It's pretty obvious where director and co-writer Chad Archibald's inspiration for "The Drownsman" came from - the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies. However, in his defence he makes the evil force in this movie pretty original - I can't recall another movie involving a water-based supernatural force like this movie. But despite this original touch, the end results, while not terrible, don't really work. Despite all the water, the movie plays out in a dry and drab way - even the bland cinematography doesn't grab the audience's attention. The movie is too subdued, content to just hover around the mildly creepy part of the scare scale (at most, and not very often.) It's also really slow going at times. I think a reason why the movie is so bland is that the title figure is so underwhelming. We learn little about The Drownsman, and he simply doesn't get to do that much that might either interest or chill us. What the movie ends up being is a horror movie that's for the select few that don't like what the horror genre usually tries to give its audience.
Review of The Drownsman
