Good concept, poorly executed.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I'm one of those guys who like aquatic horror theme a lot. First I've seen the trailer, which looked fun enough, then I've seen this movie here is rated 3.8, I thought it's an ok-ish rating for a monster movie since most monster movies, in general, get bad ratings. No love for the monsters eh? And we definitely need more GOOD aquatic horror movies! Anyway, I know the general public is picky about movies, so I thought if people rated it almost 4, maybe I could rate is a solid 5? And then I watched the movie. With each step further I could not believe the dumbness of the script. I could see my rating drop to 3 immediately and then to 2, but at the very end, I already knew it was a rotten 1. I was seriously mindblown by the dumbness I was witnessing for each move every character did. It was hard to take in and I was wondering why the actors didn't protest? 'Cause they indeed should protest for having to act out such a dumb script.I wanted to go through the movie and point out all the dumb things, but it's pretty pointless at this point, there are too many and much has been already said about them. It was a disaster man, even if the blood effects and the fish prop was pretty cool it could not convince me to give it a 2 ot of 10, and I rarely give such a bad score to a movie, if ever. But I seriously think this was the dumbest movie I have ever seen, all their effort in my eyes was annihilated because of how bad the script was. This movie is an insult to our intelligence! Given the same core elements this movie had, a skillful writer could come up with a masterpiece of a monster movie, but all these elements were wasted here, this felt like someone gave an expensive car to drive to a toddler!! The dumb moves they make are painful to watch, the characters are all highly annoying, obnoxious, unlikable and stupid, I didn't care one bit for them, and to be honest I wanted them to die. The sooner the better, except Johnny, he was likable, but also stupid. The way he dies was ridiculous, for example, could have just flipped the motor so he could untangle from that ridiculous situation he gotten himself into. That whole situation should have never happened in a decent script. In the end, I have to say the whole movie was a torture to watch I couldn't wait for it to be over. I don't do reviews usually, but as I said this was the dumbest horror movie I have ever seen - script wise so I had to write my discontent down. It was so dumb and retarded it wasn't even fun or scary. And It's not hard to realize that basically, all those kids died totally in vain. They could have prevented each and every death if they used their brain just a bit. But of course, the script didn't allow them to do so. For starters, Johnny could've warned the others and used his ax from the very start, so I was so pissed off that they found it later... It wasn't a pleasant surprise at all. Johnny all of a sudden had written DUMB all over his face. Also, they could've perfectly used one row to get the other row on both occasions, and I got to say the reaction of the the character when they fell into the water was incredibly retarded, most of the time they weren't even in a hurry like they were just chilling there. It felt unreal, too much to stand. I don't know how I made it to the end but this was was infuriating!On so many occasions I was expecting Johnny to jump on the fish holding himself to that piece of wood stuck in it and fighting it like a madman to go out like a hero, but it didn't happen... instead he died later, like an idiot. He didn't deserve to die like this. My advice: Stay far away from this movie, believe the negative hype!

The oversized antagonist of this run of the mill creature feature isn't a bad specimen and definitely looks like something out of the River Monsters alumni, not too far beyond realistic proportions. But that's about all I can praise in this otherwise irritating labour as six high school seniors try to stay afloat a sinking row boat as they're stalked by the voracious lake monster whilst tensions amongst the group threaten their survival.Most of the characters are clichés (the nerd, the jock, the outsider) and some are plainly irritating, not to mention uneven as the plot meanders from one fatality to the next. It doesn't take long for this lemon to lose its zest, the brittle relationships deteriorating into ridiculous scenarios that accelerate the attrition rate beyond I'm sure even the appetite of the assailant. Aside from the abysmal acting and puerile dialogue, the key weakness in the plot is the fact that the riverbank is clearly visible in almost every shot, yet despite their obvious proximity to shore, these directionless debutantes never seem to get any closer to it. Had they been depicted further from land in a vast lake, the situation would've been more believable. Unlike the typical monster movie, there's a rather morbid conclusion to this aimless outing, though it doesn't necessarily redeem the previous 80-minutes which even by B-movie standards is pretty mediocre.

I had this movie before, fast forwarded it and decided it wasn't visually interesting, so I put it in the trash can. I got the movie for a second time by accident when I was looking for another movie with a similar title released the same year, so I decided to watch it to the end. Man did I enjoy this movie. I was really surprised that I even liked it! I have watched many high budget horror movies and most of them bore me to death, but with this little gem I realized what makes a movie watchable is how real it seems.I felt as if I was in the boat with them. With most other movies I feel detached from the characters, so I don't really care about who lives and who dies.I have come to the realization that I prefer movies where the story unfolds in one single setting (in this case a boat in a lake) to most other movies that cut from one setting to another before you even begin to feel you are there with the characters. The actors in this movie were a bunch of nobodys, but their acting was so good that at times I felt I was watching a high-budget movie with A list actors. The only problem was with the camera work, which seemed a little amateurish, specially when zooming in on characters' faces rather than focusing on their faces one at a time, but besides awesome acting, this very amateurish camera work made the movie look seamless and natural, and that's exactly what absorbed me into the movie.The constant rush of bad luck was really interesting as well as the way each character was trying to convince others how they deserved to survive and not be fed to the fish to create a distraction. The characters seemed like innocent kids, but as the movie goes on you start to vote for the fish. That was unexpected. I never saw the ending coming and it came as a big surprise. The mysterious fish in the movie acted in the way a real "mysterious" fish would; i.e. low-profile, rather than a CGI fish jumping ten feet high into the air just to create special effects!I'm not sure if this is one of those "so bad it's good" movies. Maybe it is. What I do know is if this movie managed to entertain me so much, it would have probably been a blockbuster had it had a few famous actors and a higher budget. I can't even believe I'm writing such a long review for a movie that got a 3.8 on IMDb. For the joy it gave me I'm going to give it a 9/10 and I hope people begin to realize that CGI is not everything. What you need is a movie that will make you feel you are in the movie. Only then will you start caring about the characters and enjoy the movie.

An exciting cast of fresh young faces deliver some superb performances in director Larry Fessenden's classic horror film, Beneath. With his unique style and creative camera work, Fessenden creates an environment that is quite realistic and unrelenting in its terror. Actress Bonnie Dennison is particularly stunning in both beauty and talent, doing some of her best work before this director's cameras. It is a memorable performance and one that should be noted for its sheer artistry. The audience will squirm in their seats as the tension mounts while the characters attempt to escape from a murderous creature stalking them in a small lake. The vulnerability of the hunted, confined to a fragile rowboat and fighting for their very lives, is palpable and the pulse pounding suspense never lets up. Working with a limited budget, the special effects are surprisingly well done and horrifically produced. At times, audiences will be jolted from their seats as they are shaken by some of the more graphically intense sequences. As the story progresses, most viewers will find the interaction between these desperate young people as mesmerizing as the threat of the evil swimming tirelessly about them. Obviously inspired by Hitchcock's, "Lifeboat", with clever nods to that classic film sprinkled throughout, this is a motion picture that strives heroically to be more than just another genre entry. That it succeeds in doing so in such brilliant fashion is a credit to Fessendon, his screenwriters, production team, and a very gifted cast of young actors destined for great things.