While
Dead in the Water suffers only from being familiar, it is saved by high quality
camera work, and totally professional actors. Yes, it is familiar in that it deals with a killer who may or may not be supernatural, there are lots of dead bodies and lots of beautiful women and sleazy men. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if they made a film about lots of good looking men and sleazy women?
Probably nothing, guys would still date them same as girls still date sleazy men.
In a way, that and the attitudes of most of the people in Dead in the Water demonstrate that men and women are not that different. Both genders make mistakes in their choice of lovers and friends.
The concern for the next orgasm and how many sexual notches one can get seems to be the prevalent attitude both in our society and in the characters of Dead in the Water, which just shows that either life imitates art or art simply reflects the life around it.
Our main protagonists are Jane, a rather mousy girl who tends to wear plain clothing and not make a lot over herself, remaining in the background most of the time. But then again, I thought she was pretty dang good looking, and she is a good actress as well. You really felt for her throughout the film.
Her best friend is a hot blond named Lacy, who seems to like the spotlight, and always has men hanging off her. Lacy gets an invitation to a special "By Invite Only" VIP party on a yacht with a somewhat bad reputation.
Seems that a few years ago, a man killed his wife on the boat and now she tends to not like visitors on board 'her' boat.'Lacy' is also quite good at her role, making the viewer feel a nice combination of disgust with her lifestyle while at the same time wondering what she is so afraid of in her own life. Is it getting older? Or not being as 'pretty' as she is now? Is it simply being alone? Or am I reading too much into her character and have way to much time on my hands?
As the party gets underway, a small time crook sneaks aboard planning to rob the owner who did him wrong in a drug deal.
The captain of the boat seems a bit mysterious himself, and that gives us two suspects right off the bat.
Why do we need suspects? Because one by one, the party goers begin to die in some of the most interesting ways.
Ah, but there are more suspects. Could it be the jealous stalker? The waitress who can read palms? The owner himself? And what is the reasoning behind all the killings?
And where will
they strike next? As Lacy and Jane move through the yacht looking for men, private parties and more and more action, they sometimes just miss the killer or one of the victims.
"Dead in the Water" was one of those films that you would expect to see on the direct to video list. But it deservers a lot more then that. It is actually a first class little film, made on a pretty tight budget.
There were a few errors, only one major one that I caught I believe. It dealt with a strangulation, but watch it and see. I don't want to spoil it for you.
If you see this one on a video shelf, don't just gloss over it. Take a look at it, enjoy it and think about the underlying message.
Is looking good the most important thing?