The Pool, written and directed by Ping Lumpraploeng, starts off with an interesting concept, but falls short of real thrills and suspense in favor of “Oh, come on!” and “Really?” moments. The story is simple with subpar effects and a ridiculous plot that never really lives up to anything much more than a cheese fest. The movie is subtitled, which for some may detract from the overall feel of the movie. So let's get to the meat of the movie.
The story is that Day (Theeradej Wongpuapan) is helping on a photo shoot at what appears to be an abandoned or closed Olympic sized swimming pool. He is the animal expert with his giant sheep dog that is there for a specific shot and also helps with various tasks. We also find out that he is diabetic and takes insulin. The shoot ends and he’s on a float napping in the pool and his dog is chained to the diving board. As everyone leaves, someone turns on the drains for the pool. Time goes on and he wakes up to find the water level has gone down enough that he can’t get out. This is what leads to the movie's plot. A series of unfortunate events in a giant swimming pool. At this point he realizes he is stuck and tries to block the drain.
Of course, with any suspense thriller, you know this isn’t really going to work. Nothing is really a surprise in this movie and every opportunity that arises for a rescue, ends in the previously mentioned “Really?” moment. To make matters worse in the movie, his fiancé, Koi (Ratnamon Ratchiratham), gets stuck in the pool with him after attempting to dive in from the high board and hitting her head before splashing in. Day saves her and the pool finishes draining. At this point the crocodile makes its appearance. It gets itself stuck in the pool after sliding in attempting to get to the dog. At this point it starts to get silly with many failed attempts to get out all while every possible rescue fails in some ridiculous manner.
Overall if you want a good laugh and exercise in eye-rolling, The Pool may be for you. Being well versed in Asian horror, this was nowhere near the top of my list. It doesn’t compare to anything like The Host or any more popular and overall better Asian horror and suspense flicks. The crocodile looked almost like something out of a well budgeted Saturday morning CGI cartoon. The plot was predictable and ridiculous. The ending, well I am not getting into that. That was not cool man! It turns out to be a train wreck in that you just can’t stop watching to see how much worse it could possibly get. In the end, I can’t really recommend it as a must view movie. Maybe a one time “how much more ridiculous can this story be” viewing at the very best.
RORSCHACH RATING:
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Victims and Villains is written Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey (and produced by), Caless Davis, Dan Rockwood, & Brandon Miller. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. This post was edited by Cam Smith. The Pool is property of Shudder. We do not own nor claim any rights. The Pool is now streaming exclusively on Shudder.
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