User Reviews

Everyone who has seen it has already given spoilers or provided a shot by shot breakdown and noodled down the film to what they liked or did not...(the Sci-fi community is not known for keeping their drama stirring critics to themselves) I am not here to do that... I want to celebrate the fact that sandy has never left the world of practical effects and his love for creatures and monsters and Storytelling which are is his passions...

Watching the short film I appreciated the fact I did not need it explained to me... his influences from directors like Spielberg and Scott and films like Predator, Jaws, Aliens are all here... we all know them because they have resonated with us and he uses them well in this case. Cinematography, Creature Design, Sound Design all on point here.

Sit back enjoy, appreciate his craftsmanship and passion....

This is a prime example of how over hyping a film can hurt it in the long run. I have been hearing about this film for over a year. From it's beginnings on Kickstarter through the endless hype on the net and social media, especially Facebook. The creatures, the effects, people will be blown away, so the filmmakers promised. I finally saw it and thought it was alright. Nothing more than that. Nothing much happens and most of the film features a woman running through the woods and rain to get away from a Creature From The Black Lagoon - snapping turtle on steroids hybrid monster, with and ending reminiscent of "Preedator 2". I don't want to totally trash this film, because it is alright. It is a different kind of horror film, one artistically shot and with no dialogue. I applaud the effort, but again, in the end, not a lot happens and the film, the promise and the resolve are a bit underwhelming and unsatisfying. I am also convinced that I would have liked it better without the hype, or knowing about it at all. I did like the photography, editing and a very good performance by Lisa Roumain. The woman who is in this horrifying situation, that you know nothing about. Which makes it hard to empathize with or identify with. It reminds me of an artistic version of those cheap 50's sci-fi/horror flicks where the posters and trailers promise a horrifying monster and widespread destruction, but you get an underwhelming monster and minimal destruction. It's decent, it's interesting and worth a look, just don'r expect to be "Wowed"!

For months, or longer, we have been hearing about the greatness of a practical effects film that is sure to re-invigorate the creature movie landscape.

After multiple Kickstarter attempts, the story was re-worked into short format and successfully funded.

Flash forward through all the hype and creature reveals. Many asked, "how can it be frightening if we have all seen the creature already?"

Well, I assure you...it can't. It won't and it wasn't. The creature, on paper, probably seemed like a great design and idea. The realization of the creature brought us a goofy, grinning turtle headed amphibian man.

The sculpture of the body was great, kudos to those guys. The head and its turkey neck, really ended up looking more of a dopey character than a menacing and fear enducing monster.

Let's get into this 17 minute turd.

The best and most beautiful shot is the opening. It's spectacular and feels like we are really headed into something special. Over the jungle canopy towards a majestic waterfall.

Sorry, it's a stock shot.

Fair warning, the lack of dialogue and garish music do not help at all. The film maker seems to rely on the music to cue the audience when to be tense and scared. Assuming the audience is a bunch of morons. Maybe they are?

Anyhow... Enter a gasping woman, dressed like a Goodwill Tomb Raider. We get a ridiculous slo-mo shot of her flipping her hair into her mouth. What fetish is this?

The camera follows her through multiple levels of rain. We got some rain, no rain, too much rain and rain on the lens.

She seems quite exhausted and terrified. But not too terrified and we will know why later. I don't know how strong some of the twigs are, but she struggles to move through a few scrawny ones. Making her way down, hiding under some brush or something, there's an arm. Some crunchy sounds and a bit of blood. Blood that bleeds pink into her tank top. The red beak turtle stands up and walks away. Break time was over, back to the shallow office. Assessing that she's in the clear, she stands up to see the body where the blood came from.

Yada.. more of her running.

She runs into what can only be described as a child's refrigerator box fort. A weak shanty, a shack that this rain should have brought down. Inside this allegedly old hut is a shelf with brand new fishing reels. I think they still had their Bass Pro tags still hanging from them. She finds an old sweater and struggles even with this, to put it on. (Is this a Friday the 13th Homage) She braces up against the door and the monster must be using a feather duster to break into the shed. This beast squeaks and squeaks, a bit. I can only imagine the film maker was trying to give it the "raptor" effect. (For those that don't know, from Jurassic Park) It barely moves the door. She finds a shotgun and ONE shell. (Not the missing turtle shell)

Boom. Little hole in door.

No more monster. I mean, I guess the turtle man had an appointment.

Run Lola Run.

Ahhhh to the edgewater! She grabs for her cleanly cut nylon rope that was holding her canoe to shore. A turtle perv rises with its goofy grin and proceeds to "squirt" water from the top of its head.

We get a couple of more "money" shots like this that range from a full squirt, some dribblers and sprays.

Dumb.

A white turtle goon, holding a spear, (YES! A spear!? ) rises from the 36 inches of lake water.

I can only imagine him saying something in liam Neeson's voice... "you have completed your journey. Here is the spear of irrelevance"

No. This goofy white turtle guy and his turkey waddle....

HONK

Yep, honk, at the woman and I guess this is scary.

She shudders, probably knowing how bad this short film actually is, and the turtle posse sink back into their advanced society, 36" under the surface of this lake.

The turtles went from silly and goofy creatures frolicking through the forest and became this seemingly advanced race of weapon building amphibians who follow a chosen leader.

End credits

Remember, this all came from the mind of one whose platitudes are more creative than he is. He quotes his idols, as if they relate to his own struggles.

This is his best work. This is also unwatchable. My advice, if you are to watch this...Turn the volume off and cue up the Benny Hill music.

Lots of running. Lots of rain, even though it is clearly sunny...or conversely, lots of sun even though it is clearly rainy. I don't understand why she is running. I don't understand why they let her live. I don't understand why the gun was empty...wait, was it empty? Why didn't the turtle eat her after having been shot? If my food shot me, I'd eat it out of spite. The thing I was most focused on in this film was the large amount of wild grape leaves in the background. That's probably not what I should have been focusing on.

