Australian writer/director Jennifer Van Gessel’s horror feature Water Horse is a found-footage horror-thriller. The mysteries begin when several people inexplicably vanish after wading into a lake, but their bodies are not recovered. Dianne (Lauren Grimson), a paranormal investigator, along with an almost-famous actor named Osmond (Dean Kyrwood), set out to document an investigation into the disappearances. Dianne is also looking for a connection to her mother’s disappearance in the same lake years earlier.
When the body of the original missing subject, Jenny (Victoria Ferrara), turns up, they are shocked when told she was found in a different lake in Tasmania, about a 12-hour drive and ferry ride away. Examination of the body indicates that she was submerged in water until authorities found her. One young girl, Clara (Jemma Elise) survives an attack in the water, and in an interview she reveals that she was being pulled down, but managed to wriggle free. She had a strong sense that she wasn’t meant to escape a watery death. Dianne has a meltdown during the interview, demanding to know more details about what Clara saw under the water.
Later, Clara also goes missing, deepening the enigma. The film really starts to cook around the halfway point when the investigators encounter inexplicable occurrences, including the appearance of a frantic, incoherent doppelgänger of Osmond. There are a fair number of dimly lit jump scares as the action ratchets up. They suspect that, however unlikely, a preternatural force is using water as a portal to move from place to place, and even into other dimensions. Dianne is driven by the notion that she can reach her mother in either this plane of existence or another. In a later interview, Dianne’s videographer, Regina Clark (Tia Naris), testifies on camera that she recorded Dianne and Osmond walking into the lake together. Again, their bodies are never found.
“Dianne, a paranormal investigator, along with an almost-famous actor named Osmond, set out to document an investigation into the disappearances.”
The logical leaps the story of Water Horse takes hit like improv, favoring “yes, and…” over “that makes no sense.” This script doesn’t depend on reason, but rather on the emotions of the moment. Gaps in logic are eclipsed by the dynamic, authentic performances from Grimson and Kyrwood. We are accustomed to hearing about deadly flora and fauna in Australia, but the film explores the possibility of Lovecraftian dimensions in Oz that contain heretofore unseen horrors.
Van Gessel’s combinations of fixed-camera, handheld, and selfie shots set up the cinematography to tell a visual story in the same vein as the OG, The Blair Witch Project. That said, however, the documentary conceit has continuity problems. The audience won’t be sure when the shot is supposed to be vérité style, in situ, or planned and scripted. It’s also not always clear who is behind the camera. This may be intentional, and certainly contributes to the overall sense of unease. Especially creepy are the night-vision selfie recordings. The pace of the film stays deliberate, allowing time for the tension to build. Sinister synth chords layer on top of the grim action depicted as Dianne and Osmond search for clues.
The finale is frightening and confusing at the same time. Water Horse is another fine, but alas, all-too-rare example of filmmakers creating art that significantly transcends their budget. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
"…greater than the sum of its parts."
