Michael Ledo The film opens in 1927 with the discovery of Pan's temple. There are instructions for a game which is the Rite of Pandemonium. They create the game, play it, hide it, and all die. In modern times 9 young adults discover the game and play it on isolated Beacon's Island, Maine. The game is similar to truth or dare, except there are illusions and ideas which play to people's worse fears causing deadly rage.The film is similar to others out there. The early effects and sets were low budget. I had to laugh at the fake opening sunrise. Once the party gets into the game, it becomes interesting, but doesn't bring it home. Perhaps because it promised us a twin foursome but then doesn't deliver.Good horror rental. Parental Guide: F-bomb, brief sex, sex talk, shower nudity (Mircea Monroe, worth the wait)

Leofwine_draca THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO'S POND has a great first half. It sees the usual group of unsuspecting youngsters - fleshed out with actual back stories and characterisation this time around - getting their mitts on a creepy old board game, a game which proceeds to bring out the very worst in these personalities. Soon, the players are turning on each other as past deeds and secrets come to life, and of course it all ends in murder.The set-up is a neat one and packed with promise. The characters are far more interesting than you'd suspect and there's plenty of humour along the way too. The cast incorporates Robert Patrick (wasted in what is little more than a cameo), the 'Babysitter Twins' from DEATH PROOF & PLANET TERROR (their acting is poor to say the least), and scream queen Danielle Harris (HALLOWEEN 4).A shame, then, that the second half is so lacklustre. All that set-up sort of melts away in favour of some very typical, completely ordinary stalk-and-slash sequences. Atmosphere disappears in favour of gory mayhem, and yet it's all very familiar and by rote. It's not that THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHO'S POND is particularly bad, because it's not; it's just that it's very ordinary, and it shouldn't be given that set-up.

RichardSRussell-1 The Black Waters of Echo's Pond (1:31, R) — Fantasy: Supernatural, bargain basement, originalI rate SF&F movies on a scale of 1 (execrable) to 9 (superlative). Not surprisingly, a year's worth of them tends to form a bell-shaped curve, with lots of movies in the middle and hardly any at the extremes. This one is among the rarities — but unfortunately not up there at the Avatar or Dark Knight end of the scale: It's one of the worst movies I've ever seen.Here are the characters: • Rick (James Duval), the generally unwelcome 9th wheel at the party • Kathy (Danielle Harris), whose brother Danny, sporting a "1.8%" blood-alcohol level, had been killed in a car crash while riding with Rick • Robert (M. D. Walton), token Hispanic, a recently promoted loan officer • Trent (Walker Howard), token black guy, a junior loan officer who got Rob his job • Veronique (Mircea Monroe), a flirtatious sex kitten with new boobs • Erica (Elise Avellan), the goody-goody twin • Anton (Arcadiy Golubovich), her curly-haired, accented husband • Renee (Electra Avellan), the more daring twin • Josh (Nick Mennell), her bland and forgettable fiancé • Pete (Robert Patrick, who also executive produced), the eccentric old guy with the shotgun who owns the island and the lodge on itThe opening 9 minutes supposedly occur in the "Meandros Valley, Turkey, April 1927", as archeologists unearth Omphalos, lost temple of Pan. Among their findings is a map to Pan's lair, Pandemonium, where "demons were entertained by the tortures of the damned". The expedition leader is warned by its financier to bring all the artifacts to him immediately. For some bizarre and unexplained reason, this entails going to Beacon's Isle, Maine. By the time the financier arrives, the archeologists have converted their goodies into a tabletop-sized board game and proceeded to kill each other; the last of them takes out the money guy, then blows his own brains out.Zip ahead to the present day, when 8 college buddies arrive on that self-same island for a weekend getaway, along with mismatched acquaintance Rick, who's evidently done different things to tick off each of the others individually. They discover the game walled up behind some boards in the basement and decide, since the electricity has just gone out, that they may as well try playing it. The 1st Chance card they get ominously suggests "speak thy hurt unspoken", and Trent uses it as an invitation to unload his resentment over Rob's success at their joint workplace.Things deteriorate from there, as old jealousies (and new), misunderstandings, resentments, etc. flare up. Periodically the red-eyed goat head of Pan puts in an appearance in a non- speaking role, for no apparent reason. Sooner or later, each of the young people undergoes a transition in which their eyes turn black, grossly overdone black mascara and lipstick starts running down their faces, and they engage in frenzied homicidal attacks on their erstwhile friends, using rocks, rakes, spear guns, shotguns, knives, cleavers, icepicks, chainsaws, and good old-fashioned thumbs-on-the-windpipe choking. Bad as the plot is, the acting is worse. The make-up is screamingly awful. The very limited effects are abysmal. None of the characters is remotely likable. Despite the prolog, there's nothing about Turkey or ancient mythology in the main storyline, and neither the black waters nor Echo's Pond puts in an appearance. This has all the hallmarks of something slapped together by a drunken committee over a bad weekend.Fun to review, tho.

