Drowning Echo (2018) User Reviews

1h45 minutes of boredom.

[Patient444 · 3/10 · 13 March 2019]

I don't get it why they made it so long. So many scenes that could have been cut out, clearly stretching the time but not in its favor, so why put us though it.

Ok so the movie kinda had a plot really, tried to expand it, show us more, a few characters, some development there also but there was no reason to length it for so long. This would have worked far better for a 80 minutes movie, not even 90, just 80, quick, straight to the point without losing or annoying the viewer. I've seen many horror productions, and plenty of indies, but this one was too much even for me. Close to 2 hours and for what?

So all in all, I would never recommend it, because it never reaches its mark, its just swing and miss after swing and miss. I think it could be called Lady in the Water's little sister really. Just a bunch of nothing.

Cheers!

Nereus: Wow, they messed that up

[Platypuschow · 2/10 · 23 April 2019]

Now I'm not saying Nereus has a good concept, but it did have something there, it did have a competent SFX team, but they really messed it up.

It tells a very messy over convoluted story about an ancient entity with a connection to water and..........I'm really not going to describe it further because it's an absolute mess.

Part visual horror part psychological it's incredibly boring, the plot is a broken mess, the cast are interchangeable and really poor and the whole movie feels like the fraction of potential here was pissed away.

When something happens, it's actually quite good for a movie of it's ilk. But things don't happen very often and even when they do they' still don't deflect from the fact that the whole movie is a shattered all over the place mess.

The SFX guys and girls should distance themselves from filmmakers like these lest find their reputations tarnished.

Messy, unlikable tosh.

The Good:

Some interesting visuals

The Bad:

Stock scream

Absolute mess of a plot

Not a very enjoyable horror movie...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 19 June 2019]

Alright, I'll admit it, I was lured in by the movie's cover/poster. Yeah, it did seem interesting, and I didn't even bother reading the synopsis for the movie.

Perhaps I should, because this movie was so far from what I had initially expected given the movie's cover. The storyline here was flaccid and fairly pointless, and nothing much of any interest or particular outstanding importance happened throughout the course of the movie. Actually, I will go as far as to say that the plot was actually ludicrous and the movie suffered badly from the writing of Itziar Martinez and Georges Padey.

The movie wasn't particularly enjoyable or entertaining, although I did manage to sit through the entire ordeal, hoping that the movie would eventually become better and pick up its pace. Unfortunately, it never did, and it was a very monotonous and generic ride.

The acting in "Nereus" was actually fair, taking into consideration that the actors and actresses had very little to work with in terms of script, plot and storyline. And the fact that the characters were in fact faceless drones with little or no distinguishable personalities didn't really help the acting performers in any way,

"Nereus" was a disappointing foray into the horror movie. I managed to sit through the entire movie, and chances are equal to null that I will ever do so again, because the movie had no appeal this first time around.

It's just way too long

[j_walking1516 · 5/10 · 29 March 2020]

It's tooo looooooooong babes, why is this 103 minutes, this length is insane? They could have easily, EASILY, shaved 30-35 minutes off and had a solid indie horror. I totally love and respect the basic level idea of "spooky pool" and their core concept is intriguing and honestly kinds exciting. You had me hooked! The acting is rigid like suuuuper stilted but it's basically every single crew members first movie, including directing and writing and with that perspective they did great. Like for someone's first movie they did a respectable job. The script for being about a scary pool is actually really good. It just has too many pointless filler scenes or ones that are way too drawn out and by the time we get to our finale it's like omggg just wrap it up cause they've drug us along so much. But overall, not bad, they added some complexities and concepts that really made it work. Cinematics wise it's fine, nothing particularly mind blowing but everything looks crisp and organized. Of course the cover art is nothing like the actual product but that's to be expected with any cover that looks like this. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more from this crew. Anyone that can take the idea of a killer swimming pool and turn it into a totally acceptable project has my interest for future endeavors

My Review Of "Drowning Echo"

[ASouthernHorrorFan · 5/10 · 1 June 2019]

"Drowning Echo" is original in that the overall storyline is creative and offers many high concept ideas visually. There are elements of mythology, mysticism, and psychological thriller woven into the premise. And at times the film almost achieves an indie feel elevated above low-budget affair. The downfall is that there are far too many tropes fighting for space in both exposition and the horror element. No single one ever fully manifests enough to solidify "Drowning Echo" cohesively.

The acting is relatively quality work. The cast give committed performances and most characters come off as believable. There are a few moments that dialog feels forced, but never enough to cut the fluidity of the storytelling. The fault is in the sheer amount of unnecessary length of scenes and overdrawn sequences that weigh down the value of the moment and intent of the director. Then there is the whole middle section with unneeded found footage that just confuses the whole movie. Well it felt confusing to me. It takes things a bit left, and the story looses momentum.

