The Black Waters Of Echo’s Pond (2010)

You may remember me talking about going to a horror movie convention a few weeks ago in a different review. While there I noticed a table that was giving away free posters to the movie The Black Waters Of Echo’s Pond. I had heard of the movie before, as it was screening at a convention I had intended on attending. Either the director or the producer (not sure which) was there signing the poster for free as well. He was there to help promote the film, because it was going to get a limited theater release fairly soon. I wanted to get one, but I wasn’t about to walk around with a rolled up poster (it was pretty big poster) all day. On top of that, I wouldn’t have had a good way to get it back home with me if I wanted to be in good shape once I was home. Since I didn’t want to spend the money to buy something to keep it in, I just passed on the free poster. I happened to see a very short commercial for the movie saying it was going to open Friday. I got online last night to see if it was showing anywhere around me. I found one place, the same theater that happened to show Paranormal Activity during its limited release days. I drove all the way there, only to discover that the times listed on the web page were wrong. This left me with two hours to kill before the next one. Was it worth it?

The Black Waters Of Echo’s Pond starts off in 1927, somewhere in Turkey. A group of archaeologists have discovered the lost temple of Pan. I’m not really sure what it was they found, a map was at least one of the items, but they are supposed to take everything back to the person who financed the dig. Instead they end up on an island in Maine. When the financier finds his inside guy, he is told that everyone else is dead, and that the stuff has been hidden so that no one else has to deal with the evil. The financier isn’t very happy about this, and swears to find what he paid for. He isn’t given a chance though. They are both shot dead by the insider himself. Jump to present day where a group of mostly friends are gathering for a get away. As you can probably guess, they are going to be on the very same island that was seen at the start. After a campfire tale of people being found dead over the years, they retire to the house for some fun and games. The power seems to have other ideas though. With no lights, Anton (Arcadiy Golubovich) who has put everything together, heads for the basement to check the fuses. On his way down he falls through the stairs, and discovers an area under them that is boarded up. Inside is a pretty big box that made me wonder how they got it up the broken stairs and through the door frame, once we see it in the main room. Inside is something of a board game that actually looks very cool. Since it comes with a scoll that explains how to play the game, they all figure why not? The game is designed to bring out your deepest, darkest secrets about one another. No one seems to hold back at all when it comes to their secrets. Before you know it, Pan is playing on those to drive people to murder.

When I left the theater, I was trying to figure out what rating I would end up giving it. It doesn’t happen a lot, but I do come across some movies I feel split on which rating to give it. I left feeling it was just an okay movie at best. After stopping to get something to eat, and then driving the rest of the way home, I had a lot more time to think on it. The more I think about The Black Waters Of Echo’s Pond, the less I seem to care for it. For one thing, the plot is a bit confusing. I know who Pan is, but I don’t recall anything about his mythology that includes killing people. Depending on the version, he can be tied to sex, which happens to be a heavy undertone in the plot. Echo can also be found in Greek mythology, and depending on the version can be tied to Pan. The mythology in the movie was basically glossed over. I think this is where the major mistake is at. The majority of the movie is about the different squabbles that this group of friends have with each other. Most of it is directed at one person, Rick (James Duval), who seemingly came uninvited, and has managed to piss off each and every person at some point in their lives. In an ironic twist, he came across as the most likable character to me. Since the squabbles provided the only character development we get, it was interesting. But it also takes way too long to get through it. While playing the game, they often take breaks. Fixing drinks, getting pot to smoke, and whatever else they can think of. Personally, I would have had to kill them all just for that. Once a game is started, you better stay until it is over. I hate waiting around for my turn while whoever is off doing something else. Anyway, I felt that instead of spending so much time watching them play the game, or not playing it as the case may be, some of that time would have been better spent talking about the mythology and the game itself. I think that would have given the movie more tension.

Speaking of the mythology, I’m sure if they had spent more time they could have found someone more interesting to include instead of Pan and Echo. I think they might have gone with Pan because of the way they made him look. Pan is often seen as human but with small goat horns, and with the legs/feet of a goat as well. Here in The Black Waters Of Echo’s Pond, they also give him a goat’s head. I have to admit that Pan looked very cool. Once the kills start to happen, the pace of the movie picks up some. The effects were pretty good, but most of them are seen after the fact. We get a person cut in two with a chainsaw, even if we only see the body afterwards, it looked pretty good. A garden tool to the head also shows up. Chainsaw to the gut, cut throat, severed head…and so on. It sounds like a gory film doesn’t it? The blood flows in a few scenes, but isn’t as gory as it actually sounds. A few shots do make up for it, just a little bit though. The acting wasn’t too bad either. I am assuming the board game part of the movie is so played out because of the big cast. There are ten people in the present day part of the plot to deal with. Robert Patrick has the smallest role, as the person that owns the island and lives there. Arcadiy Golubovich plays the part of the nephew, I think anyway. Danielle Harris is the last of the bigger names to be found, along with James Duval, and the best actors to be found. Not saying the rest didn’t do well, but not as well. You can also find M.D. Walton, Walker Howard, Mircea Monroe, Nick Mennell, Elise and Electra Avellan.

Some of the things in the movie were under used that maybe would have helped the plot some. Echo’s pond is the center of the board game, and will sometimes offer a vision to the person that looks into it. This only happens twice, three times if you include the ending that nobody seems to care for. Considering that the title of the movie is based on that one thing, I would like to have seen it used more often, and more affectively than it was. Pan is given the appearance of whispering in one person’s ear, and while it doesn’t actually show that, it is suggested at least. Instead of having everyone driven by Pan, they instead seem to be taken over by the black waters. I hate to say these things because I feel like I am giving too much away. I understood what they were trying to do with the film, but I didn’t feel they went about it the right way. Another confusing thing was that even though no one cared for Rick at all, he was the forgotten person until towards the end. I know everyone had problems with everyone else, but I would think the most hated in the group would have been sought out a lot sooner. With almost a two hour round trip, and add to that a two hour wait, I’m a little disappointed I bothered with The Black Waters Of Echo’s Pond. I am glad that I got to see a limited release movie, so I could post a review here though. If you are tempted to watch this one, I would suggest waiting for it on DVD. I hate to say that for an indie movie that did manage to get into theaters, even if it was just a limited release, but it is the truth. Not a lot of reviews out there yet, but I have only found a couple of reviews that had good things to say. I wasn’t as harsh as some reviews, since I don’t completely agree with them but understand. Like any movie I watch, I wanted to like this one. In the end though, it just didn’t work all that well for me.

2 out of 5 I would at least buy the board game if it was out