The Undertow

Starring:Jason Christ
Studio: Sub Rosa Studios
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Tollway to Hell
absolutely horrific film
All The Lost Boys
Strange and well done
Caught In The Undertow--Just Relax And Go With The Flow

Undertow
Starring: Jamie Bell , Kristen Stewart , Robert Longstreet , Terry Loughlin , and Dermot Mulroney
Director: David Gordon Green
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007R4T3K
Release Date: 2005-04-26

Amazon.com

The dazed, dreamlike world of director David Gordon Green remains intact, although Undertow has more story than his previous gems (All the Real Girls, George Washington). In the hot, green Georgia countryside, a man (Dermot Mulroney) lives with his two sons on a farm; their existence is shattered by the arrival of the man's Faulknerian brother (Josh Lucas), a dangerous sort with an ulterior motive. The movie that follows is like The Night of the Hunter filtered through a Days of Heaven lens--there's even a Heaven-like narration provided by Jamie Bell. That's what you get for having Terrence Malick produce your movie. The plot doesn't always sit comfortably with Green's uncanny style--sometimes it feels like an intrusion on a private world of childhood--and Josh Lucas is "actory" in a way that most Green actors are not. Green is at his best when noticing some stray detail (the younger brother likes to arrange his books according to smell), not when connecting the dots of story. Still, the images will stick in your mind, Tim Orr's cinematography is superb, and Philip Glass provides a suitably mysterioso score. --Robert Horton

Description

A brilliant cast, including Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot), Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) and Dermot Mulroney (About Schmidt), rips into this tense and edgy film from David Gordon Green, the "gifted director" (Roger Ebert) of George Washington and All the Real Girls.Bristling with "mood, atmosphere, and psychological suspense" (The Christian Science Monitor), Undertow is a thriller that "transcends the genre" (New York Post)! The Munn familyfather John (Mulroney) and his sons, Chris (Bell) and Tim (Devon Alan)lives a solitary life on a rural farm in Georgia. But when John's brother Deel (Lucas) arrives, fresh from prison and with a sea of rage and envy simmering beneath his skin, the family's isolated world becomes one marked by violence, greed and murder.

Customer Reviews:

Tollway to Hell.......2007-06-18

Not since 'Deliverance' has a creepier movie come from a setting in the Deep South. 'Undertow' has a drive and tension with a minimalist of Hollywood effects. There aren't any huge highway chase scenes or urban gymnastics. What 'Undertow' does is work its way through the vortex of its descriptive title by developing a terse development and a sense of danger with all the players working through tangibly tragic desperation. 'Undertow' is an excellent thriller because it demonstrates the futility of escape for the main characters.

In a beginning scene young adolescent Chris (Jamie Bell) is seen throwing a rock through his girlfriend's bedroom window. It's apparent that he's not welcome there, for the father comes out with a shotgun. From there Chris is on the run until we can almost feel his pain as he steps through a nail on a board. Police cars swerve through the mud dirt roads until they meet their familiar scofflaw and bring him to justice and the emergency room. Upon his return his Uncle Deel (Josh Lucas) has joined the family after being released from prison. At first he takes the family's hospitality, but scorns his responsibilities. Then father (Dermot Mulroney) and uncle (both brothers) face off for a confrontation over resentments built up over the years. After the debacle, Chris and his ailing brother, Tim (Devon Alan) must fend for themselves, not having the credibility to go to the authorities or any immediate next of kin to buffer them as they choose to flee through the rural South.

'Undertow' is effective. At one point their father John tells the boys of his coveted coin collection, which he explains is the toll needed to cross the River Charron, the river in hell. What ensues by this piece of foreshadowing does just that in a thoroughly captivating and believable way that keeps the audience in the thick of the chase. (Highly recommended)

absolutely horrific film.......2007-05-01

a horrendously boring movie from start to finish, with nonchalant dialouge, characters, or depth. Save Jamie Bell's 'ok not bad at all' performance and the rather superior cinematography, the only highlight of the film, was seeing the credits come up at the end. Bell is so naturally talented with timing, if he tried a bit more in this role, it could have possibly garnered a nomination from the Academy. His character should have taken on more of a fatherly role after leaving his home, he didn't and that is not Master Bell's fault, but the directors.

Gus Van Sant must have had a field day with this one.

