The Undertow
(2003)
review by Head Cheeze

Okay, I wasn't going to review this one. Ya see, I'm friend's with some of the folks over at Sub Rosa Extreme, especially this film's director, Jeremy Wallace (who regular readers will recognize as the fella who directed The Christmas Season Massacre and also contributes the Digital Buzz to these very pages) and Jeremy thought it would be a conflict of interests were I to review The Undertow. Well, after recieving an advanced screener (well in advance since the film won't be available on DVD until Fall!) all I can say is fuck Jeremy! Here's my review!

A group of friends travel to the out of the way town of Old Mines for a weekend camping trip. Almost as soon as they cross the county lines, they're pulled over and harassed by the town's sheriff (Joseph Palermo), accosted by a rogue's gallery of redneck's in the local gas n' shop, and told of the legend of a killing machine who roams the very woods in which they plan to set up camp. Of course, as in any good horror movie, the campers laugh about this "Boy" character and chalk it up to townie hysteria at their presence. We soon learn, however, that the Boy is all too real. A caged man/monster, the Boy serves as his father's (who also happens to be Old Mine's mayor) strong arm to keep strangers out of his town. Beaten, tortured, and lied to, the Boy is once again summoned to carry out his father's wishes by killing off the campers. This time, however, the Boy's got his own agenda.

I can't tell you how surprised I was by The Undertow. Now, before anyone takes that as a sign of my doubt in Wallace's abilities, that's not the case. The film is simply much better than I imagined it's meager budget (nothing!) would allow it to be. It's a testament to the director's ingenuity that the film looked and played out as well as it did, with fantastic special effects (supervised by cult filmmaker Eric Stanze, who also served as cinematographer), props, terrific locations, and above average performances. While the film's story isn't exactly breaking new ground, the script is solid, and even when it veers into territory well traveled, it's done with a wink and a nod toward the film's that inspired it.

The ace up Wallaces sleeve here is definitely Eric Stanze and his experience with the camera. Stanze knows his stuff, and he and Wallace work together to create a very creepy and effective backdrop for the cast to work against. There are several stand-out moments, many of which were intentionally aped from the film's that inspired this one, and the results are exhilarating.

Wallace also rounds up the Sub Rosa Extreme All-Star Team of Jason Christ, Emily Haack, and Robin Garrels, who all turn in great performances, but it's Julie Farrar who steals this show. Farrar's a perfect scream queen, with hauntingly beautiful features that bring to mind the heroines of horror's past (before Botox, fake breasts, and Adobe After Effects touch-ups). Her shock and dismay at the events as they unfold around her is completely believable and compelling.

Now, I wouldn't be a critic if I didn't find some faults, and The Undertow has a few that keep it just out of the five skull arena, the most problematic of which is the pacing during a few dialogue heavy scenes. These scenes bog down an otherwise well paced film. My other problem is with the gore. While I'm always up for a good bit of the squishy stuff, I found that a few of the death scenes were so over the top that they were rendered less effective than they could have been had the camera not lingered on them for so long. A lot of work went into the effects, and I can imagine that Wallace and Stanze wanted to get their money's worth from them, but I'm from the "less is more" school of thought. It's obviously an issue of taste here, but I find that the best horror films are the ones that tease us with a quick glimpse of the grotesque, and then leave it up to our imaginations to fill in the rest.

Still, minor gripes aside, The Undertow is a very impressive sophomore effort from director Wallace, and is easily one of the better S.O.V. offerings I've come across in quite sometime. What Wallace has achieved here, with virtually no budget to speak of, is something Rob Zombie couldn't do with several million dollars.

The Undertow recaptures the essence of the classic seventies horror film.

Well done, my friend.