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Black Water

8/10

Stars: Diana Glenn, Andy Rodoreda, Maeve Dermody, Ben Oxenbould, Fiona Press

Director: David Nerlich, Andrew Traucki

Red Water, more like, for this is Jaws Down Under. Three people who unwisely take a trip in a metal boat into some more obscure Oz backwaters soon find themselves up a tree (literally) without a paddle when a giant crocodile attacks the boat, tipping them into the water and eating their guide.

Nail-biting suspense ensues as the remaining trio - a woman, her husband and her sister - try to get to the safety of a waterbound tree (there's no land in sight).

The film, like its characters, runs out of ideas a bit in the mid-section, but, once they make increasingly desperate and inevitably doomed attempts to retrieve the boat and/or escape, the tension gets right back on track.

It's the kind of film where, if a character says 'It's OK. I'll be right back', you know they've breathed their last. Not the sort of flick you'd want to see twice, it's a terrifying experience for the audience as well as the beleaguered trio. Highlight of the action is a spectacular shot of the huge croc leaping out of the water to try to reach one of the survivors on a branch of a tree. Keep telling yourself it's only a movie!

Alan Frank

Australia 2007. UK Distributor: The Works. Intercolour.
89 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 18 Feb 2008