Adrift (2006) Dir: Hans Horn

The sequel to 2003's Open Water - well, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifkind of - could the makers possibly repeat the sheer levels of intensity of the original?
Absolutely not.
The plot:
Three couples go for a sailing weekend on board a luxury yacht. One of their number suffers from hydrophobia, due to an unfortunate 'Daddy dying' incident when she were just a bairn and, in a moment of spectacular thick prickishness, the apparent owner of the yacht grabs hold of her and, together, they plunge into the water and, if that wasn't bad enough, everyone else is swimming too, and no-one bothered to deploy the ladder.
Stranded, the 6 must figure out a way to get back aboard the vessel, else face certain death.
With a variety of characters, the inevitable in-fighting and squabbling simply add to their problems and, one by one, the ocean claims them.
Will any of them survive the ordeal?
As a set-up, it's pretty robust.
We get to meet the characters for fifteen minutes or so and, with the exception of the poor wretch who saw her father drown, each is so insufferable you look forward to the coming of their suffering.
Once in the water, it actually gets a little frustrating as they seem to make stupid decision after stupid decision, and don't truly explore all of the alternatives for getting back aboard.
Going for tense and nerve-jangling, instead everything just feels a bit soggy and water-logged and, as a sequel, it compares most unfavourably with the excellent original.
Very average indeed.

3 out of 5

Frantic (1988) Dir: Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski's abduction thriller is more a study in quiet desperation than the title might suggest.
The plot: A wealthy American doctor (Harrison Ford) and his wife are on a busman's holiday in Paris. Getting ready for the day ahead, Dr. Walker is taking a shower when the telephone rings. His wife answers, speaks briefly, then tries to communicate something but, with water spraying loudly, he is unable to hear what she said. Dr. Walker finishes his shower and emerges to discover his wife gone, vanished, with little clue as to her whereabouts.
So begins a desperate search that will see him encountering murder, drug-taking, betrayal and international terrorism.
Polished and precise, Ford is perfectly cast as the emotionally devastated Dr. Walker - a role he would go on to effectively re-enact a few years later in The Fugitive - and is very convincing, displaying just the right balance of anger, frustration and raw fear.
If there is a criticism to be found anywhere - and you have to look hard - it is perhaps that the villains are a little caricatured, a touch too pantomime.
That aside, this is a rock solid, quality Euro-thriller.