Director: Chad Archibald
Writer: Chad Archibald, Cody Calahan (Screenplay)
Starring: Michelle Mylett, Caroline Palmer, Ry Barrett, Gemma Bird Matheson, Sydney Kondruss, Clare Bastable
Plot: After almost drowning in a lake, Madison finds herself bound to a life of fear. Unable to describe what happened to her during the moments she was underwater, she begins to develop hydrophobia: an abnormal fear of water. Crippled by her post trauma, Madison attempts to shut out the world but her fear intensifies and she is faced with the vision of a dark figure that haunts her day and night. After watching her struggle for one year with the phobia and visions, Madison’s four friends attempt an unconventional intervention in which they accidentally open a floodgate to a dark place where none of them are safe. As Madison and her friends dive deeper into the dark history of this figure that haunts them, it reaches out and begins dragging them to a horrifying place that they can never come back from.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Late Night Horror 101
Story: The Drownsman starts when Madison (Mylett) gets asked to become a Maid of Honour for her best friend Hannah’s (Palmer) wedding, she suffers an accident nearly drowning, seeing a strange figure in her vision, this gives her a huge fear of water.
One-year-later Madison is still a wreck, she takes liquids through a tube, she is terrified by any form of water, which ended up with her missing Hannah’s wedding. The friends Hannah, Kobie (Matheson) and Lauren (Kondruss) arrange an event to try and help Madison with Cathryn (Bastable) trying to get rid of the evil figure Madison sees, things don’t go as planned and now the figure Sebastian (Barrett) comes for them all.
Thoughts on The Drownsman
Characters – Madison is the young lady that has the accident which sees her witness a figure in a near death experience after nearly drowning, the fear of what happened has taken over her life, she can’t be around water and even takes liquids through tubes. She must face her fears and tackle the demon she keeps witnessing to move on with her life and keep her friends. Hannah is the best friend whose wedding day is ruined by Madison, forcing the push to help her friend, she wants to be supportive however much she is getting frustrated with her friend’s behaviour. The strange thing about this character is we never meet her husband and she doesn’t go on a honeymoon after her wedding like most film brides. The Drownsman or Sebastian is a serial killer that is long thought to be dead, he was waiting for his victims on the verge of death. we do have the other two friends who are barely introduced and the psychic that answers a few questions.
Performances – Michelle Mylett in the leading role does what we want the lead to do, she has the scream and fear, while searching for the way out. Caroline Palmer does her best in the supporting role, we see how she shows the frustration her character is feeling, while trying to be the supportive friend. Ry Barrett does make his character feel terrifying when he needs to. The rest of the girls feel interchangeable not making the impact they need to on the main story,
Story – The story follows a group of friends trying to help one that has been suffering from visions, only to release an evil spirit who can take people through the water to continue his body count from beyond the grave. Now this might sound slightly cheesy, but when you think about it, it does feel like an original idea and one that would create a villainous figure that could strike from anywhere, one that enjoys drowning his victims. Saying how interesting the villain is, the execution to reaching this moment does feel like something we have seen before, with one investigation a solution, while the rest are just here to be killed.
Fantasy/Horror – The fantasy side of the film shows us just how the Drownsman can move between worlds, this plays into the horror involved in the film which would have water being the thing that could transport a killer.
Settings – The film uses the settings well because the everyday location only see you dragged to the lair of the Drownsman which is dark, dinge and will only add to the fear being felt by his victims.
Special Effects – The effects used through the film are strong enough, as we see the make up used to create the killer.
Scene of the Movie – Arriving in the lair.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Hannah got married, but her husband isn’t nowhere to be seen.
Final Thoughts – This is one of those late night horror films you can just put on and relax to, the scares are simple and get the basic effect needed, with a story that has a lot more potential than is shown.
Overall: Late Night Horror 101
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