I had this movie before, fast forwarded it and decided it wasn't visually interesting, so I put it in the trash can. I got the movie for a second time by accident when I was looking for another movie with a similar title released the same year, so I decided to watch it to the end. Man did I enjoy this movie. I was really surprised that I even liked it! I have watched many high budget horror movies and most of them bore me to death, but with this little gem I realized what makes a movie watchable is how real it seems.I felt as if I was in the boat with them. With most other movies I feel detached from the characters, so I don't really care about who lives and who dies.
I have come to the realization that I prefer movies where the story unfolds in one single setting (in this case a boat in a lake) to most other movies that cut from one setting to another before you even begin to feel you are there with the characters. The actors in this movie were a bunch of nobodys, but their acting was so good that at times I felt I was watching a high-budget movie with A list actors. The only problem was with the camera work, which seemed a little amateurish, specially when zooming in on characters' faces rather than focusing on their faces one at a time, but besides awesome acting, this very amateurish camera work made the movie look seamless and natural, and that's exactly what absorbed me into the movie.
The constant rush of bad luck was really interesting as well as the way each character was trying to convince others how they deserved to survive and not be fed to the fish to create a distraction. The characters seemed like innocent kids, but as the movie goes on you start to vote for the fish. That was unexpected. I never saw the ending coming and it came as a big surprise. The mysterious fish in the movie acted in the way a real "mysterious" fish would; i.e. low-profile, rather than a CGI fish jumping ten feet high into the air just to create special effects!
I'm not sure if this is one of those "so bad it's good" movies. Maybe it is. What I do know is if this movie managed to entertain me so much, it would have probably been a blockbuster had it had a few famous actors and a higher budget. I can't even believe I'm writing such a long review for a movie that got a 3.8 on IMDb. For the joy it gave me I'm going to give it a 9/10 and I hope people begin to realize that CGI is not everything. What you need is a movie that will make you feel you are in the movie. Only then will you start caring about the characters and enjoy the movie.
I have come to the realization that I prefer movies where the story unfolds in one single setting (in this case a boat in a lake) to most other movies that cut from one setting to another before you even begin to feel you are there with the characters. The actors in this movie were a bunch of nobodys, but their acting was so good that at times I felt I was watching a high-budget movie with A list actors. The only problem was with the camera work, which seemed a little amateurish, specially when zooming in on characters' faces rather than focusing on their faces one at a time, but besides awesome acting, this very amateurish camera work made the movie look seamless and natural, and that's exactly what absorbed me into the movie.
The constant rush of bad luck was really interesting as well as the way each character was trying to convince others how they deserved to survive and not be fed to the fish to create a distraction. The characters seemed like innocent kids, but as the movie goes on you start to vote for the fish. That was unexpected. I never saw the ending coming and it came as a big surprise. The mysterious fish in the movie acted in the way a real "mysterious" fish would; i.e. low-profile, rather than a CGI fish jumping ten feet high into the air just to create special effects!
I'm not sure if this is one of those "so bad it's good" movies. Maybe it is. What I do know is if this movie managed to entertain me so much, it would have probably been a blockbuster had it had a few famous actors and a higher budget. I can't even believe I'm writing such a long review for a movie that got a 3.8 on IMDb. For the joy it gave me I'm going to give it a 9/10 and I hope people begin to realize that CGI is not everything. What you need is a movie that will make you feel you are in the movie. Only then will you start caring about the characters and enjoy the movie.