Undertow

1996 "Just below the surface lies a deadly trap."
Undertow
5.2| 1h33m| en| More Info
Released: 26 March 1996 Released
Producted By: Lithuanian Film Studio
Country: Lithuania
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

After his car breaks down, Jack seeks shelter, lost in a thunderstorm in a remote shack in the woods. He finds himself held at gunpoint by a deranged mountain man who lives there with his young wife. As the storm rages on, tension mounts in the small cabin. Matters reach a climax when Jack falls for the beautiful woman and tries persuading her to escape with him. Soon, the situation escalates into deadly violence...

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Lithuanian Film Studio

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Reviews

dbs630-697-952794 Let me first say for some reason I like this movie. It's atmosphereic and creepy. The setting is perfect and I'm a sucker for movies that take place during a storm. Now, I get it. The "mountainman" is the stereotypical unlikable hick. HOWEVER, I do find myself asking who is the real bad guy here. First of all while I find "Willie's" backstory troubling and sad her character comes off as a typical selfish unlikeable home wrecking whore. "Jack" is a self centered drifter who obviously leaves a path of emotional destruction wherever he goes. He comes off as your typical over confident, egotistical young city slicker who thinks he's God's gift to women, etc. He's also your typical "one-upper" who constantly feels the need to show off and prance around like a peacock. Now we get to Lyle. While he is without a doubt and ignorant SOB who refuses to conform to social norms and general niceties he is also a "don't mess with me and I won't mess with you" kind of guy. He's provided for "Willie" her whole life. She's never had to work a day but for normal household duties. She always has a full belly and a warm place to lay her head. All "Lyle" asked for was respect and the typical "hunter gatherer" relationship that has served mankind since the beginning of time. He is a backwards fool but who rescued who? Who offered shelter from the storm? Who provided warm meals and cigarettes to whom? Who's house was it? Who's truck was it? Who's WIFE was it? "Jack" came into "Lyle's" life just as hard and fast and with just as much destructive power as the storm. I think in the long run the storm was tied to "Jack" more than anything. It was "Hurricane Jack" that destroyed an innocent man's simple life. "Lyle" was an "a-hole" but long story short he really didn't do anything to deserve "Jack" coming in and destroying everything he built and eventually even killing him and running off with his wife. I would say that if this were an actual court case. "Jack" and "Willie" would both be found guilty of manslaughter. From the beginning "Jack" was an intruder and a tresspasser, and while I'm not familiar with North Carolina law the laws of man generally are on the side of the landowner. Again, I know we are supposed to feel for "Willie" and "Jack" and perhaps that's the way it was intended but the actors performances made me see this in a different light. "Lyle" was the victim here. Case closed.
tootster I watched this film on Cable TV at the Sunshine Coast when my partner and I were on holidays last week. It was in the apartments we were staying at. Overall, I love Lou Diamond Phillips and Mia Sara any-ways. Also Charles Dance, I have seen him in Alien 3 and other films..I thought the producer / director were budget smart in making the film. Only picking 3 actors and having them on the credits (only) is somewhat clever. Plus 1 house, weapons and simplistic costumes and props.I thought it was pretty good. As it had some suspenseful moments. Plus it focused on observational behaviour. Like what is coming next? What do we do next in this house! The camera and acting made it feel to the audience that "what would you do in a situation like this?" Be smart, and smarter... I thought there were some techniques used in the cameras and scenes where they were quite labouring, just to give the viewer an idea or thought of what the actors were doing next. I think with some movies I have watched in the past, are similar to some styles portrayed from veteran film-makers. At least I think they tried to.Overall 6 out of 10.Cheers
biker45 I sat through this turkey because I hadn't seen it before, and because the premise sounded like it had potential. It was mildly entertaining until the hurricane sequence. At the height of the storm, the wind is strong enough to blow windows out of the house, yet the trees in the background are perfectly upright and not a leaf is moving! In fact, when the characters move outside the house, bright sunlight is visible illuminating the treetops. At that point, whatever credence the filmmakers had developed evaporated faster than the highly localized rain in their film. Too bad all hurricanes aren't like this one, it would surely help our homeowners insurance rates here in the Sunshine State.
Alex-372 This is one strange movie, because it has two great names writing and directing it, Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark) and Eric Red (The Hitcher). It's almost as if some one said: how can we make the leanest, most effective thriller? This is a movie with literally only three actors (3), no extras and the carpenters and assistant carpenters outnumber them more than 2 to 1. As well, this movie, even though it is supposedly located somewhere in "The Carolinas", is shot on location in Latvia (maybe that's why they only flew over 3 actors). This shack could have been anywhere, though, they never needed to leave Hollywood. The major problem with this movie is that the theme has been done to death (hapless traveller drives through the country side, a car breaking down and is scooped up by the locals - where have we seen that before? Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Deliverance, Children Of The Corn...). Anyway, the actors do what they can and there are some suspenseful moments, but they're not sustained until the end of the movie. Cliches abound.