The Drownsman is a 2014 Canadian horror film and the 4th film directed by Chad Archibald who's directed nothing of note as of yet. The Drownsman stars a bunch of unknowns whose credits include most of Archibald's other films. The story follows Madison who almost drowns in a lake and has visions of this "Drownsman" and is terrified of water afterward that gets so bad that she skips her best friend's wedding even though she's the maid of honor. (In writing this I started to wonder how this girl bathed, the film shows her being terrified of rain and bathtubs not just big bodies of water so I'm kinda wondering here. She doesn't even drink water, she has like a portable IV that gives her her fluids.) From what I can gather, this "Drownsman" is like Freddy Krueger where he can only get you in his domain (Freddy in your dreams and Drownsman in water).
After Madison's friends attempt an intervention by pretty much throwing her in a tub, the Drownsman starts coming after all of the girls in classic slasher fashion. Well it's not that scary but I don't think it really tried to be and if I'm being honest, I thought twice about drinking out of my water bottle during the movie so I guess it took a small victory there.
The acting is pretty bad, the directing is overall pretty okay. The story is kinda dumb but it's a horror movie so who cares? There's a pretty solid plot twist that kicks off the third act of the movie that I very honestly did not see coming.
The biggest issue with the movie is that you don't really care about the characters and the villain isn't at all interesting. What made Freddy great was his banter and witty remarks, what made Jason great was his mask and machete, the Drownsman on the other hand doesn't talk and looks like a dude who just walked through a swamp, he doesn't have a memorable quality about him that sticks in your head after the movie is over. But there are the makings of a solid franchise here, if you get a better team to do some sequels then I wouldn't be too opposed to a Drownsman series. The Drownsman himself isn't memorable but Jason didn't wear his iconic mask until his third movie so there is still some hope to make the Drownsman a more memorable slasher (drowner). Plus I can't lie, the movie poster is pretty awesome and it's a clear homage to the original Nightmare on Elm Street poster.
Rewatchability: 1.5/5, I probably won't wanna watch it again but if a few years from now we get a good sequel then I might come back to the OG and check it out.
Rating: 2/5, a very by the numbers horror movie without much scares to show for it, as I said earlier it could end up becoming a decent franchise if put in the right hands but as of now, it's a forgettable slasher film.
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