My rating: *** out of ****.
Open Water was being called the "Blair Witch" of last summer. In other words, it was a low-budget horror film that would scare the hell out of everyone and make a ton of money. Honestly, I found The Blair Witch Project to be hideously overrated. I thought it was just a really amateurish, cheaply made, badly acted and just not a very scary film. Thankfully, Open Water is vastly better than Blair Witch.
Open Water definitely has its problems. First of all, the film looks like it was made with little money (just $130,000). The first 15-20 minutes end up looking like some reality TV show, although actress Blanchard Ryan shows off her hugely impressive assets in this period. However, once the story moves to the ocean things improve immensely.
I have always found the ocean to be sort of frightening. No I do not avoid the water but I have wondered whats just below me when I'm swimming. This maybe why Open Water worked so well for me. The ocean can be a frightening place, especially when your in the middle of it with no one else around.
What I liked about Open Water a lot is that the sharks just didn't pursue them right. First, they have an encounter with a jellyfish and the sharks slowly enter the picture. When they do, you almost feel like your there with the people. I almost felt the terror they were going through because if I was in that situation, I would be so terrified. The director did a very impressive job of making us feel like we were with them.
Although it is a consistently suspenseful film, there are three scenes that I just found to be absolutely frightening. When the couple are swimming to find someone for help they see a bird land in the water then they see some splashes and the bird retreats to the air. They just stop completely and realize that the sharks are following. The second is when the couple decides to rest in the water and they wake hours later and realize that they have drifted apart, not knowing if the other had been ripped apart by the sharks. Finally, the scene during the thunderstorm when the sharks are circling just under them. That scene, in particular, was especially well done. The lightning plays a big role in this scene as its the only way of seeing how close the sharks are to them.
Although its well-directed and tense, Open Water is not perfect. The acting is kind of mixed. The male lead Daniel Travis gave an especially wooden performance as Daniel. Blanchard Ryan gives a solid, but not spectacular, performance as Susan, his fiancé I assume. She does seem a little raw at times, but, overall, its a good performance.
There also some issues in the screenplay. The dialogue is pretty banal, it all just sounds really routine as if I could have written the script on my own. Plus, it does take a fair amount of disbelief to believe that these two people would have been left behind like that. If I was on that boat, I would realize that someone like Susan was missing. Plus, I think the people in charge would realize they were still missing two tanks. That part did seem a little too contrived.
Problems aside, Open Water still worked pretty well. The ending didn't cop out, in fact its a really downbeat ending. If anything else had taken its place, I felt it would have been cheating. Overall, Id definitely say Open Water is worth seeing and its definitely far more than another "Blair Witch".
Open Water was being called the "Blair Witch" of last summer. In other words, it was a low-budget horror film that would scare the hell out of everyone and make a ton of money. Honestly, I found The Blair Witch Project to be hideously overrated. I thought it was just a really amateurish, cheaply made, badly acted and just not a very scary film. Thankfully, Open Water is vastly better than Blair Witch.
Open Water definitely has its problems. First of all, the film looks like it was made with little money (just $130,000). The first 15-20 minutes end up looking like some reality TV show, although actress Blanchard Ryan shows off her hugely impressive assets in this period. However, once the story moves to the ocean things improve immensely.
I have always found the ocean to be sort of frightening. No I do not avoid the water but I have wondered whats just below me when I'm swimming. This maybe why Open Water worked so well for me. The ocean can be a frightening place, especially when your in the middle of it with no one else around.
What I liked about Open Water a lot is that the sharks just didn't pursue them right. First, they have an encounter with a jellyfish and the sharks slowly enter the picture. When they do, you almost feel like your there with the people. I almost felt the terror they were going through because if I was in that situation, I would be so terrified. The director did a very impressive job of making us feel like we were with them.
Although it is a consistently suspenseful film, there are three scenes that I just found to be absolutely frightening. When the couple are swimming to find someone for help they see a bird land in the water then they see some splashes and the bird retreats to the air. They just stop completely and realize that the sharks are following. The second is when the couple decides to rest in the water and they wake hours later and realize that they have drifted apart, not knowing if the other had been ripped apart by the sharks. Finally, the scene during the thunderstorm when the sharks are circling just under them. That scene, in particular, was especially well done. The lightning plays a big role in this scene as its the only way of seeing how close the sharks are to them.
Although its well-directed and tense, Open Water is not perfect. The acting is kind of mixed. The male lead Daniel Travis gave an especially wooden performance as Daniel. Blanchard Ryan gives a solid, but not spectacular, performance as Susan, his fiancé I assume. She does seem a little raw at times, but, overall, its a good performance.
There also some issues in the screenplay. The dialogue is pretty banal, it all just sounds really routine as if I could have written the script on my own. Plus, it does take a fair amount of disbelief to believe that these two people would have been left behind like that. If I was on that boat, I would realize that someone like Susan was missing. Plus, I think the people in charge would realize they were still missing two tanks. That part did seem a little too contrived.
Problems aside, Open Water still worked pretty well. The ending didn't cop out, in fact its a really downbeat ending. If anything else had taken its place, I felt it would have been cheating. Overall, Id definitely say Open Water is worth seeing and its definitely far more than another "Blair Witch".