All The Lost Boys.......2007-04-21

David Gordon Green's third film is more conventionally plotted than his previous "All the Pretty Girls" but it has his very distinctive earthy and poetic style that makes the film dreamy and beautiful without being "pretty-pretty". Based on the real story, "Undertow" tells about a father and his two sons who live in a rural backwoods Georgia. The father is a lonely man; the older son is a rebel, and the young one has some health problems. One day, a long lost Uncle Deel shows up, and the lives of four of them are changed forever. This film is a successful combination of the family drama and "South Gothic Thriller". It brings to mind such classics of the cinema as "Night Hunter" and the writings of Mark Twain and Brothers Grimm as well as the ancient legends and myths. The best about the film are its stunning cinematography and performances by Jamie Bell as Chris Munn, the older boy and Josh Lucas as Deel Munn, the boys' uncle whom they never knew.

Strange and well done.......2007-02-01

a small film but original.The two boy actors were excellent. Not a pretty story but poetic,particulary the ending

Caught In The Undertow--Just Relax And Go With The Flow.......2006-10-31

I was impressed with David Gordon Green's minimalist, haunting "George Washington." I was surprised and delighted with his "All The Pretty Girls." So I was interested to see what his third picture, "Undertow," would bring to his oeuvre. But I have to admit, I was nervous as well. Here, he was working with a larger budget and more mainstream actors like Jamie Bell, Dermot Mulroney and Josh Lucas. What I got was a nice surprise--a nasty little family gothic thriller.

It's a bleak and uneventful existance on the Munn farm. John, a widower played by Mulroney, is raising his two boys in a very secluded lifestyle. Oldest son Chris, a prematurely weathered Jamie Bell, handles most of the responsibilities and chores but longs for a different life. He rebels at every opportunity which gets him into trouble with the law as often as not. Younger brother Tim is a sickly and emotionally stunted child. There is talk of a family treasure--told in dreamlike fashion--but no signs of material wealth of any kind.

One day, shady Uncle Deel arrives. Oozing dangerous charm, this ex-con wants to reconnect with his brother, get to know his nephews and get a fresh start. Chris is initially drawn to the stranger, but mistrusts him on many levels too. And as we find out--for good reason. Secrets come out and violence erupts. The boys go on the run--taking hope and charity where they can get it and evading danger. There is a certain menacing "Night of the Hunter" quality to their travels through the country landscape.

I really enjoyed the film--it's unorthodox and has a lazy, southern gothic appeal. I didn't know exactly where the story was going and so was caught up in the journey. There were interesting family dynamics as well as a decent thriller. Mulroney is perhaps one of our most underrated actors--he's great here. He's a tremendous character actor "cursed" with leading man looks--and I always prefer him in these interesting choices instead of seeing him in traditional fare with someone like Debra Messing. Josh Lucas, as Deel, is really creepy. He was born to play villainous roles--that charm and smarminess work to perfection. And Bell continuees to impress.

So, if you want to try something off the beaten path--take a look at "Undertow." KGHarris, 10/06.

Average customer rating:

Great 80's slasher style movie
Great campfire story...
Another dissapointment from Sub-Rosa Studios
The Undertow
Great indie horror!!!!

The Undertow
Starring: Jason Christ , Julie Farrar , and Joseph Palermo
Director: Jeremy Wallace
Manufacturer: Sub Rosa Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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China White Serpentine
Scrapbook
Intruder
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
The Dark Hours

ASIN: B0000AOV6U
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Customer Reviews:

Great 80's slasher style movie.......2006-04-11

Six friends enter the strange town of Old Mines for a weekend float trip. They quickly realize that the town is not friendly to strangers, and they are pressured to leave by the police. When the friends decide to continue their float trip anyway, terrifying secrets of the town surface. The town's mayor has an evil secret-- a 7' deformed son born out of incest, and kept under lock and key. Simply known as "The Boy", he is used as a weapon against unwanted visitors to the city, killing them off when needed. When "The Boy" turns on his father, and the town's people for the years of torment, he does what he knows best and heads for the woods to kill the interlopers.

The Undertow was a great homage to the 1980's backwoods slasher genre. The killer "The Boy" was in a way a carbon copy of Jason Voorhees in Friday The 13th Part 2, with a hint of Humongous. That I liked a lot. I have always thought the sack-headed killer was really creepy and very well done in Friday The 13th Part 2, The Town That Dreaded Sundown and Malevolence. The blood and gore in the movie was great, and very well done for a Sub Rosa Studios movie. Lastly, other than his mask, the killer was very intimidating. Huge. That was a solid plus for the movie, and actually making the movie work.

