R, widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1
Street: Dec. 28
First Run: W, Aug. 2004, $30.5 mil.
LIONS GATE
The terrifying story of a young couple that goes scuba diving with a large group only to be accidentally left behind in deep water off the Bahamas, Open Water was touted as this year's Blair Witch Project--a shoestring indie, shot on digital video for next to nothing, that delivered more chills than most major studio fright films produced on big budgets. It didn't quite live up to expectations, but the achievement of husband-and-wife filmmakers Chris Kentis and Laura Lau remains impressive. As they explain both in their commentary and in the 16-minute featurette "Calm Before the Storm," Open Water was independently financed and shot over a period of more than two years, on weekends and during vacation time. (Kentis didn't want to leave his day job.) Using digital-video cameras they bought after researching them on the Internet, Kentis and Lau became a crew of two: There were no electricians, gaffers, makeup people or boom handlers. The couple edited the movie at home on their computer. Co-stars Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis, who provide their own commentary, confirm something else discussed in the behind-the-scenes featurette: They performed all their own scenes in shark-infested waters without stunt doubles, relying on a "shark wrangler" to keep their finny colleagues well fed and properly motivated. "Calm," produced by Nicholas Danko for On Beat Productions, hits all the high spots, but the other extras are fairly mundane. There's nothing special about the alternate opening or six deleted scenes, nor is there much to be gleaned from a four-minute treatise on "Indie Essentials," delivered by Lions Gate executives. Rounding out the supplements is slightly more than two minutes of footage showing Kentis in the water with sharks, preparing to grab "B roll" shots. Although Open Water was inspired by a real-life case--which is actually more interesting than the film's story line in that the couple involved was suspected to have faked their disappearance to avoid legal problems--the true story barely rates a mention. That's a definite oversight and mars an otherwise satisfactory presentation.