Undertow (TV 1996)

After his car breaks down, Jack seeks shelter, lost in a thunderstorm in a remote shack in the woods. He finds himself held at gunpoint by a deranged mountain man who lives there with his ... See full summary »

Director:

Eric Red

Writers:

Eric Red, Kathryn Bigelow

Stars:

Lou Diamond Phillips, Mia Sara, Charles Dance

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lou Diamond Phillips	...	Jack Ketchum
Mia Sara	...	Willie Yates
Charles Dance	...	Lyle Yates

Storyline

After his car breaks down, Jack seeks shelter, lost in a thunderstorm in a remote shack in the woods. He finds himself held at gunpoint by a deranged mountain man who lives there with his young wife. As the storm rages on, tension mounts in the small cabin. Matters reach a climax when Jack falls for the beautiful woman and tries persuading her to escape with him. Soon, the situation escalates into deadly violence...

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Plot Keywords:

woods | thunderstorm | violence | intimidation | shower | 

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Taglines:

Just below the surface lies a deadly trap.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 March 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Apodrasi apo ton efialti

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lietuvos Kinostudija, Showtime Networks, Weintraub/Kuhn Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

During the hurricane sequence, the wind has enough force to blow windows out of the house, but the nearby trees are standing perfectly straight and not a leaf is moving. Bright sunlight can be seen in the treetops in several shots.

User Reviews

Strange movie

This is one strange movie, because it has two great names writing and directing it, Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark) and Eric Red (The Hitcher). It's almost as if some one said: how can we make the leanest, most effective thriller? This is a movie with literally only three actors (3), no extras and the carpenters and assistant carpenters outnumber them more than 2 to 1. As well, this movie, even though it is supposedly located somewhere in "The Carolinas", is shot on location in Latvia (maybe that's why they only flew over 3 actors). This shack could have been anywhere, though, they never needed to leave Hollywood. The major problem with this movie is that the theme has been done to death (hapless traveller drives through the country side, a car breaking down and is scooped up by the locals - where have we seen that before? Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Deliverance, Children Of The Corn...). Anyway, the actors do what they can and there are some suspenseful moments, but they're not sustained until the end of the movie. Cliches abound.