The horror elements are a blend of classic CGI "paranormal-esque" tricks, and really cool atmospheric neon thriller elements. They work well to give some real good moments of shadowy, eerieness. The whole look of the movie is a credit to quality cinematography. The angles and lighting choices give classic horror vibe. The whole asthetic somewhere between late night TV mystery, and cable network melodrama.

Overall "Drowning Echo" will disappoint most horror fans looking for something a bit more straightforward. The overuse of varied concepts mingled together without a cohesive vision drag the entertainment value down some. However there are some cool moments and the idea that the director was going for is original. The problem is that nothing ever fully coalesced to allow "Drowning Echo" to reach it's potential completely. Even with the creature feature aspect of a hidden horror that could make poolside fun treacherous, this is a film to go into with lowered expectations.

Just terrible!!!

[jessaitchison · 1/10 · 15 March 2019]

Genuinely tried to stick this out looking for a tiny shred of substance to continue watching the whole movie.... I just couldn't do it. 40mins of my life I want back.

Kept my interest

[doakes-28598 · 5/10 · 15 April 2019]

Decent story line. Tho I didnt know any actors, they did a good job at playing the parts.

I'd rather drown the watch this again

[zatch_bell-45521 · 1/10 · 13 July 2020]

I'd rather drain the watch this ever again, Where do i start?

I guess i could start with the lame acting because this movie felt like it was made by a bunch of drunk collage kids, every line spoken though-out this film felt like a drama club reenactment.

The plot is god awful a group of people living in a complex are unaware of the monster in the water expect the one guy who seems like a high school loser who warns the woman visiting from New York, Who ends up being taken over. And oh god that Psychic scene Whoever wrote that part should be fired, i spoke on the acting before but by god her whole scene was a hot mess. And the whole scene with the Girlfriend going over seas lying about work made the movie longer then it should have been.

All and all i would say skip this movie and throw it into a deep body of water, this movie is not worth watching at all.

Garbage to the 1000th power!

[LordCommandar · 14 March 2019]

Garbage to the 1000th power, stealing it's premise from the Abysss....crapola!

Watch out swimmers, there's an Ancient One loose...

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 15 April 2019]

My friend used to have an apartment that had a swimming pool. It was great when she'd sneak us in, but never once did I worry if there was going to be some tentacled monster inside it ready to murder me. Which is a relief after seeing this, because according to Drowing Echo, that can and does happen.

Originally titled Nereus and The Complex, this movie is all about Sara, who starts the movie by having visions and is soon attacked by a creature beyond time and space in her friend's swimming pool. I guess they weren't checking the pH levels properly!

Even when Sara comes back to her room and has a drink, she wakes up back in the deep end. This is why I am concerned about staying at air BNBs.

You may enjoy it more than me. I struggled through the last hour of the film, to be honest. There's a lot of discussion via Facetime, cameos by Mexican wrestling masks, trips to Greece, psychic sessions, hard to decipher accents, monks turned into slaves, a Blair Witch ripoff scene and some The Abyss-style CGI and one of those "it isn't over" endings.

Hell is empty. All the devils are here.

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 23 March 2019]

Sara (Itziar Martinez) visits her friend Will (Sean Ormond ) in Miami while his girlfriend Lindsay (Natalie Blackman) is out of town. The complex has a rogue swimming with an entity that kills people and makes the body disappear.

Sara is annoyed as she keeps finding herself at the bottom of the pool. Anybody think about draining it? It is not hard to guess that the entity is something Greek called, "Nereus" from the title. Nereus was gentle trustworthy god and shapeshifter. Not so much in the film.

Guide: No F-words. No sex. Brief partial butt nudity.

Yes it was fairly Lame, But better than many others of this genre.

[dpraptor · 6/10 · 22 March 2019]

I really did not think it was that bad, the acting was not that bad for amateur actors, I felt they all really gave their best, and although not great, it was a good start for them. I think people just didnt like them using the similar monster from the abyss - But I dont see any issues with that. I guess this is based on some old Spanish legend, and it was pretty weak but I have seen a lot worse many times. It did hold my interest through most of the movie, and there were times I rolled my eyes because there were some stupid moments, but nothing that i would condemn this film for. For a low budget film, it was actually pretty refreshing. If you watch a lot of low budget films, this one might be worth the while. The actors were pretty good looking, the leading lady was pretty sexy too, which helped a bit too!

During a visit to friends...

[sahlgoode · 2/10 · 22 March 2019]

How have these people ever been friends? There is so much infighting among them, that I'm wondering what the plot of the movie actually was. Every isolated horror movie about cabins/woods/abandoned asylums, houses, hospitals/lakes, have a certain amount of infighting, but this one was over the top. This movie could easily been made with a hours run time, if they had used the clips that actually pertained to the evil entity.