Movie Review: Savage Water

Do you ever watch a movie and wonder why it was made or who the intended audience was? Not only that, you keep watching, no matter how bad it gets? I am sure you have, I know I have on more than one occasion. Savage Water just happens to fulfill all of those qualities. For more than 90 minutes, I sat there wondering why I was watching, hoping it would get better, and powerless to turn it off. I daresay it is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Despite how bad it is, I sit here willing to give it a pass for getting made. I mean, clearly it is low budget and made by somebody who wanted to make a movie. You have to respect that dedication even if the final result is awful.



I did a little reading on this film and have learned that it has been on a lot of horror aficionado’s must find lists due to its scarcity out in the real world. It was a local production that was shot on film and never received a home video release on any format in the US. It did receive a very limited VHS release overseas. Now, what I watched was a DVD from Vinegar Syndrome, featuring a new 2K scan from the original negatives. The DVD (a double feature with Death by Invitation) never quite made it to market, if it did it was severely limited. This means this is a pretty rare disk. Of course, I would not say this is necessarily worth going out of your way for.

The movie was directed and produced by Paul Kener, who only has a couple other low budget titles to his name. Writing duties were handled by first and only-timer Kipp Boden. I am actually surprised somebody wrote this, as it often feels like a fly on the wall of a very random tour group, or rather than a low budget movie it could be seen as a home movie with a budget. However you slice it, Savage Water only lives up to half its name. Believe me when I tell you it is not the Savage part that it delivers. Water on the other hand, it has in spades.

Just what is Savage Water? It’s a movie about a tour group hitting the rafts and heading out into the Grand Canyon. We have an eclectic group comprised of families, girls on a getaway, an annoying single guy, lots of guys in short shorts and beards, a Muslim, and a German family (“Adolf Hitler is dead and one day you will be too.”). They talk and talk and talk and get in the rafts and talk some more. They stop and make lunch and talk some more, then they get back in the rafts and, you guessed it, talk some more. Eventually some people show up dead, and they talk some more.

Theoretically, Savage Water is a slasher film, but there is very little slashing going on. I have also seen it described as a proto-giallo, I guess that is a bit more accurate, but still a stretch. This can barely be called a horror film. I guess if there is a reason to watch this, it is the goofy conversations and silly clothing they are all wearing. There is no real horror to watch.

I guess I can say I am glad to have seen this rarity, but I doubt I will ever be revisiting it. It is a movie so bad that it defies explanation. It is so incompetently made that you will be left wondering just how it managed to, not only get made, have a print still intact from which to make this DVD from. So, go ahead, dip your toes in Savage Water, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Not Recommend.