The Black Waters of Echo's Pond

Party animal Rick (James Duval), wild child Veronique (Mircea Monroe), uptight Robert (M.D. Walton) and six other friends vacation in a plush mansion, where they find a mysterious board game. But the game proves dangerous when it draws out the nastiest qualities in all of its players. As buried fears, resentments, greed, and attractions quickly and unsettlingly emerge, the game's goal becomes crystal clear: stay alive.[3]

The film was shot in the United States in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Malibou Lake, Agoura, Topanga Canyon, California and finally in Turkey.[4] On 20 March 2010, Parallel Media released the official six-minute theatrical TV advertisement.[5] The film is based on a screenplay by Sean Clark (the author of Bloody Disgusting), Michael Berenson and the director himself.[6] In the lead roles, Bologna cast Robert Patrick, Danielle Harris, James Duval,[7] Nick Mennell, Electra and Elise Avellan.[8]

It was premiered on October 11, 2009, as part of the Freak Show Horror Film Festival at the yearly Spooky Empire horror convention.[9] and the limited theatrical release was on April 9, 2010.[10]

The film's DVD release was long-delayed, with some thinking it would never happen. In January 2011, the filmmakers announced that they were actively seeking a distribution deal and promised that a DVD would be released. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 10, 2013, four years after its original theatrical run.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on 18 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 3.5/10.[11] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[12]

Marc Savlov from the Austin Chronicle awarded the film three out of a possible five stars, writing, "Far better (and, freakishly, more subtle) at recalling the tone and spirit of Eighties teen moviegoing than the faux-dopey slapstick of Hot Tub Time Machine, Bologna's homage to exsanguinations past is a bloody good updating of past arterial spurters."[13] Dennis Harvey from Variety gave the film a negative review, writing, "Silly, scareless The Black Waters of Echo’s Pond finds yet another group of disposable youths unleashing yet another ancient evil something or other, to their inevitable detriment. Though this generic horror meller would be most at home debuting on Syfy — perhaps double-billed with Pinata: Survival Island".[14]

The score was composed by the Italo-American jazz-soloist and film composer Harry Manfredini.[15]

• Official website
• The Black Waters of Echo's Pond at IMDb
• The Black Waters of Echo's Pond at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Black Waters of Echo's Pond at Box Office Mojo