What the Waters Left Behind

Director(s) - Luciano Onetti (Deep Sleep, Francesca) and Nicolas Onetti (The 100 Candles Games, Abrakadabra)
Starring - Agustin Pardella (Bromance, Un Amor), Damian Dreizik (Don't Cry for Me England, Family Law), and Victoria Maurette (Dying God, Kung Fu Joe)
Release Date - 2017
Genre - Horror
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The Onetti Brothers are a filmmaking pair that I've followed for some time.  Several years back Luciano directed the giallo inspired Deep Sleep and Francesca.  Both were phenomenal films that I reviewed and loved.  I've been covering Luciano and Nicolas' film What the Waters Left Behind for several years and when Unearthed Films announced that they would be releasing it I had to jump on it.  I reached out to Unearth and MVD and they were kind enough to send a review copy of the film this way.  Thanks guys!

     Th film follows a group of youths traveling out in the middle of nowhere where a great flood wiped out almost everything and those that survived had fled.  The group are attempting to make a documentary about the incident but soon find themselves stranded miles away from help.  Soon they find themselves being hunted by the remaining locals who are looking for fresh meat.

      

     Luciano has proved that he can master the giallo but has proven with What the Waters Left Behind that he is not a one trick pony.  What the Waters Left Behind is a glorious send off to classic meat house killers like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes but for a new generation.  Granted, it did have it's hang ups but it still satisfied.  The acting in this one is solid.  The cast does the best with what they had written before them but the characters are painfully cliched and dull.  Honestly, they were written to be slaughtered and no personalities were assigned to them.  The cast did their best but at the end of the day they are just lambs to slaughter.  With that being said, the killers have great personality but the film doesn't explore that as much as it does the main cast that almost blends into the background.  The story for this one rolls like so many backwood cannibal flicks like TCM, Hills Have Eyes, and so on.  We follow a group of youths who are hunted down, toyed with and tortured, and then butchered for their meat.  Honestly, it works because it doesn't ride TCM's dick like so many films like it.  It establishes it's own set of characters and situation while playing on the history of the area the film is set in.  I really liked it and, though it is similar to the previously mentioned films, it stands it's own ground.  Finally, this is a bloody one.  We get plenty of on screen kills that utilize some great practical effects.  The kills are not that original but they fit the film and look absolutely incredible.  Overall, What the Waters Left Behind does offer up some red stuff and plenty of people you want to see die.  The acting is solid but the characters are painfully dull.  It's nothing extreme or ridiculous but its a fun watch especially if you want a body count.  Check it out on blu now from Unearthed Films.