Back in 1999, a film was released that took not just the horror genre, but how such films were made and marketed altogether, and turned them on their head. That film was, of course, The Blair Witch Project, a kids-in-the-woods movie so stripped back to its essential core, it made Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead look like as over produced and gaudy as a Joel Schumacher Batman flick. Regardless of your take on this masterpiece of minimalist shaky-cam, one thing was certain the second the end credits rolled and the box office rolled in: less is indeed more.
However, after a fair few found footage movies rolled in hoping to get a piece of that pie, none had really equalled the impact that Blair Witch did until director Chris Kentis hit upon a radical idea – sure, the woods are scary, no doubt about it; but do you know what else is scary? The fucking ocean.
Incredibly busy couple Daniel Kitner and Susan Watkins are growing increasingly frustrated that their crammed schedules are keeping them apart, so, in an attempt for some much needed them time they decide to go on a suba-diving holiday in the hope that they can reconnect.
The holiday starts normally enough and they happily head out to their first day of scuba-diving on a nicely crowded boat with a head count of twenty. Almost everyone listens attentively to the safety talk (there’s always one chatterbox that ruins it, isn’t there?) and the people in charge endorse a bubby system to make sure no careless accidents happen, but after Daniel and Susan swim away from the main group to do a bit of exploring of their own, they resurface to find no boat.
Suddenly finding yourself stranded in the middle of the ocean is enough to understandably make your dread-tightened butthole clench up so tight it could crush a coke can, but our hapless couple manages to keep it together, assuming there’s been a slight misunderstanding that they’ll probably be laughing about back in their hotel room later.
Only that’s not likely to be happening any time soon, as unbeknownst to both of them, a silly little snafu had occured that resulted in the final headcount being misinterpreted and thus their boat has left, completely unaware that they’ve left two of their group bobbing around in the sea with no way to signal for help.
As time ticks by, the issues start mounting, starting with the fact that they’re unavoidably drifting with a stubbon current. Soon Susan starts to get sick from the ingesting of sea water and they both get stinging foot rubs from passing jellyfish which makes things even worse. Of course the main issue is that of food – but not the kind our couple are desperate to consume, no. What I mean is the foid they’re likely to become once curious sharks come sniffing their way…
It may sound cynical to say that Open Water coasts mostly on its Jaws-meets-Blair Witch scenario, but let’s be honest, when your scenario is a rock solid as that, the vast majority of your work is pretty much done for you already. No offence meant, but Kentis obviously is no Spielberg and the low budget (a mere $130,000) virtually leaks from the pores of the digital cinematography, but sometimes, all you need for genuine horror to strike, even for a second, is a damn good concept that’s made just good enough to thrive. Simply put, the reason Open Water worked so well is that nothing quite like it had never been seen before. Ditching the found footage restraints of Blair Witch, the filmmakers elect to not only keep the digital format, but also treats us to some cinematography that wouldn’t look out of place from the bland holiday footage your relatives are posting on facebook. However, the banality of the film’s style joins forces with the dreaded “based on true events” to create a documentary feel that often makes you forget you’re watching two actors surrounded by a camera crew. The realism bleeds into other parts of the production too, with our two leads being portrayed by utter unknowns, therefore making them prime targets for a right good chomping at any minute. However, possibly the most audacious aspect of Open Water’s production surely must be that the movie had its onscreen duo being circled by actual fucking sharks, which immediately negates the rubbery nature of good old Bruce from Jaws and thus adds to the realism even more.
I’ve seen more killer animal movies than strictly healthy and I have to say, Kentis has to be commended on how well he deploys his tooth co-stars, guaranteeing big jumps whenever the finny bastards choose to surface and even having some of their creepier habits occur without the two main characters even realising it’s happened – note Susan not even realising she’s been nibbled on until she feels little fish nipping at the wound on her leg.
However, despite all the intriguing things I’ve mentioned, time hasn’t be overly kind to Open Water chiefly because while Blair Witch remained evergreen do to the fact that the camera work was supposed to be utter shit, other movies have come along and played Open Water’s game with better technology and more bizarre stakes leaving the experience looking a little basic in comparison. Plus, thanks directly to this film, we’re now cursed to sit through at least twenty minutes of scene setting holiday footage during every Holiday Gone Bad movie made ever since in order to establish a little normality before shit goes epically south. Simply put, Open Water’s impact has been lessened by scores of similar imitators who have left us all but immune to the suffering of its leads. Be honest, the last time you watched a movie like this, instead of sympathizing with the foolhardy holiday goers, you most likely sat back and sneered at how idiotic they are for getting in this scrape in the first place and uttered a smug “You wouldn’t catch me doing that.”.
However, two things manage to keep Open Water a dorsal fin above most of the competition; firstly the simplicity of the snafu that traps Daniel and Susan in their predicament is so nauseatingly believable in its banality, it’ll make you distrust head counts and buddy systems as long as you live. Secondly, the movie’s nihilistic ending, complete with mid-credits punchline still makes the whole thing worth it and the shot of countless real sharks swarming just beneath the flippers of our terrified holidaymakers still takes the breath away.
Admirably subtle and loaded with primal dread, Open Water still manages to stay afloat even if scores of imitators have dulled its bite over the decades.
🌟🌟🌟
We Have Issues 