Iluvhorror1990 The Black Waters of Echo's Pond is an amazing movie amazing vision, amazing acting and one of the best written films ever then I woke up and realized it was just a dream. You'd think after 3 years the filmmakers would have made at least a half way decent horror film right? Wrong!!!! This is simply one of the worst movies I have ever watched. It's not the worst ever, but its close. First of all let's get one thing straight, this is not a throwback to 80's horror films in the same vein of all the classic campy horror films made. Adam Green's Hatchet was that type of film. Hatchet was campy and fun to watch for the most part there is absolutely nothing fun, campy or cool about Black Waters .nothing. The characters are unlikeable, shallow and just poorly written. There is nothing or no one to care about in this film. Basically the game shows visions of another character doing something to screw over the person watching the vision. Then their eyes turn black and they kill that person or try to kill that person. Example: A loan office screws over his friend and then revenge with a chainsaw...Zzz Zzz. All in all they seem like they are all just thrown together for a weekend much like this film was thrown together for a release. And yes the very beautiful Avellan Twins and Arcadiy Golubovich are very hard to understand. I was laughing at some of their serious dialog. Hiring people with hard to understand accents was not a bright idea. The "babysitter Twins" were a funny idea for"Grindhouse", but seriously these two do not belong in a film where acting skills are required. If these two are considered actresses, then Arnold Schwarzenegger‎ is one of the finest thespians in the business. Let's just hope they will not "be back"!!! Some things are better seen and not heard and in small very small doses. For the most part Danielle Harris, James Duvall, and Robert Patrick do well in this film. These three actors have been in great movies over the years so they know what they are doing. But clearly they are working with nothing and it shows. The other performances are just forgettable and cliché except for the Twins and Golubovich, they were just plain laughable. You will laugh its funny ha-ha trust me. The story is blah and completely unoriginal and so are the death scenes. The rake to the head is hilarious. The dialog is nothing to write home about either. I don't know who Sean Clark is, but he needs to take a writing class. I would suggest writing 101 for starters .C'Mon dude, you can't possibly be a fan of horror with crap like this can you? "It's all a dream sequence" is so unoriginal and cheap. Did you really think this was a good idea or did the drugs finally ware off and you just said F#$@ it give me my check? This guy can't be a fan of horror films period. The same can be said for director Gabe Bologna, I just don't think he knows what he is doing. Actors reactions don't match the scenes and his close up are awkward and laughable. He doesn't understand pacing, suspense or anything remotely apart of a horror film. In fact this movie is more of a comedy then a horror film it's so bad. I can't believe they are even comparing this to Paranormal Activity. Maybe I'm spoiled with my Blu-ray player on my 50" TV and also with films like Avatar, but TBWOEP (tired of writing it out) just looks terrible. When they say throwback to the 80's, did they shoot it with an 80's VHS camcorder? I'm not a fan of the recent Friday the 13th remake, but at least it looked good. This is a theatrical release, for Christ sakes act like it Overall this film feels like a Cinemax movie. I would have easily rented this on Netflix and had no hard feelings. $13.95 a month is worth it even for bad films like this. But make no mistake about it The Black Waters of Echo's Pond has no business being in theaters. It gives horror films a bad name. My only hope is that this film fades away without too much fuss so "real" horror movies or should I say good independent horror movies can get a theatrical release. By the way what the hell does "Echo" have to do with the movie?