DVD review (region 1)
Directed by David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki
Starring Dianna Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda
Release date Out now

A small group embark on a fishing trip in the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia. But it’s not long before their boat is attacked by a large and ferocious crocodile…

What first time directors David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki achieve in Black Water is commendable but ultimately underwhelming. They wisely obey the first rule of low budget horror, which is to keep the monster largely unseen, and utilise it to generate some effective moments of suspense. They also eschew CGI, preferring to use real crocodiles, in keeping with the grim sense of realism the film is aiming for.

Another strength is the excellent cast who brilliantly convey the psychological terror of their predicament. Since the film is almost wholly limited to three characters, without their solid performances it would have been an out-and-out failure.

But while Black Water can’t really be faulted in its execution it falls down because the parameters it sets itself are far too narrow. After the first 15 minutes or so, during which the boat is overturned and the three surviving central characters struggle to the safety of the nearest tree, the film doesn’t allow itself many options to explore throughout the rest of its 90 minute running time.

What we’re left with is essentially one long, extended scene of three people stuck up a tree. Black Water’s tagline – “What would you do?” – is shown to be a rather redundant question since anyone, except perhaps a champion croc wrestler, would be forced to act in almost exactly the same way. Miles from anywhere, with no mobile reception or anyone even aware that they’re missing, all the characters can really do is sit there looking miserable and sporadically attempt to reach the overturned boat, which lies some 20 yards off with a hungry crocodile in-between.

This inevitably leads to the action becoming somewhat repetitive. And the paucity of characters means there are long stretches where nothing happens. There are some impressive set pieces, such as the lightning storm where the crocodile is eerily illuminated, and keeping the instances of gore to a minimum means they make more of an impact when they do occur, but the overall experience grows tedious.

Given the straitjacket the film fits itself into once the set-up is established, it could have benefited from more initial scenes exploring the characters, as in Wolf Creek. This would have lent them greater depth and made us care about them more, as well as cutting down on the repetition and empty periods. As it stands, though, Black Water is an example of the truth in the old line that while it’s possible to make a bad film from a great script, it doesn’t work the other way round. Joe Green

VERDICT: 6/10
A competently made low budget horror trapped by its own limitations.