I checked out the Kickstarter funded short film, "Shallow Water," and the title pretty well sums it up. I really wanted to like this as I really dig the writer, producer and director, Sandy Collora's sculptures and 2d artwork which is why I pledged a few bucks to the campaign. He's an outstanding visual artist but unfortunately here, that doesn't equate with compelling storytelling.

*SPOILERS*

A woman is running from a creature, shoots the creature, and earns the respect of the clan of creatures.

The problem for me is that there's no reason for me to care about the woman running from the creature as I'm never given a reason why I should care. She cries and shakes a lot and that's all I ended up knowing about her after the short was over.

For example, maybe the woman could have had a picture of her family in her pocket she revisits for a second or two. Then I would have at least made some kind of a connection of, "Oh, man, I hope she doesn't get killed so she can make it back to them." Also, I think it would have been killer if she could have found a really old journal in the shack filled with accounts of the creatures dating back hundreds of years. The film could have still remained without dialogue had these things been in it, but I would have had some insights into the characters done in an organic way, leading to a more emotional response to their situations and creating a more fleshed out story. Just my two cents.

The less is more approach works in movies like Alien and Predator which were clearly inspirations for much of this one, because there were characters with personalities, even slight ones, that we could become invested in and character is where Shallow Water falls completely flat for me. I like movies where I'm not told everything but I need SOMETHING in order to care about any character I'm watching.

I did enjoy the score and sound design. Top notch work in that area.

4 out of 10

If you grew up on Creature Feature and Chiller Theatre, then you will drool over Shallow Water. The classic trope of the survivor fleeing the monster is turned up to 11 here. Have you ever seen a film and thought there was 20 minutes of a great flick with an extra 120 of crap? Well this is that 20 minutes! Except it works as a full story. And there's also a nod to the early days of film. With no dialogue, more story is told here than in many full length films you see today.

The excellent sound, monsters and cinematography further heighten the experience. Mr. Collora, who also has a love for the environment, especially the oceans, even gets in some commentary on the damage we are causing.

Another classic from the guy who showed us that Batman can be cool. Can't wait to see what's next from this filmmaker.

SHALLOW WATER a short film by Sandy Collora.

Fantastic! Marvelous! I've had the DVD of the film playing over and over since it arrived by mail - I'm held hypnotized by it's powerful "2001: A Space Odyssey" intensity. Truly a magnificent piece of film.

It's starts like a horror film… then a performance of great depth by Lisa Roumain, a haunting score, brilliant camera moves, and creature effects of such passionate work that they raise up to become "Fine Art"… this whole film becomes something more. It's so intense that when it's over, you feel like you've had a strange religious experience. It's so well crafted, that even though I've watched it several times, I still see more each time I view it.

Of course, being from Sandy Collora, it's a brilliant design of an iconic, awesome and some- how eerily majestic, sea-creature , the perfection of which only a master of the craft like Sandy Collora could bring to life. This live action beast is so much more emotionally charged then a mediocre CGI created monster. Well done, Sandy!

The film leaves me yearning for more - I have a desire to learn about "them", hear their strange history, and the doubtless astonishing mythology behind these deadly ocean dwellers. Thank you so much for this glimpse into the fantastic, Mr. Collora you have again taken my imagination to places far beyond our world... as only a great story-teller/Artist like you can!

THANK YOU and ALOHA!

For an introduction to a new creature. Shallow Water delivers Overall, awesome concept which leaves you wanting more. The cinematography and score were incredible, great eye. The hunter prey concept and tribe party a little formulamatic (is that a word😂) ; but for a short and the time allowed it is what is needed to make the introduction.

Would have been cool for a shark take down in the shallows, if she got close to the skiff, fin comes up and a WTF really, now this moment, could hear an old fisherman saying "they prefer fin over flesh.... but you'll do"

And that's the fun of this short. It sparks a lot of imagination that would probably be in a feature length production

Limited time and budget, definitely worked for what was allowed. It's the crispy skin of the fried chicken. Not really the meat we need but a flavorful romp back to 70s monster movie classics. That wets our appetite and leaves us hungry for more...

The whole feel of this reminds me of the BOORMAN film HELL IN THE PACIFIC. We need more features like this because it has such a firm grasp on the feel of the great films of the 1970's. Back when you had to know how to lock down a good shot and directors gave a damn about top notch cinematography and FX. If he'd been directing Zombie films in the late 70's we'd all be better off. I'm reminded of "questionable" Italian films that are so loved...yet lack a quality they deserved. The gravity of this film is heavy. That can't be said for a lot of these shorts lately. It's because many of them lack the polish and the detail this film has. The FX work surpasses many of those films we loved as kids...that now look a bit embarrassing...I KNOW, we still love them. Generally speaking, Today's films just seem to lack study of the great sci fi adventure filmmakers. I'm hard on films...hard on the visuals and the photography AND the acting. The film goes from heavy mood to frantic desperation and you are hip deep in DANGER, well executed DANGER and it's front and center. You don't have a choice, you become LOCKED IN. This is a gem. Frankly I was shocked. The sound, acting...the whole 9 yards. Remember when we had bad ass monster movies? I do. They don't make them like this anymore...but they sure as hell should. I just want to see the feature length version now.

When I think short film storytelling, this is what I think of. Using the time you have and the talent that is on your to tell the story that you want to tell. I've said it before, that this is 100% a Sandy Collora film. His style really shines through, making something real, and reminiscent of films of the 70s to early 90s, and then injecting something new. If you love movies like Alien, Predator, and Jurassic park, you will love this short. When you get the chance go and watch Shallow Water!