Blumhouse's New Big Splash Belly Flops at Box Office Opening
'Night Swim' doesn’t give audiences as frightening an experience as the studio’s predecessors.
By Kyle McLaren
'Night Swim' doesn’t give audiences as frightening an experience as the studio’s predecessors.
By Kyle McLaren
After the box office success of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in October of last year, Blumhouse Productions looked to put out another horror movie when they released “Night Swim” on Jan. 5. For years, this studio has worked in the horror genre, recently releasing well-known films such as “The Black Phone” and “M3GAN” in 2022.
Directed by Bryce McGuire, “Night Swim” lets audiences dive into a world where something ominous lurks beneath shallow waters. We follow a family of four entering a challenging time in their lives, as the father and former professional baseball player, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), is suffering from multiple sclerosis. Fortunately, their new backyard pool could be therapeutic for him. Although he improves, it quickly becomes apparent that something is deeply wrong with the swimming pool, considering his two children swore they saw something supernatural floating around in pitch black.
Like many horror flicks before it, “Night Swim” is rather creative with the element of darkness, by making everything in deep waters nearly invisible. This allows viewers to conjure horrifying images in their head, and having something unknown that people can picture in their minds often makes a horror film appealing. Most early scenes also depict intense, near-death experiences when our protagonists swim towards the deep end, allowing tension to build gradually until the creatures are revealed. The slow build-up kept me invested, waiting to see what would happen next when I didn’t know what to expect.
Trying to find some clear answers for all these situations, Eve (Kerry Condon) begins looking into the history of her house. She soon uncovers a series of drowning reports, which all seemingly happened in the same way. The film introduces an interesting element of mystery here, but doesn’t take a lot of time to flesh it out, making it seem unimportant to the full story. Concerned about these recurring drownings, Eve asks the home’s previous owner, Lucy Summers (Jodi Long). Despite somehow having no recollection of her own child’s existence, Summers reveals the pool’s deepest, darkest secrets. As it turns out, these peculiar waters have possessed supernatural powers for centuries, with the ability to heal someone, yet harm another as well. With regards to our family in question, a sacrifice needs to be made in order to resolve the film.
“Night Swim,” although suspenseful, leaves audiences feeling more confused than frightened. Many off-camera scenes seem to make the monsters appear terrifying, until their reveal ends up being less than satisfactory. There also could’ve been some more exploration with the water’s mysterious, supernatural abilities, rather than centering on Ray’s personal life, further developing the source of terror this film has to offer.
Unlike “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” Blumhouse’s “Night Swim” doesn’t incorporate as much character creativity or intriguing storylines, causing the climax to fall short, even with its scarier moments. Overall, the film is more of a belly flop compared to its predecessors, but does give viewers a handful of creepy underwater visuals.
“Night Swim” is currently playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV+.
Directed by Bryce McGuire, “Night Swim” lets audiences dive into a world where something ominous lurks beneath shallow waters. We follow a family of four entering a challenging time in their lives, as the father and former professional baseball player, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell), is suffering from multiple sclerosis. Fortunately, their new backyard pool could be therapeutic for him. Although he improves, it quickly becomes apparent that something is deeply wrong with the swimming pool, considering his two children swore they saw something supernatural floating around in pitch black.
Like many horror flicks before it, “Night Swim” is rather creative with the element of darkness, by making everything in deep waters nearly invisible. This allows viewers to conjure horrifying images in their head, and having something unknown that people can picture in their minds often makes a horror film appealing. Most early scenes also depict intense, near-death experiences when our protagonists swim towards the deep end, allowing tension to build gradually until the creatures are revealed. The slow build-up kept me invested, waiting to see what would happen next when I didn’t know what to expect.
Trying to find some clear answers for all these situations, Eve (Kerry Condon) begins looking into the history of her house. She soon uncovers a series of drowning reports, which all seemingly happened in the same way. The film introduces an interesting element of mystery here, but doesn’t take a lot of time to flesh it out, making it seem unimportant to the full story. Concerned about these recurring drownings, Eve asks the home’s previous owner, Lucy Summers (Jodi Long). Despite somehow having no recollection of her own child’s existence, Summers reveals the pool’s deepest, darkest secrets. As it turns out, these peculiar waters have possessed supernatural powers for centuries, with the ability to heal someone, yet harm another as well. With regards to our family in question, a sacrifice needs to be made in order to resolve the film.
“Night Swim,” although suspenseful, leaves audiences feeling more confused than frightened. Many off-camera scenes seem to make the monsters appear terrifying, until their reveal ends up being less than satisfactory. There also could’ve been some more exploration with the water’s mysterious, supernatural abilities, rather than centering on Ray’s personal life, further developing the source of terror this film has to offer.
Unlike “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” Blumhouse’s “Night Swim” doesn’t incorporate as much character creativity or intriguing storylines, causing the climax to fall short, even with its scarier moments. Overall, the film is more of a belly flop compared to its predecessors, but does give viewers a handful of creepy underwater visuals.
“Night Swim” is currently playing in select theaters and streaming on Apple TV+.