A creature lurks within a swimming pool in Georges Padey’s "Drowning Echo". The film stars Itziar Martinez, Raul Walder, Dennis Mencia, Josephine Phoenix, Sean Ormond, Natalie Blackman, Marlena Bauza and Mario Nalini.
During a visit to friends, Sara (Itziar Martinez) begins having visions and is attacked by an unearthly creature in her friend’s swimming pool. She soon discovers that anyone who comes into contact with the water is in danger and she is driven to confront the mystical and malevolent creature lurking in the depths.
"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. (2.5/5)
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