With typical Sub Rosa Studios acting, and bad dialogue. The long drawn out scenes of screaming got old, and gave me a headache. The acting in some cases took a lot away from the movie, and made me want to fast forward. But, getting past that (which was pretty hard at times), the movie was still redeeming.

I heard about this movie through another review (DeadPit.com) and figured it was a movie I would love to see. After popping it in and watching it, it slowly started off as a typical Sub Rosa movie, with the same ole' black Jeep Cherokee full of the same Sub Rosa actors, and I quietly sighed. The movie got going about 15 minutes in, and become really interesting. The location (the small town) was great, and very Friday The 13th-ish. I loved that, and then the killer. Another thing that helped the movie roll easily. Once the movie got going, it felt the remainder went by really fast. The movie had pretty much everything a 1980's slasher had, everything but the budget. I would really recommend any slasher fan to give this movie a try. It's really one you're going to either love or loathe, you have to at least give the makers credit for actually writing a unique story in a very over-saturated, no longer unique genre.

Great campfire story..........2005-08-09

Jeremy Wallace and Eric Stanze put together a great campfire story in this movie. There are many parts in this movie that gave me the chills. The ensemble cast gave great performances. To go with all the chilling moments there is a lot of blood splattered all over the place created by the running amok of "The Boy" frighteningly played by Doc Brown (Great name). Highly recommended!

Another dissapointment from Sub-Rosa Studios.......2005-08-07

In this movie you have the same Sub-Rosa patented bad actors yelling at each other, repeating the same words over and over, to get the dull background story out of the way. Then comes the formulaic killer's ramapage sequences in the end. Now this I wouldn't have a problem with if the kills were actually delivered right. There was no tension in the chase scenes. It was a mess showing who's running from who and where. Fake blood is just dabbed on people (they don't have cuts) and the killer hardly even touches them. It's like he just gives taps. Were they even trying to make it look brutal? There's one scene where he rips one guy's guts out, but it was like he was pulling a post-it note off his stomach. I was annoyed mostly by the long gratuitous gore close-ups where the camera just records a dead body on the floor for a couple minutes. It's as if the movie was an excuse to show off cheap make-up effects. If I wanted to stare at organs I'll stand inside a butcher shop. I prefer seeing gore in action instead of just staring at the useless remains. The movie was a waste of time.

The Undertow .......2005-07-12

A classic-style horror flick with incredible amounts of gore.
Unwanted visitors of a small town find themselves stuck in a horrible massacre. A deranged sheriff trains an inbreed freak to destroy any outsiders that attempt to stay.
Intense thriller with non-stop action and no mercy violence. Best independent movie cast I have seen in a long time: Emily Haack (SCRAPBOOK), Jason Christ (ICE FROM THE SUN), Chris Grega (INSANIAC), Robin Garrels (INSANIAC), and Todd Tevlin (ICE FROM THE SUN). Outstanding Cinema photography by Eric Stanze (director of SCRAPBOOK, ICE FROM THE SUN, SAVAGE HARVEST, and the upcoming DEADWOOD PARK).

Great indie horror!!!!.......2004-08-17

I wasn't really expecting much from this one, but I can honestly say that this was one of the best independent horror films that I've seen in a long time!!!!

The story's nothing really groundbreaking, but it's the way director Jeremy Wallace and crew pulls this movie off that's so refreshing. What I appreciate the most about the movie is that it's very straight forward and serious in its handling of the horror elements of the story (unlike that crappy Cabin Fever flick), which is something you rarely see in horror films these days. The film is very much in the vain of the great 70's horror flicks like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. Like those films, the story is simple in nature, and yet it delivers a wonderful sense of dread and tension with a brutal dose of well-executed gore!!!

I've seen Wallace's first flick, The Christmas Season Massacre, and while I thought that movie was good for what it was (horror spoof), he really took a major step forward as a director with this flick (he even wrote the simple, yet extremely effective score for the film). Wallace's confident direction is aided by some fantastic editing and cinematography by Eric Stanze (director of Ice From The Sun and Scrapbook) and a cast that's way above average for a movie of this budget level, who all turn in great performances (especially Trudy Bequette and Julie Farrar).

Horror fans should definitely check this baby out! Like I said, it's nothing original, but it definitely delivers what it promises, which is more than I can say for most of the stuff coming out of Hollywood these days!

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