Heaven's Pond - Prigioniera di un incubo

Handsome and muscular Kip Pardue (as Mitchell "Mitch" Whalen) takes sexy blonde bride Tara Reid (as Julianne) to honeymoon in a little love shack on a small Montana island surrounded by water. From the bruised and bloody opening, we know this is going to be a bad trip. After a few days of good sex, Ms. Reid finds out she's very likely trapped on the island. Reid is also nervous and afraid around water. She never learned how to swim. Her cell phone doesn't work, either. He looks great wearing only his jeans, but Mr. Pardue shows psycho possibilities. Making matters worse, Pardue is close to running out of cigarettes...

There isn't much of a story here, so director Joel Viertel deserves credit for sustaining some interest as scenes progress. The co-stars are about all you'll see; they are good looking and beautifully photographed, by Matthew Jensen. Pardue and Mr. Viertel keep the male lead from overreaching, which does make his character and the situation more convincing. Pretty in pink lipstick, Reid looks mildly disgusted when she first sees the honeymoon shack and maintains that emotion; she keeps her shirt on, also. While the repair efforts are appreciated, Pardue's see-through love shack does not look like it would stay dry inside.

****** Devil's Pond (5/16/03) Joel Viertel ~ Kip Pardue, Tara Reid, Meredith Baxter, Dan Gunther

The name of this flick is so misleading. There's nothing devilish, evil or occult about Devil's Pond, which is why I was disappointed to discover that this was another dime a dozen "escape!" thriller film after picking it up at random. But hell, it's nothing too bad at all, which surprised me. This flick has some balls I did not expect it to have at all. However, the viewers of this movie seem to be divided into two factions: those who claim it's quite good, and those who say it sucks donkey testicles. I'll have to say that most of you are wrong, as this is not a great movie, nor is it poor - it's just another average thriller.

This is pretty much adequate in all areas, and the plot isn't the best, but it's better than other movies of its ilk by far (The Keeper, blah). The acting is pretty well done, and the script isn't lacking much. The way the plot plays out could've been better, as its execution is not the best, but it works, and it did keep me watching for a solid hour and a half. There are a few obvious plot holes, but they don't detract from the film enough to make it unwatchable. There's nothing here that will bug you too much, so if you're bored, pop it in. That's about all it's good for, but I've certainly seen worse.

Devil's Pond (2004)

I was very surprised when I read all of the terrible remarks on this film. I thought this movie was great. I saw comments remarking that the film must have had a cheap budget because there was a small cast, but that's because the story was about two people all alone in the woods on an island. Who else would be there? I mean come on! Tara Reid gives a great performance. This film is about Julianne (Tara Reid) and her husband Mitch (Kip Pardue). The two are newlyweds and are on their honeymoon on a small island in a cabin. Mitch begins to go insane, and sinks their boat. Since Julianne can't swim, she cannot get off the small island, and as Mitch becomes more and more insane, she realizes that she may not make it off the island ever- and if she does, only one of them are going to be alive.

This film reminded me of Misery, and it was very suspenseful and entertaining. 10/10.

A young couple gets married, and goes to honeymoon trip to the woods. Or a small cabin on a lake, whatever - in the middle of nowhere. The new husband turns out to have serious issues with social life, communication and his visions of life are just twisted. Julianne's honeymoon will turn into a true nightmare. She will find herself marooned and chained, the only way out is by swimming after wiping off the obstacles, Mitch being the biggest one.

The plot carries on nicely, it's not boring at all, just full of 'goofs', but if that doesn't matter, it's okay entertainment for evening. The biggest goof being how could she not know his boyfriend is a boy fiend indeed? They dated over one year before getting married, and this honeymoon brings out the true husband? The scary thing is, there actually exist people like this, both female and male..

Mitch's behavior is exactly like one from Criminal Minds. In my mind I created a small profile about him, heh.

I had a difficult time trying to decide whether to watch or not the movie. I mean, it stared Tara Reid! Soon after the plot develops, I found myself paying attention to the events but only because of Tara Reid's intention to act decently. Let's face it, she's not a good actress but at least in this movie she tries to to do it fine. Kudos for her; she tried it at least.

After convincing myself that she did a nice effort, the movie delivered a fine surprise for me when it became a thriller about a psychopath husband trying to convince his new hot bride that he really loves her although he stalked her before and well, more twisted situations.

True, the acting is not that good (Kip Pardue delivers a fine performance though) and you need proved, talented actors to carry on 90 minutes of an intense dialog; I mean, there are only two characters in the whole movie.

The settings are really good and somber, plus the situations ask for a sad atmosphere. Well done for the cinematography and art direction.

Overall this is a movie to just watch once and when it airs on cable. It's not a keeper or memorable, but it still deserves a slight chance.