Favorite use of water . . ., In a horror movie . . .

. . . I have had a great time reading answers to these little questions, so let me toss one out regarding water . . . two great ones that come to mind would be 1) the radio playing its song as it sinks to the bottom of the lake in Coppola's DEMENTIA 13; and 2) the hole in the basement floor that is the entrance to the strange room filled with water in Argento's INTERNO . . .

I too am enjoying these topics.

In a nod to the aforementioned INFERNO, I would throw in BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Jack and Wang are in that stopped elevator and it begins filling up with water. They swim out only to find themselves in the "Hell of the Upside Down Sinners." Classic scene and great use of water.

The drowning of Ted Danson in CREEPSHOW stays with me. It may not be Romero at his best but it is one of the better Stephen King adaptaions out there. That shot of Danson holding his breath is hysterical. It not the lack of air that scares me but how he is trapped in the sand. The comic book colors surely enhance the lurid themes. Blue/green water. I love it.

I know this will be strange but there is a momment in HUMONGOUS that is quite a creep. The characters are navagating through a foggy and rocky channel. The fear thickens when they hear the sounds of dogs howling in the night. After that they crash on a small island and it becomes a slasher movie. But that seqence.....

SHOCK WAVES has a some great passages of the camera at water level. The sight of nazi zombies submerging themselves is of course a fright. THE GHOST GALLION had a crazy conclusion that is also on par with the SHOCK WAVES imagery.

When I was in college I witnessed dozens of Art Films; short, long, fiction, documentary etc. If only I had the listings from those days. One of the movies (actually it was a "work in progress") was twenty minutes of running water in Black and White. The camera simpley pointed down from a bridge locked on to the stream. Its hard to explain but I have rarely have seen anything so arresting in cinema. At the time many of my art and video projects also delt with water imagery. Perhapes I was in a mental sync with the director/photographer. The only movie that compares in hydro impact would be LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH. I have an 8mm camera and I will recreat what saw somehow. Alas, here is Southern California I have yet to come across a river that has the power of what I saw in that film. I did come across a stream at Big Sur that had but the digital footage didn't do it justice. Some how I'll recreate it. For the record I saw the work at The James River Film Festival at Richmond VA. Can anyone clue me in to who made this footage?

I don't know why I didn't think of these before

Peter Weir's THE LAST WAVE and Bavs' A DROP OF WATER.

WAVE excels at water as a torrent . It flows and gushes from sewers, tubs and even a radio. Weir often uses water in his movies even if there is no water. WITNESS shows a person drowning in corn.

DROP is a stand out because of the SOUNDS of water. And the implications of it.

I would choose "The Drop of Water" -- also DARK WATER and perhaps OPEN WATER.

Diabolique!

. . . the wonderful Black Lagoon that allows the Gill-Man to enact his sexual ballet as he preens for an oblivious Julia Adams who swims by, amost touching his outstretched body which glides through the water just under under her - wish everyone could see THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954) IN 3-D one of these days . . .

CARNIVAL OF SOULS.

Vincent

The finale of THE DEVIL'S RAIN.

The diving sequence in CALTIKI always gave me the shivers.

The water in the PRINCE OF DARKNESS.

Being locked in with the submerged monster in DEEP STAR SIX.

The barrel of water in THE OTHER.

THE ABYSS.

It's not a horror movie but in Disney's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, the storm both saved and added to the horrorific squid sequence.

Also, THE MONOLITH MONSTERS. Where would THEY be without water?

This post has been edited by Chas Lindsay on May 21 2005, 08:18 AM

I finally saw THE LAST WAVE last night and really enjoyed it. Barnett is correct, the use of water in this film is amazing and Weir creates some of the best dreams I've ever seen on film (meaning the closest in capturing how dreams seem to me). It is strange, WAVE isn't really a horror film, but features some of the best mood building scenes I've seen in a long time. It actually reminded me quite a bit of the recent TAKE SHELTER and I wonder if that film's director looked at this for inspiration as there are quite a few similar bits (character fearing a storm coming, dreams of scary figure outside a window in rainy weather, oil rain, similar final shot).

Gosh, William, how did you ever remember this thread? - I was amazed to see I started this waaaay back when, but I am you caught up with THE LAST WAVE . . . and to add a new one, THE TINGLER (1959) has a pretty good sequence that indicates William Castle or Robb White had seen DIABOLIQUE (1955).

This post has been edited by Wade Sowers on Mar 6 2012, 11:28 AM

I think the shower sequence in PSYCHO would have to count in this category.

I agree with Wade's citation of DEMENTIA 13, which has several shock sequences connected with water. The scenes with Luana Anders swimming underwater and depositing the dead daughter's trinkets were filmed in Jack Hill's father's swimming pool. Lord knows what kind of gunk the crew dumped into the man's pool!

SIGNS

Don't Look Now!

The ending of FRIDAY THE 13TH.