''Beneath Still Waters'' ( es, Bajo aguas tranquilas) is a 2005

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by

Brian Yuzna Brian Yuzna is an American producer, director, and writer. He is best known for his work in the science fiction and horror film genres. Yuzna began his career as a producer for several films by director Stuart Gordon, such as ''Re-Animator'' (1 ...

. It stars

Michael McKell Michael McKell (born 10 February 1959, in Bethnal Green, London) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Inspector Trevor Hands in ''Murder Investigation Team'' (2003-2005), Dr. Nick West in ''Doctors'' (2006-2008) and DS Nicholas "N ...

Raquel Meroño Raquel Meroño Coello (born 8 August 1975) is a Spanish actress, presenter and businesswoman. She enjoyed popularity in Spain as television personality in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Biography Born on 8 August 1975 in Madrid, she early comb ...

and

Charlotte Salt Charlotte Salt (born 12 August 1985) is an English actress best known for her many characters in British and US television series such as ''Casualty'', '' Bedlam'' and ''The Musketeers'', also in many films, including '' Beneath Still Waters'' i ...

. It was based on a novel by

Matthew Costello Matthew John Costello (born 1948) is an American writer specializing in the genres of horror, gothic, and science fiction. His articles have appeared in publications including the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. He has scripted ...

Plot

Studying under a disciple of

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...

, the leader of an upper class group invokes a supernatural force that slowly devours the village of Marienbad and its inhabitants, threatening to spread beyond its geographical limits. The mayor from the town nearby commissions the building of a dam which would flood the valley in 1965 and therefore submerge the village forever sealing the evil force under water after the leader and his followers were incapacitated to be kept from escaping. However, fate ensured the leader's freedom as he remained in the depths when the waters covered Marienbad. Now in 2005, 40 years later an array of disappearances and deaths in mysterious circumstances are threatening the town next to the reservoir that now covers Marienbad.

Cast

as Dan Quarry *

as Teresa Borgia *

as Clara Borgia * Patrick Gordon as Mordecai Salas *

Manuel Manquiña Manuel Juan Francisco del Cristo de la Victoria Prieto Comesaña aka Manuel Manquiña (born 2 August 1953 in Vigo, Galicia) is a Spanish actor. Biography His career begun in 1982 in several TV comedy programs by TVG and several movies dire ...

as Luis ** Omar Muñoz as 10-year-old Luis * Pilar Soto as Susana *

Diana Peñalver Diana Peñalver (born 1965) is a Spanish actress known for starring in '' Braindead'' (1992), ''Year of Enlightment ''Year of Enlightment'' ( es, El año de las luces, and also released as ''The Year of the Awakening'') is a 1986 Spanish film ...

as Mrs. Martín * Ricard Borràs as Mayor Luca * Damià Plensa as Antonio *

David Meca David Meca Medina (born 1 February 1974 in Sabadell) is a long distance swimmer from Spain, who has swum from mainland Spain to Ibiza among his exploits. He won gold at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal for ...

as Diver Sargent Eduardo * Carlos Castañón as Police Captain Keller *

Josep Maria Pou Josep Maria Pou i Serra (born 1944 in Mollet del Vallès, Barcelona) is a Catalan Spanish film, theatre and television actor. He studied drama in Madrid and made his debut in Teatro María Guerrero (1970) Cinema *2018 '' The Realm'' *2017 ' ...

as Julio Gambine Additionally,

Axelle Carolyn Axelle Carolyn (born 3 April 1979 in Brussels) is a Belgian filmmaker and former actress and journalist. Biography Acting Amongst many other jobs she worked on her way to directing her first films, Carolyn briefly worked in front of the camera. ...

appears a partygoer.

Javier Botet Javier Botet López (born 30 July 1977) is a Spanish actor. Often cast in creature roles, he has portrayed Tristana Medeiros in the ''REC'' franchise (2007–2012), the title character in '' Mama'' (2013), Set in '' The Mummy'' (2017), and Sl ...

, in his film debut, portrays as a humanoid creature.

Production

It was produced in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. The film is the ninth and last film to be produced by Filmax's ''

Fantastic Factory Filmax International is a Spanish motion picture production company and film distributor based in Barcelona, and one of Spain's largest integrated film and television groups. It produced the ''REC'' horror series, and owns the Nirvana Films and ...

'' label. It is based on the novel ''Beneath Still Waters'' by Matthew J. Costello.

Release

The film premiered on 24 October 2005 as part of the San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Festival, followed with Spain theatrical release on 26 May 2006. It was released on DVD in the US on 9 April 2007.

Reception

Steve Barton of

Dread Central Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...

rated it 1/5 stars and called it a "poorly assembled, laughably bad, absolute waste of time". Annie Riordan of Brutal as Hell rated it 1/5 stars and wrote that the film does not live up to the potentially interesting premise. David Johnson of

DVD Verdict DVD Verdict was a judicial-themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. The editor-in-chief was Michael Stailey, who owned the website between 2004 and 2016, and the site employed a large editorial staff of critics, whose reviews ...

wrote that it has good scenes but criticized the overreliance on poor CGI and tedious character development on unlikeable characters. At

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

, Scott Weinberg rated it 2/5 stars, and Paul Mavis rated it 1.5/5 stars; both called it derivative of earlier horror films. Writing in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2'', academic

Peter Dendle Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and s ...

said, "The human dimensions of the story don't connect well, but the underwater scenes are visually very appealing."

References

External links

* {{Brian Yuzna 2005 films 2005 horror films 2000s mystery films 2000s thriller films British zombie films Spanish zombie films Spanish thriller films 2000s English-language films English-language Spanish films 2000s Spanish-language films Films based on American horror novels Films shot in Madrid Films directed by Brian Yuzna Films scored by Zacarías M. de la Riva 2005 multilingual films British multilingual films Spanish multilingual films 2000s British films