Dead in the Water and Frustration: A Movie Review

Writers: Marc Buhmann, and David Moore.

Dead in the Water is a film that was created by director Marc Buhmann and writer David Moore in 2005. The film has been distributed by Indican Pictures since September 2007 and the film was likely made for $15, 000 or less. The low production values come through in the film as some of the picture is shot in total darkness and the writing is weak with many expletives gracing the soundtrack instead of plot developing dialogue. This is not a film for those expecting an entertaining experience, but instead teases out frustration reel by reel.

The film uses a myth involving the drowning of several Christian students from a nearby cabin as a focal point. Branching off from there, several more deaths are caused by zombie styled humans that attack by day or night. A minister's son turns the battle from the walking dead's favour to that of the protagonists, with several of the central characters succumbing to infection via biting attacks. Unfortunately, a lot of this info' must be heard rather than seen on screen.

The film gets an automatic fail for missing one of the three foundations of filmmaking. Simply put, the lights are not kept on and in reality the screen is entirely to partially blank for minutes at a time. In addition, characters expressions or actions cannot be seen because of darkness. This creates for a torturous viewing and a craving for the stop button.

Some reviews have called Dead in the Water "more exciting than the sum of its parts" (Film Threat). While Film Threat does not describe the parts nor how they come together other reviews have stated of the acting "the acting is actually quite good" (Joblo). This statement can be disagreed with as the actors rely on swearing constantly rather than well crafted script-writing. Actors also behave in unbelievable ways (see below) The acting is not superb with this picture the first for Alissa Bailey, Christie Burgess, Jacob Paque, Mike Parrish, and Bill Zasadil (central characters). Cinema-Crazed says of the performances "these characters [show] weak acting" and of the characterizations "these characters are pure morons" (Cinema-Crazed). This is only Marc Buhmann's second feature and his inexperience comes through in both the execution and the writing.

Dead in the Water cannot be recommended to readers due to the many flaws in execution. Although, other horror review sites have given the film positive marks this site cannot. Also, because of the poor lighting, unbelievable acting, and improvised swearing, Dead in the Water gets a failing grade.

Photography/lighting/camera techniques: 3 out of 10 (do not attempt night shooting without proper lighting, please).
Acting/believability/consistency: 5 out of 10 (characters find a severed hand, two people are missing, but they decide to hang out in an isolated cabin with no electricity, or phone - wow).
Directing/control of overall production/ techniques: 4.5 out of 10 (not seeing much style here, or anything that sets the film apart from others in the genre).

Overall: 4.15 out of 10 (keep trying Buhmann, but apply these critiques to future films).

Dead in the Water at Indican Pictures:

Dead in the Water at Indican

More info' on the film at the RPM Films website:

Dead in the Water Homepage

Sources:

Dead in the Water Review at Joblo

Dead in the Water Review at Film Threat

Dead in the Water Review at Cinema Crazed