The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond was filmed in 2008 and released in 2009. Its release came in the form of a short lived, very limited theatrical run. After that, it basically disappeared and wasn’t heard of for many years; although, I kept an eye out for it. Something I saw in the trailer grabbed my attention and I held out hope for years that it someday it would be released on DVD. September 10, 2013 was the date I had been waiting for! Now for the real question: was it worth the wait?
The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond is written by Sean Clark, Gabriel Bologna (who also directed it), and Michael Berenson. Cast members include scream queen Danielle Harris (Halloween franchise), James Duval (Independence Day), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), Nick Mennell (Friday The 13th remake), Mircea Monroe (House of The Dead), Arcadiy Golubovich, Walker Howard (Transformers 2), M.D. Walton (“All My Children”), and Electra & Elise Avellan (Grindhouse: Planet Terror).
“Nine friends take a holiday at a Victorian home on a private island and uncover a game that when played brings out the worst in each of them. Jealously, greed, hatred, lust, all of the things they keep buried deep inside themselves rise to the surface and come to a boil. The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond shows those who look into it what they want to see… but what you want to see isn’t always the truth.”
From the start of the movie, I struggled to pay attention. What I saw that grabbed my eye in the trailer was somehow missing from the beginning of the movie. I became more focused on the prosthetic I was making for a special effects shoot than the movie, until I noticed the stark lesbian overtones that were present. Several shots of girls making out, an implied sex scene between two female cast members, and the Avellan Twins almost having a threesome with a dude. Call me a “typical male pig” all you want, but at least something was able to draw my focus back to the movie!
And once I refocused, things weren’t that bad. The game they discover has a big resemblance to Jumaji in terms of game play and horrible things happening after each turn. What The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond has that Jumaji (and Open Graves for that matter) doesn’t have is a lot more effort put into the design. The game looks like it came right out of The Nightmare Before Christmas and any hardcore Goth would be delighted to have it as a decoration in their house. For an independent production such as this, I was surprised to see such effort put into small details.
Tremendous effort was put into all aspects of production, especially the more creative sides such as set design and special effects. Again, for an independent production I was surprised by the caliber of special effects. The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond had everything from stabbings, to being chainsaw sliced in half, to getting teeth pulled out, and to getting a rake to the neck. What I thought was the best use of special effects make-up here was the job on The Devil. He actually looked pretty bad ass for not being featured very often, and most of all he didn’t look hokey in the least!
It’s hard to count how many horror films Danielle Harris has been in at this point. She is most definitely one of the reigning queens in our genre. Still, I feel the need to say that in hindsight I believe that The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond is one of her strongest acting performances to date. It was believable and not just a lot of pathetic screaming. I give her a lot of credit for showing a new side to her acting chops. Also, James Duval is probably a vampire. He looks at least ten years younger here than his real age, and that worries me.
Besides the rough start to the movie, a plot line that is also confusing almost midway through, and not being 100% polished; The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond was worth the wait! I can see myself watching it again, and soon too! It has everything a horror fan could want, and an ending that isn’t too predictable. I give it a 7.2 out of 10 stars.
