| The Black Waters of Echo's Pond | |
| Director: | Gabriel Bologna |
| Producer: | Raymond J. Markovich Jason Loughbridge |
| Starring: | Robert Patrick Danielle Harris James Duval Nick Mennell Mircea Monroe |
| Music: | Harry Manfredini |
| Cinematography: | Massimo Zeri, AIC |
| Editing: | Andrew Cohen Michael Spencer |
| Studio: | Parallel Media Project 8 Films |
| Distributor: | Parallel Media |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $5 million |
| Gross: | $4,224,409 |
The Black Waters of Echo's Pond is a 2009 fantasy horror film directed by Italo-American film maker Gabriel Bologna.[1] It stars Robert Patrick, Danielle Harris, and James Duval.[2]
A groups of friends vacation in a plush mansion, where they find a mysterious board game which draws out the nastiest qualities in all of its players.
The film was shot in California (USA), at the HIP Studios (West Hollywood), Malibou Lake (Agoura Hills), Topanga Canyon and finally in Turkey.[3] On 20 March 2010, Parallel Media released the official six-minute theatrical TV advertisement.[4] The film is based on a screenplay by Sean Clark (the author of Bloody Disgusting), Michael Berenson and the director himself.[5] In the lead roles, director Gabriel Bologna cast Robert Patrick, Danielle Harris, James Duval,[6] Nick Mennell, Electra and Elise Avellan.[7]
It was premiered on October 11, 2009, as part of the Freak Show Horror Film Festival at the yearly Spooky Empire horror convention.[8] and the limited theatrical release was on April 9, 2010.[9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on, with a weighted average rating of 3.5/10.[10] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[11]
Marc Savlov from the Austin Chronicle awarded the film three out of a possible five stars, writing, "Far better (and, freakishly, more subtle) at recalling the tone and spirit of Eighties teen moviegoing than the faux-dopey slapstick of Hot Tub Time Machine, Bologna's homage to exsanguinations past is a bloody good updating of past arterial spurters."[12] Dennis Harvey from Variety gave the film a negative review, writing, "Silly, scareless The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond finds yet another group of disposable youths unleashing yet another ancient evil something or other, to their inevitable detriment. Though this generic horror meller would be most at home debuting on Syfy — perhaps double-billed with Pinata: Survival Island".[13]
The score was composed by the Italo-American jazz-soloist and film composer Harry Manfredini.[14]