Cringe: ⭐⭐
Enjoyment: ⭐⭐⭐
To celebrate their graduation, the teenagers from Valley Hills High School have organized an ’80s-themed party at the old Wet Valley water park. Things turn gruesome when it’s revealed that a mysterious maniac has inserted giant razor blades into one of the water slides. The water park thus becomes the backdrop for a bloodbath and everyone is a suspect…
Introduction#
Aquaslash is a 2019 horror film directed by Renaud Gautheir. It features Nicolas Fonatine, Brittany Drisdelle, Maedelline Harvey and others as supposed high school students. It’s a pretty short film, at 71 minutes, including credits.
You don’t even need to read the synopsis to know what Aquaslash is all about, it’s right there in the name. But as the for the specifics: A high school graduating class has rented out a water-slide park for their graduation party. As you might expect, they come well equipped to party and otherwise enjoy the park. Of course, things don’t go as planned, there is slasher about and everyone must fight to survive! Hardly an original concept, but a well executed slasher can be fun, so let’s jump in.
Plot#
Aquaslash opens with a bunch of students arriving at the park, whether via tour bus or their own vehicles. Given this is a teen slasher flick, we’re introduced to all the different cliques. You have your jocks, nerds, preps, etc., as well as several single ladies for all the guys to fight over. Most of the film’s runtime is spent on this and related drama.
Unlike most films of this nature, Aquaslash’s storytelling is well above average. The characters, even if some of them are annoying, are all given motivation for their actions. There’s good buildup to climax, with plenty of foreshadowing and creepy hints that something is wrong. On that note, this school trip is severely lacking in parental supervision. The only chaperones are a married couple and the middle-aged handyman who looks after the park.
Honestly, there’s not much more of the film worth talking about. Several of the characters have little story arcs, there is the looming mystery of who will the slasher be, and some folks get chopped up. Aquaslash does exactly what it says on the tin, and for that I respect it. There’s even a party scene where the band does an alright cover of the hit song, Sunglasses at Night.
Review#
Aquaslash is a fun, engaging slasher film that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. It has all the tropes you might expect based on the premise, but manages a well above average execution of everything. The characters are mostly all distinct, instead of blending into this homogenous group of victims, as sometimes happens. It also doesn’t rely too heavily on special effects, which is a nice change from so many modern films. Similarly, the cinematography and editing are on point, not trying to do anything ground-breaking.
The only real criticism I have for Aquaslash is that the action/horror conclusion is a bit short. It’s effective, due to the tension buildup throughout the film, but it’s over way too fast. Perhaps this was done due to budgetary restraints? Or it might have been deliberate choice by the film-makers to make a very concise film.
Cringe 2/5: The only really cringey element is some of the jock characters. They’re very intentionally stereotypical, but I think the writers took it a bit too far in places. Everything else worked for me.
Enjoyment 3/5: While nothing original, the film as a whole is an enjoyable watch, and I liked it much more than most other teen slasher films. It is, however, lacking in anything really original or weird, which have pumped up the enjoyment factor for me.
Recommended Audience: Fans of teen slashers and b-movies.