Night Swim - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Night Swim



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Haunted movies are a tough sell in this day and age. The horror world has pretty much drained the ghost/possessed person genre to death since the 60s and 70s, and it’s slowly faded into the background as people are less and less scared by supernatural things. Blood and gore took over in the 80s and 90s, and the 2000s and 2010s veered more into cerebral horror. Films like Insidious and The Conjuring have sort of revived the genre a bit (well, The Conjuring series has systematically sequeled itself to death, so I’m not sure if that’s the best example for us here), but Night Swim has to be one of the weirder (both in a good and bad way) modern day super natural “ghost” films I’ve seen in a while.

How many of us grew up terrified of the murky water at the deep end of the movie? I know I can’t be alone in letting my imagination run wild as a child, crafting images of kracken, sharks (too many times seeing Jaws I guess) and other shadowy figures in the flicking depths of the water. Night Swim capitalizes on these fears, introducing us to a force under the depths that really DOES want to suck you under. In many ways the film works, but sadly squanders that build up for a stereotypical and rote ending that sucks the scares out of the film until It’s hard to really take it seriously by the end “twist”.

Based upon a short film by the same name (also done by Bryce McGuire to be precise), Night Swim tells the story of Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) and his wife Eve (Kerry Condon), moving into a house in the suburbs with their children after Ray is diagnosed with MS and loses his professional baseball career. At first the move is somber, but as part of his recovery Ray is forced to make frequent dips in the backyard pool. Bit by magical bit, Ray starts to heal himself from the inside out. His strength returns, his MS starts to head into remission, but it comes at a cost. Both his son Elliot (Gavin Warren) and daughter Izzy (Amelie Hoeferle) start to see things under the surface. Faint images and forces that almost cause them to drown. Convinced that something is wrong with the water, Eve starts to dig into the past ownership of the land, and soon finds a trail of dead bodies that leads to the inevitable conclusion that their home, their pool, carries with it a malevolent force that both gives and takes away.

On the surface (pun intended), Night Swim has a rather unique hook. There’s some cheesiness with the idea of a possessed pool, but the film takes on a less American/Hollywood stance and sort of feels like Korean or Japanese ghost film for much of the time. It also seems to take hints from The Wishmaster series, with the pool having the power to give life, but in doing so comes at a price that the wisher may not have foreseen. Again, as I mentioned above, it’s a cool twist. The idea of terror beneath the surface plays at every adult’s childlike fear of being afraid of the deep end of the pool, peeling back those layers and teasing at something horrible.

Unfortunately, that goodwill is sort of squandered as very little scary actually comes out of the pool. By the third act teasing the audience with what MIGHT be under the water is worn thin, and the explanation is much more standard fare Hollywood than the Korean/Japanese ghost story elements would imply. Not to say that the film is horrible by any stretch of the imagination. It’s kind of inventive in some ways, both Wyatt Russell (who creepily reminds me of his father, Kurt) and Kerry Condon do phenomenally in their roles. It’s just that the scares don’t really SCARE by the 2nd half of the movie, and certain things don’t make as much sense you could have hoped for (why would the spirits want to take the cat? It goes against the “give and take” motif and gives it your typical “evil spirits doing evil things” vibe).




Rating:

Rated PG-13 for terror, some violent content and language




Video:

While some of us may be disappointed in no 4K UHD release domestically (supposedly there is a 4K disc coming over seas in the U.K. sometime in may), the Blu-ray certainly looks great. It offers a well detailed image that makes great use of shadow and murky pool water, limiting the artifacting that usually crops up in water shots (there’s some minor banding underwater and a little bit of crush), but overall it’s a really nice looking image. Black levels are superb, with tinges of blue, green and red shifting around the landscape, and daylight shots show some really nice use of color saturation. The disc isn’t perfect as I said, but it’s a dang good image nonetheless.









Audio:

While the 4K UHD release may be missing, an exceptional sound track is NOT missing from this set. The 7.1 DTS-HD MA track is full blown insane, with one of the most atmospheric and immersive horror mixes that I’ve heard in quite some time. Dialog is well positioned in the room, and surrounds are filled with the little splishes, splashes, and creepy flickers throughout. However, probably the most impressive part of the film’s audio mix is just how exquisitely it uses the LACK of sound to make a point. Bits of silence with barely any ambient noise twist and turn the viewers sensations till they’re on pins and needles, and when it does explode through, the more intense bits just feel all the more thrilling.












Extras:

• FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH CO-WRITER/DIRECTOR BRYCE MCGUIRE
• MASTERS OF FEAR – Horror legends Jason Blum and James Wan discuss why they chose to collaborate on this project, what drew them to this story and why first-time director, Bryce McGuire, was the perfect man for the job.
• DEMONS FROM THE DEPTHS – Dive into the world of special effects and learn how the creatures in NIGHT SWIM were created to withstand the trials of filming underwater.
• INTO THE DEEP – Go beneath the surface and hear from cast and crew on the physical and technical work that went into creating a movie that contains so many underwater sequences.
• MARCO POLO – Director Bryce McGuire breaks down the pivotal scare scene and how the film took a simple children's game and turned it into a nightmare.

Final Score:
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Night Swim is sort of a chill popcorn horror movie that feels like it was an R rated film, but somehow got neutered by higher level executives. There’s some good performances and I really liked the Korean Ghost story elements, but by the end of the movie it sort of lost some of it’s steam and left me feeling a bit let down. The Blu-ray looks and sounds phenomenal though, with some moderate extras as well (in this day and age I’ll take ANY extras for a new release), but I’d still live the film itself as a rental.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferle
Directed by: Bryce McGuire
Written by: Bryce McGuire, Rod Blackhurst
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, Spanish DTS-HD HR 7.1, French (Canada) DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 99 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: April 9th, 2024

Recommendation: Rental

 

[Todd Anderson]

Hmmm... that "losing steam" part is the main issue I have with horror films.

This movie's title totally has its hooks in me. "Night Swim"

It has such a great ring to it. But with your rental recommend, I think I'll let this one slide past me...

 

[Sonnie]

I think I would have emphasized the cheesiness part a little more... lol. Just sayin'