This German produced slasher film was deemed so good in pre-production that they were given funding to make it an international production. But does it sink or swim?
A group of friends from the International High School in Prague receive
invites to a secret graduation party that promises to be killer. Unfortunately for them someone has taken the invite literally, and when they arrive at the location, (a plush private swimming pool with it’s own bars and sports complex ) carnage ensues.
This film is highly reminiscent of ‘s teen slashers whilst showcasing a
knowledge of the post-modern era of horror. Therefore the story is quite old fashioned but the characters are very stylish.
The locations are beautiful and are fully showcased by Director Boris von
Sychowski and he also demonstrates skill with his handling of the plentiful set pieces which mainly take place inside the pool.
The cast are all very likeable and whilst it is occasionally difficult to
understand some of the actors accents, I am thankful that the film is not dubbed, which can (and in the case of Flashback did) often ruin your viewing. Despite this you believe that the cast are actually friends, which makes you care about them when they meet their maker and it aint pretty.
This film doesn’t hold back on the red stuff and boasts one of the best
death scenes ever in a slasher film. The film also manages to conjour up some good atmosphere in a few of the chase scenes through use of tight angles, a decent score and some beautiful lighting which makes the locations appear chilling.
The only downside is some of the dialogue which was obviously written to sound more American. I don’t understand why they had to do this as the humour is very European and works fine, although it does say a lot about the actors that they say their lines with conviction (especially Isla Fisher whose character’s I normally dislike).
OVERALL SUMMARY
The pool ends up coming off as one of the more decent and memorable recent teen slashers, as it doesn’t try to be anything other than it is and that’s a whole lot of fun.
