Directed By: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki
Starring: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda
Tag line: "What You Can't See Can Hurt You"
Trivia: The crocodile in this film is real, and not CGI
In 1999’s Lake Placid, there’s a scene where Hector (played by Oliver Platt) is showing Sheriff Keough (Brendan Gleeson) an online video of a crocodile, its body submerged under water, sneaking up on its prey (an animal drinking by the side of the river) and, in a split second, leaping out of the river and chomping down on its poor victim. That, for me, is what makes crocodiles so damn spooky: the fact that they might be nearby, waiting for the right moment to attack, yet you have no idea they’ve locked on to you. Black Water, a 2007 Australian film about three people stalked by a killer crocodile, plays on these fears by rarely showing us the croc, yet letting us know that it’s always nearby, and has no intention of leaving until it’s had its fill.
While on vacation in the Northern Territory, Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and his girlfriend Grace (Diana Glenn), along with Grace’s sister Lee (Maeve Dermody), take a day trip to a mangrove swamp to do a little fishing. While out on the water, their boat is attacked and capsized by a crocodile. Their tour guide Jim (Ben Oxenbould) is killed, leaving Adam, Grace and Lee to fend for themselves in the middle of nowhere. But can the trio find a way out of this predicament before they, too, fall victim to the very hungry croc lurking nearby?
A suspenseful film, Black Water manages to accomplish quite a bit with its limited resources (the movie was made for around $1 million). Despite the fact we seldom see the crocodile, the filmmakers remind us, every chance they get, that it’s still there. Following the attack on their boat, the three leads scamper up a nearby tree, hoping it will keep them safe. The problem, of course, is that they’re all alone in the middle of the swamp, meaning if they want to escape this dangerous situation, they’re going to have to do it themselves. Of course, every solution they come up with has one thing in common: it requires them to get closer to the water. Whenever they do so, the camera lingers on the surface, as if to remind us there’s a killer somewhere underneath, and, like the main characters, we have no idea where it is.
Using real crocodiles instead of CGI, Black Water is an often-thrilling motion picture that, from start to finish, will have you squirming uncomfortably in your seat
