Beneath Still Waters (2005)

Yuzna is a genius and one of the two or three directors of the last few decades to be recognized as a true artist in the medium of film. Anyone unfamiliar with his body of work has been deprived of some of the most beautifully realized masterpieces in the history of motion pictures. With Yuzna's move to Spain, his incredible talent has set the screen ablaze with some of the most astonishingly original works ever filmed. Spain has offered him an environment in which to fulfill his vision in ways which even surpass his past artistic triumphs. With "Beneath Still Waters", Yuzna has created a unique and fantastic world unlike anything attempted by lesser directors (although Benicio del Toro has perhaps come closest with his failure, "Pan's Labyrinth"). One hesitates to go into much detail regarding specific technique, story aspects, or other delights that should be left as gifts to be shared following the initial screen experience. Let it simply be said that Yuzna not only works his magic with imagery, but directs actors to performances of stunning power. The result is a kind of "realism of the fantastical" that distinguishes the director's touch and illuminates his genius. Once one has become immersed in the towering experience that is "Beneath Still Waters", only the feast available in the remaining Yuzna body of work will satisfy. These films are not for the casual viewer looking for superficial entertainment. They are strictly for the lifetime student of film who appreciates the work of an artist that understands completely the medium within which he works and has mastered its full potential. For those prepared to be truly moved, spiritually overwhelmed, and artistically engorged, the longtime Yuzna scholar envies you your discovery of the treasures that await you. Your journey with one of the world's truly gifted directors will leave you forever changed.

There after it gets worse for every minute.The actors are most likely better in an ordinary high schools drama class, than the ones they cast for this movie. The children was alright though, but the adult actors.......The actions of the characters are so stupid that you think a 5 year old have scripted it.Well you can say it started so well and ended very bad. I hope this instructor never makes a movie again.In many really bad horror movies you at least ends up getting some good laughs. Even this failed here.

...why, it's almost criminal, I think! Brian "Bride of Re-Animator" Yuzna is at least a genre demi-god, far as I'm concerned, but if so, his powers have seemingly all but evaporated. "BSW" (and I like the acronym because it emphasizes the nature of this mess of a film) has none of the vigor or playfulness of his earlier films. Methinks he is suffering from encroaching ennui. The leads are mostly European teevee actors, no doubt appealing in that medium, with varying and mostly limited intensities of screen presence. It doesn't help that a good number of them were speaking a second language, and at that knowing they're going to be overdubbed anyway. It shows in the performances, which are often stilted, almost unnatural. Worse, of course, is the script, about which the less said the better; Sturgeon was right, as always. Things start off fairly well for a low-budget adaptation of some pulp-horror bus ride throwaway, and then the whole affair sinks beneath the weight of a tired plot, at times horrendous dialogue, problematic acting, disappointing production values at key junctures, seemingly indifferent direction--even the obligatory bare boobies and revolting gore couldn't save this turkey. Strictly desperation viewing only, sorry to say. Mr. Yuzna should stick to producing.

The story behind this film is sound: A town is submerged to keep a fiendish demon from taking over the world. Two kids unwittingly release this evil & 40 years later it's ready to rampage over the earth. Unfortunately, the story is thrown off kilter by awful acting and characters you just can't care about.You have the mother/reporter who looks like she's only a couple of years older than her daughter & whose overt indifference to her daughter makes it impossible to care what happens to this character.The character of the daughter is not quite so irksome but ruined by awful acting on the part of actress Charlotte Salt.Mordecai Salas, the demon-type character, is wonderfully creepy but feels slightly like a ripoff of the Reverend Kane character from the Poltergeist trilogy.The creature/makeup effects are excellent - the non-supernatural effects are dreadful. The green screen technology is obvious, painfully so during the diving scenes and the divers appear as large as the roof of a house. Forced perspective can work fine--just look at Lord of the Rings, but it's very sloppy in this film.Watch the trailer and that should suffice.