Review of The Watermen (2011) by James C — 13 Sep 2013

A group of kids on a fishing trip find themselves stranded when they boat breaks down, but they think they are saved when a fishing trawler arrives, but how wrong they are.

Any movie that has a group of 20 somethings on a boat trip being menaced by sadistic fishermen and has Jason Mewes as top billing does sound pretty bad on paper, but this little horror movie isn't actually as bad as you think it is going to be. The characters are generic and like most other horror movies you do not care whether they survive or not. The acting is nothing to write home about and even Jason Mewes plays his character in a particularly wooden way. The basic plot is pretty non-existent, and when things are kind of explained nothing really makes any sense, and the 'seen it all before' ending does feel like the makers are on their knees begging that they will be given the green light to make a sequel. The villains are actually quite a nasty concept, but the way they mumble their lines makes them completely unintelligible in places. Now, everything I have said so far is not painting this movie in a particularly good light, and you may wander why I have given it a middle of the road rating. And I have to say it was the overall feel of the movie that made it actually quite watchable. It starts off like any other generic horror movie, with a few laughs, some annoying teens, a half naked girl, and a couple of weirdos thrown in for good measure, but when things heat up then the whole tone of the movie changes and suddenly you are presented with quite a nasty, gory piece of torture porn, the likes of which I haven't seen since the original Hostel, and I must say it kept me quite happily entertained. If you like a bit of nasty in your horror movies, then this is an ok watch, but if you are not a fan then there is really nothing in this that you are going to like.