The Watermen and Floundering Like a Fish Out of Water: A Movie Review

Director/writer: Matt L. Lockhart.

Cast: Jason Mewes, Richard Riehle, Floyd Abel, Blakely Bunnell, Scott Davis, Joy Glass, Luke Guldan, Tara Heston, Tyler Johnson, Joe Monds, and Ashley Myers.

Tagline: "In the middle of the ocean, there's nowhere to run."

The Watermen is a smallish horror film from first time feature film director Matt L. Lockhart. This film notably stars Jason Mewes (Clerks) and Richard Riehle (Chillerama) in what can be considered a floundering serial killer film. The acting, soundtrack and story are lackluster. Only the shooting style stands out and The Watermen should stay in the deep where it belongs.

The film's story is very flimsy. Some mumbling fishermen chase, capture and kill residents to create the best bait in the area. This seems like a very hard way to make very little money. Yet, the Cajun sounding killers set their eyes on six friends.

These friends are on a pleasure cruise until their engine dies because of sabotage. The fishermen come to assist, but their real plans come to the surface shortly. Now, it is just a matter of reducing the one-dimensional cast to fish fillets.

Even the cast falls asleep during this one.

Getting to the end will require listening to a dreadful soundtrack. The musical selection ranges from off-sounding R & B to Southern stylings. Tension is reduced by generic sound choices. And, the songs seem to change on a whim without notice. More attention could have given to the soundtrack to at least create for an interesting listening experience.

Thankfully, director Matt Lockhart's shooting is well done. There are aerial shots, long shots, close-ups and night shoots. There is an interesting action scene involving fire that is well choreographed and recorded with some excellence. Slow motion shooting is overused, but there is at least something worth seeing in this film.

That one thing is not enough to make this film recommendable. There are actually more detriments to this film that should be mentioned. The acting is not very good. Whether the dialogue was poor or the actors are not delivering emotion, there is something missing from the performances. The leading man comes across as artificial with Mewes offering only the most juvenile of scenes.

The story is flimsy at best. Why would fishermen switch to human beings for bait? If the risk is 30+ years in prison and the rewards are $20 a bucket, you would think that someone would get a clue and stick to other chum. But the hillbilly look of these characters might have made them switch from normal dating techniques to kidnappng and restraint. Either way, the story is weak and predictable.

The Watermen is not a film to put on anyone's must see list. Released in the United Kingdom in April, this is a film that could be tied to an anchor and dropped off a bridge somewhere and no one would be missing anything. Skip The Watermen and seek out other water based thrillers such as Ghost Ship (2002), Open Water (2003) and Triangle (2009) instead.

Overall: 5 out of 10 (very dismal, mediocre).

Another review of The Watermen is available at Flickfeast (Kevin Matthews):

The Watermen Reviewed at Flick Feast


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