Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
"Open Water" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 05/05/2012
A young couple are left behind when they go scuba diving. Errrrm....that's it. Essentially, this film begins with half an hour of holiday home movie, and then consists of watching two yuppies bob around in the water. Sounds thrilling doesn't it? But to be honest, it's not quite as boring as it sounds. It manages to tap into quite a primeval and universal fear; being lost in a hostile environment with an unseen enemy stalking you is a staple of the horror genre. It did actually make me jump a couple of times, as you see menacing shapes lurking beneath the waves, and the strobe effect of the lightning during the storm was actually very effective. Unfortunately much of what this film was trying to achieve could've been done in half the time, and there's a lot of teary, whiny padding. It's …
Rating of
4/4
Open Water
Franz Patrick - wrote on 12/24/2007
People are quick to label this picture as a "bad movie." I beg to differ. For an indie film, this is an amazing accomplishment. For a budget of basically nothing, I challenge you to create a movie that can generate as much tension as this film provided. Try shooting sharks swimming around actors. Hell, try HIRING actors that would do something crazy like swim with sharks for a couple hundred dollars. It's no easy task. After watching this film, I couldn't even imagine thinking of going to the beach. I was shaken for a while and I couldn't help but wonder how the filmmakers made this movie. The story is simple here: a couple was forgotten by their diving group and the sharks wish to eat them. A tension-rich movie is the product. I'm always enthusiastic to recommend this film because I …
Rating of
3/4
Sharks just nibble at first, that's the scary part
Josh C - wrote on 03/12/2007
If you weren't afraid of the water before this film you certainly will be after. Open Water is the new, raw and unrefined, Jaws. It is filmed much like a documentary and it follows the life of one couple who gets stranded in the Caribbean. This style of filming takes a bit to get used to because it is usually associated with armature movies, but it is this style that really pulls the film together and makes it so believable.
The two main characters, Susan and Daniel; played by Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis are relatively new to having the starring role and do a great job. They have great chemistry together and really get the audience to relate to them because the dialog and acting is so raw. There is no "typical Hollywood formula" in this movie. I was waiting for events of deceit …
