Blenders, lawnmowers, kitchen knives. These are common household items you expect to see featured in a horror film. You don’t expect to see the serene things. You don’t expect to see things known for their beauty. You don’t expect to see a killer pool.
But a killer pool is exactly what’s at the centre of Night Swim, a new horror film from producers Jason Blum and James Wan. Written and directed by Bryce McGuire, based on his own short film with Rod Blackhurst, Night Swim follows a family (including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Wyatt Russell and Banshees of Inisherin star Kerry Condon) who buy a new house that happens to have a pool. From there, this first trailer will explain.
Honestly, while the idea of a killer pool seems kind of silly when you put it that way, it’s also a very simple, understandable, and relatable twist on the haunted house genre. Think Poltergeist, Amityville Horror—we’re very used to seeing homes be haunted. Why not that huge hole in the backyard filled with water that will kill you if you stay in it too long? Makes a lot of sense.
Having not seen the short film, I’m unaware if there’s a revelation about what specifically is haunting the pool but I hope it’s also something unique. Maybe the pool itself is evil for some reason. Maybe the vacuum was possessed. I just hope it’s not what you are expecting and it’s a Jason Voorhees thing: some person died in the pool under terrible conditions and now their spirit lives there, killing people. That would take a fun, unique idea and sprinkle a little too much cliché on it. Which is, of course, assuming this pool has killed people before. If it has, the family has a lawsuit on their hands with the realtor. If the family is the first to be killed though, that’s a different story.
We’ll find out in a few short months as Night Swim kicks off the 2024 movie season on January 5.
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