trip, a croc attacks their small boat. It capsizes and the guide is taken. Their only experience with crocs is a brief visit to a tourist crocodile farm, but they must survive this croc, which is stalking them.

The spooky atmosphere of the mangrove swamp in which they are trapped is heightened by the general quietness, broken only by the occasional bird call and the sound of ….things … in the water. Much of the film takes place in various trees in which they are forced to climb to get away from the croc. For much of the early film nothing much happens as the characters come to realise their position. Their reactions vary from the usual hysterical “I’m staying here until someone comes for us” (no one knows where they are) to “let’s get back in the boat” (which has already been overturned once by the croc). It is only when a quick reconnaissance shows they are on an island that they reach a decision. They must recover the boat and right it to get out of their predicament.

Adam’s noisy attempt to right the boat attracts the croc, with predictable results.

The two sisters must conquer their fears and cooperate to live. The story starts to disintegrate a little at this point, when the croc starts chewing the tree in which the women are sheltering. It also manages to climb into the boat to hunt one of the women, without capsizing it again.

The crocodile shots are a mixture of real crocs and props and are generally rather well done and truly menacing. I am glad the directors decided against adding too many fakey sound effects to the croc – its evil silence is more menacing.

Production quality is high, the casting is good (even if some of the appearances are brief). Diana Glenn and Maeve Dermody spend a lot of time crying, which is probably more realistic than the artificial screaming so common in this type of film. David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki were nominated for Best Director and Maeve Dermody for Best Actress in the 2008 Inside Film Awards. The extras include the usual “Making Of”, directors’ comments, and deleted scenes.

Strangely, the film was widely distributed overseas since 2007 before this R4 version was finally released in Australia.

It’s hard to be original any more in a creature feature. Most of it has already been done, and what’s not been attempted has usually been left alone for a good reason. This film stands out well against Rogue, another recent Australian croc film. Killer Croc films are fairly common, and this one is not particularly original, but it is still very well done.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.3 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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