Beneath Still Waters (2005)

In 1965, in Northern Spain, a dam will be built to bring progress to the location of Desbaria and the town of Marienbad is near to be completely flooded. Two boys, Teo and Luis, cross the ... See full summary »

Director:

Brian Yuzna

Writers:

Matthew Costello (novel), Mike Hostench (screenplay)

Stars:

Omar Muñoz, Santiago Pasaglia, Eva Pont

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Omar Muñoz	...	Luis (10 Years Old)
Santiago Pasaglia	...	Teo (as Santiago Passaglia)
Eva Pont	...	Cult Member
Norberto Morán	...	Cult Member
Hugo Mesa	...	Cult Member
Esperanza De la Vega	...	Cult Member
Patrick Gordon	...	Mordecai Salas
Charlotte Salt	...	Clara Borgia
Antonio Portillo	...	Roberto Borgia
Pilar Soto	...	Susana
Damià Plensa	...	Antonio
Michael McKell	...	Dan Quarry
Raquel Meroño	...	Teresa Borgia
María Borrego	...	Camera Operator - Bea
Ricardo Birnbaum	...	Sound Recordist - Nacho

Storyline

In 1965, in Northern Spain, a dam will be built to bring progress to the location of Desbaria and the town of Marienbad is near to be completely flooded. Two boys, Teo and Luis, cross the security boundary to play in the evacuated town and Teo listen to voices in the abandoned church. They find a group of strange people chained in the watered basement, Teo releases their leader Mordecai Salas and is killed by him. Forty years later, in the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of Debaria Dam, the teenager Antonio vanishes in the lake while swimming with his girlfriend Susana and their friend Clara Borgia. The police divers, with the support of the outsider cameraman journalist Dan Quarry that is filming the submerged Marienbad to write a matter about the town, try unsuccessfully to find the body. When eerie things happen in the spot, Dan and the local journalist and daughter of the builder of the dam Teresa Borgia disclose dark secrets about Marienbad, Salas and his evil cult of the...

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Plot Keywords:

no survivors | dam | lake | h.p. lovecraft | self mutilation | 

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Taglines:

Fear is rising.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, sexual content, nudity and some language

Details

Country:

Spain UK

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

October 2005 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Bajo aguas tranquilas

Filming Locations:

Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fantastic Factory (Filmax), Canal+ España, Ministerio de Cultura - ICAA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min (Spain)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1 / (high definition)

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 5 mins) In the city of Marienbad before it floods, the boys throw rocks at a poster for "El Rostro de la Bestia," which has credits for Paul Naschy and Brian Yuzna. There is no such movie, but Yuzna did direct Naschy in Rottweiler (2004).

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Goofs

One of the creatures trapped in the sunken city has its hand melted onto its face. In some shots it's the right hand, in others it's the left.

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Quotes

[last lines]
David: I hate them!

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Connections

References Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

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Soundtracks

El Payaso
Written by Alfonso García, Valerio Veneras (as Valerio Beneras) and Daniel Pelayo
Performed by El Retrato and Dirty Princess

User Reviews

A dammed mess (dammed...damned...geddit? Oh never mind...).

After years producing and directing in the US, Brian Yuzna eventually left the States to set up shop in Spain; judging by the awful Beneath Still Waters, he's either been overdoing the Sangria or not taking enough siestas. Whatever the reason, it's hard to believe that this mess was directed by the same guy that gave us the twisted classic Society and the delightfully gory Return Of The Living Dead 3.

Yuzna's watery waste-of-time starts in the abandoned Spanish town of Marienbad, with two boys freeing Mordecai Salas, the leader of a Satanic cult, just as the area is about to be flooded by a new dam. Forty years later, as the locals prepare to mark the anniversary of Desbaria, the town that was built to replace Marienbad, a series of strange deaths occur which suggest that Salas, trapped deep beneath the water for so long, is about to surface. In order to save Desbaria, a photojournalist named Dan (Michael McKell), a TV news reporter, Teresa (Raquel Meroño), and her pretty daughter Clara (Charlotte Salt) must do battle with the supernatural forces that are intent on destroying the town.

Featuring a European cast who, with the exception of a couple of Brits, struggle with the English dialogue, Beneath Still Waters is a badly scripted, poorly acted and dreary piece of nonsense that is enlivened occasionally by some fairly decent gore and loads of nudity. Yuzna's direction is uninspired, there is far too much reliance on cheap digital effects during the many underwater scenes, and the story often makes little or no sense (eg. why does Salas wait for forty years under the lake before emerging?).

To be fair, Yuzna does manage one or two inspired moments—the best being the town's celebration, which turns into a debauched orgy—but with so much mundane drivel between the few high points, Beneath Still Waters deserves to sink without a trace.