I saw the trailer before Fahrenheit 9/11, it looked pretty freaky.

first time i saw the trailer of course blair witch came to mind with the filming style. If it pulls off what they were able to do (great acting and freaky like BW was) then it will be awesome

You're thinking of two different movies. Open Water is much more realistic in the sense that this actually happens. The only thing tying either of the two movies together is the camera work.

That is exactly what i meant, Hence the reason i said filming style

YOU GOT SERVED!!!1

Limited release on 7/30, the film goes wide on 8/20.



I gotta respectfully disagree with Steebo here… I found WATER to be very amateurish, with little emotional investment in the two leads, and DV cinematography that serves little purpose other than budgetary (which is why it isn’t like BLAIR WITCH).

This isn’t a scary movie, it’s dullsville.

Personally I think this movie looks awesome. I am a huge shark fan, who else is excited for this indie flick. Its getting a lot of publicity and hits theatres nationwide August 20. Anyone seen it yet also?

I think this movie looks pretty sweet as well. It has a very Blair Witch Project feel to it, based on the trailers. Except this actually looks like it has potential to be good and provide some genuinely frightening entertainment.

Wrong forum, btw.

two mistakes:

1.) This is DVD talk, THEATER release of Aug 20th doesn't even come close to any sign of a DVD release. and especially with that Aug 20th release date... would any big number answer Yes to already seeing it other then a select few who have seen screenings and at film fest?

2.) Come off sounding a little to shill-like.

I'm one of those that doesn't think this movie is for me. Why? to much waiting for a pay off that most likely wont be all that well. Kind of makes me scream "GET ON WITH IT!" in a crowded theater.

Not to pile on a possible shill-post... in the wrong forum.... but we did get a chance to see this last week. It's pretty good.... no where near as perfect as Blair Witch... but pretty good.

http://themovieboy.com/directlinks/04openwater.htm

If you lived in Austin, you could watch the premiere here while floating in the middle of a lake, in the dark. Now that's cool!

http://www.drafthouse.com/rrs/frames...p?show_id=2067

That sounds amazing. At least I got to see it on the waterfront.

Wow, after all the backlash blair witch got, I'm pretty surprised to see someone speak on how cool they thought it was. interesting take on it. I'm not sure what that says about Open water since I was one of those that got annoyed with the tease that blair witch created.

Wow... I didn't "follow movies" as closely back then as I seem to now,... but I seem to remember tBWP being extremely successful and well received. Oddness. *shrug* I certainly thought it was one of the most brilliant, original, and inventive movies (not to mention breathtakingly scariest movies) I've ever seen.

Yeah....(getting even farther off topic)....it became really easy to make fun of blair witch after it's initial success. Funny how one day everbody loves a movie and the next everybody's talking about how stupid it was.

Amusing..

This is a quote from their review:

BWP did absolutely NOTHING for me. Meanwhile, the trailer for this movie had my palms sweating the first time I saw it. I can't WAIT to see it.

Well it was a two sided coin. On one hand it was very successful for the amount it cost vs. the amount it brought in at the box office. But on the other hand it got a lot of flack for the shakey cam and also non pay out at the end. While everyone thought it was real it got a lot of praise, but once the cat was out of the bag and the actors were really just that.. well it got a lot of back handed comments.

Then the sequel was a sign on how folks were tired of it.

Open Water - I'm kinda wanting to go see it. Looks interesting.

BWP - I went into it when it was still promoted as 'found footage' and whatnot... even though I knew it wasn't real and it was all acting, I thought it was chilling and well executed. It was well-crafted and brilliantly marketed.

BWP2 - I enjoyed the sequel... I liked that they went in a different direction. I think that film stands on its own and has some truly good moments in it. The problem was that it was following the footsteps of a film that scared alot of people half to death. Big shoes to fill really... too big.

I want to check this out... looks intersting.

On the BWP front, i liked em both. At first I hated the sequel, i was expecting more of the first one but it was different. After the DVD came out I came to enjoy it alot more. BTW, What the heck was the book of shadows anyways?

Not as good as BWP, well since I dispised that one I guess I'll skip Open Water.

When I go to a movie I don't worry about jumping on the band wagon or hating it because it's successful. I want, very badly, to love every movie I see (heck, I'm paying my expensive $8.50 for the ticket, so I go in optimistic). BWP made me nauseous and I wasn't scared.

Re BWP,

One of the sad side-effects of the internet. Something is cool and successful until the online nerds decide it's gotten too popular, then suddenly it's fashionable to start bashing it. "OMFG! BWP is teh suck!" (Or something like that, I don't speak fluent nerd)

Personally I still love BWP simply for the frightening dread-filled atmosphere. And has anyone else ever rewatched it just to study the backgrounds looking for hidden clues?

And I still think a lot of people don't like it simply because of a lack of imagination. Many just can't enjoy a horror film unless it's got a big rubber monster or a guy in a mask waving a bloody knife.

I’ll say this: WATER doesn’t have the “shaky cam” effect like BLAIR WITCH. The cam in BLAIR WITCH was a part of the story; the way the audience experienced the tale. WATER uses DV to create intimacy, not point of view. It’s also a cheap way to make a movie.

WATER would not exist if it weren’t for BLAIR WITCH. But does that make WATER a good movie?

I say no.

I found the film tedious. Lions Gate is selling the film as a pulse-pounding horror film, but the film is FAAAAAAAR from that. It’s like SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE with the occasional shark attack. And don’t buy the hype: the real sharks are in the same frame as the actors from time to time, but any type of “attack” was filmed separately, which looks goofy.

The acting is hammy at times, logic nazis will have a field day, and the photography is ugly, blocky, and smeary, which doesn’t make ANY sense when you really think about the film’s message.

Maybe I’ll be in the minority on this one, but I really didn’t care for the film. Lions Gate is selling the film incorrectly to people to get a BLAIR WITCH heat going.

Decided to bump this thread since it has room for new discussion.

I saw Open Water as free preview last night. It was well worth the price of admission, meaning $3.00 for parking.

Actually I found it entertaining, along with a great postscript over the end credits.

The digital video looked good on the water. In the land-based scenes, the varying colors make the video transfer apparent, but certainly not distracting.

The actors were decent, with a nice balance of overacting and changes of tone. But the shots of them in the ocean create more sympathy than their own efforts.

The movie has an artificial quality that doesn't quite place you in the middle of the action. The mood's the thing here and I think it's effective enough to imagine yourself in the same situation and capitalize off of those feelings.

I enjoyed this movie. It wasn't as terrifying as the trailers made it out to seem, but it was a pretty emotionally draining, even though it was such a short film.

Ebert's 3 1/2-star review here. He captures the emotions of this film pretty accurately.