The Pool (2014)

A father takes his wife, two sons, a friend and his daughter on a hiking trip in the woods. After a long search for a spot to set up camp, the father finds a perfect place overlooking a ... See full summary »

Director:

Chris W. Mitchell

Writers:

Chris W. Mitchell (scenario), Gijs Scholten van Aschat (scenario)

Stars:

Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Carine Crutzen, Bart Klever

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Gijs Scholten van Aschat	...	Lennaert
Carine Crutzen	...	Sylke
Bart Klever	...	Rob
Katja Herbers	...	Jenny
Alex Hendrickx	...	Jan
Jamie Grant	...	Emilie
Chris Peters	...	Marco

Storyline

A father takes his wife, two sons, a friend and his daughter on a hiking trip in the woods. After a long search for a spot to set up camp, the father finds a perfect place overlooking a pool. Everybody seems to get settled quickly and when the night falls the two sons listen to a ghost story told by their father's friend at the campfire. The youngest son begins to have strange dreams and bizarre occurrences begin to develop at the camp side.

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Plot Keywords:

father son relationship | netherhorror | woods | ghost | celebration | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Make You Mine
Performed by Wyke van Weelderen
Written & Produced by Nando Eweg & Peter Kvint
Music by Wyke van Weelderen & Peter Kvint
Published by A Music, John Brands & Sony ATV Music
Produced & Recorded by Sounds Like Nando, Nando Eweg

User Reviews

'De Poel' tries, but fails to be a fun watch.

We Dutch have a rich history of making movies with that typical 'Dutch mark'. Something that's hard to identify but somehow always involves nudity, swearing, a bit wooden acting and a sense of humor that is very much Dutch. Lacking budgets of, say Hollywood, Dutch cinema always has fairly low production values. Even compared to British, Scandinavian or French movies, Dutch movies alway fall short of outstanding quality. Which, even for me as a Dutchman, makes them hard to like.

Sometimes you need to give them a chance however. And with 'De Poel' (The Pond) being somewhat of a revival of the 'Nether-Horror' genre I thought I'd put my prejudice aside and give it a try. Dutch media outlets praise the movie, but to me (and I guess my fellow movie goers in the cinema) it failed miserably.

'De Poel' follows two families going on a camping vacation in a forbidden part of a Dutch nature reserve. They set up camp next to a pond, and sure enough: s--- hits the fan. The build up of tension is decent, and the main actors (the younger actors barely have any lines to work with) act quite naturally which is a relief for a Dutch movie. The tension between husband and wife is actually quite enjoyable. Mom blaming dad for being stubborn and relying on technological 'toys' instead of a good old analogue compass is fun and recognizable. There are some nice scenic shots too. That's where the goods end.

'De Poel' fails to be scary. Overly stylized shots from the perspective of 'the threat' distract and only serve to reinforce something is wrong...again, and again, and again. There is some gore, including cutting off a finger. Which is followed by the character almost ignoring his missing finger just an hour later... The story doesn't explain anything, and only barely hints at the cause of the trouble.

The Netherlands has a history of prehistoric human sacrifices in bogs and marshes which this movie hints at, but never fully embraces. There's something about the virginity of 'the sacrifice' which made me fear they would actually go as far as having an awkward forced sex scene to prevent that sacrifice from happening...luckily 'De Poel' doesn't take it there. Instead: 'De Poel' simply becomes a snore fest best to be ignored completely.

During my screening the crowd would laugh at the movie all the time, would critique it all the time and everybody walked out saying "what a terrible movie." The worst thing is 'De Poel' had potential, but in the end feels like something a film school graduate should be proud of. Nothing cinema worthy. And to be quite frank: nothing worth your time and money. So once again: Dutch cinema fails to impress and falls flat on its face.

Details

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch

Release Date:

1 May 2014 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

The Pool

Company Credits

Production Co:

House of Netherhorror, Nieuw Nederlands Film Platform, Fu Works

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1