The Pool

The Pool
by Boris von Sychowski

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DVD Reviews of The Pool

DVD Review: Average attempt at Eurohorror
Summary: 3 Stars

If you must think of "The Pool," think of a Eurotrash cast with a sprinkling of Americans and South Americans thrown in for good measure. Set in Prague, the movie follows a group of students graduating from the International High School. Since all these kids will soon go their separate ways, the official leader of the group, Greg (Thorsten Grasshoff), decides to throw one last alcohol fueled bash. Rather than do something boring like party at someone's house or apartment, Greg approaches a friend about getting the gang into an aquatic park in town. Doing so requires breaking into the place, a risky proposition that could involve jail time if the police catch the kids. But how much fun it could be! Romping around the water slides and the pools while drinking the night away sure sounds like fun. Besides, the setting gives the director the chance to put his young cast into skimpy swimsuits. You can guess what happens next: the kids turn up at the pool, start having fun, and then begin expiring in hideous ways. It's stalk and slash time at the water park, and only a few might make it out alive.

The chap hunting down the gang wears a black outfit while wearing a skull mask. He's got his work cut out for him; I think at least a dozen cast members are hanging around the water park when the party begins. The most important characters include Sarah (Kristen Miller), an American worried about her future; Carmen (Elena Uhlig), a German snob harboring a few secrets from her other friends; and the aforementioned Greg. You've also got Kim (Isla Fisher), Svenja (Linda Rybova), Diego (Maximilian Grill), Mike (James McAvoy), and Mel (Cordelia Bugeja) waiting in the wings. A few more characters are present as well. At least you know the body count will be high. A bunch of subplots pop up from time to time, such as hidden relationships, one of the students languishing because she failed her finals, and a cop on the outside methodically tracking the killer to the swimming pool park. Two scenes of carnage take place outside the aquatic environs, one at a house of a mutual friend that recalls the opening scenes of the first "Scream" and another one in the forest. The conclusion, following one extended chase scene after another, made me wonder if the killer was somebody these people knew or Superman. Only the man of steel could take such a pounding and pop back up for more.

The single biggest problem I have with "The Pool," the one thing that really had me grumbling under my breath, is the huge number of cast members. Director Sychowski simply does not possess the skills to juggle this many major and minor characters in a film of this length. It's not a poor reflection on him; many directors could not achieve such a balancing act either. Too, once the bodies start falling it gets even harder to remember who is who. A scorecard with names matched to pictures of the actors might have helped. At first, I thought the various accents of the characters would act as label for figuring out who was who. I was wrong. With the exceptions of the Americans and the Aussie, the voices of the other nationalities began to blend into an unidentifiable Eastern European patois. I halfway expected the murderer to pull off his mask and identify himself as Gavrilo Princip. If you think the murders will save the movie, think again. Sure, a few imaginative incidents take place. The waterslide disaster looks like it draws the most attention from viewers. You know what I thought when I saw it? Dario Argento would have done it better, and done it in a way that would have truly made us cringe. Instead, the scene ends up being a pale imitation of what it could have been.

The DVD from Artisan Entertainment contains a few extras. Trailers, a photo gallery, and a few interviews with cast members all appear on the disc. The picture quality is good, too. It's tough to recommend "The Pool" to horror fans. Slasher film fans will probably like it to some extent, as much as they like any of the other hundreds of similar films out on the market, but viewers seeking a unique experience should probably look elsewhere. "The Pool" deserves three stars for a few good scenes and an occasionally effective stab at atmosphere. Just don't expect to be wowed.