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Belgian action star  Jean-Claude Van Damme returns in "Black Water," a mediocre submarine thriller that only really comes to life when co-star Dolph Lundgren gets to one-up the Muscles from Brussels. Van Damme and Lundgren have worked together five times now since 1992, when the two '80s icons traded blows and bullets in the first " Universal Soldier " film. Not much has changed in 26 years since Lundgren, playing a berserk cyborg antagonist, stole that earlier film, too. 

Lundgren stands out in both films because he doesn't have to carry either project. He grins like a cat who figured out how to get a lifetime supply of canaries while Van Damme grimaces as he struggles to carry a blase, paint-by-numbers siege narrative about (deep breath) a rogue CIA agent who must fight both the CIA  and  evil mercenaries for the security of digital files that contain the names and personal info of the CIA's active undercover agents. Unfortunately, Van Damme barrels his way through another uninspired programmer, leaving Lundgren with the impossible task of breathing life into an already burst balloon.

Lundgren plays Marco, a mysterious German spy that Wheeler bumps into after he wakes up in a blacksite prison...on a submarine. Marco is cool and resigned to his fate while Wheeler is groggy and pissed-off. Marco also never directly answers Wheeler's questions, but rather sighs about the seeming hopelessness of their shared predicament. So it's up to Van Damme to set up the plot through an extended flashback: he was attacked by a group of bad dudes who cornered him and his partner Melissa (Courtney B. Turk) at a seedy motel. Soon after that, Wheeler was captured by the CIA—led by Agent Patrick Ferris ( Patrick Kilpatrick )—in an industrial car park. The baddies from the hotel are supposed to be really bad dudes because they shoot Melissa twice (and in slow-motion) while Van Damme protests with an unintentionally hilarious groan. Soon after this inciting incident, Wheeler defies Ferris's group, who threaten Wheeler with torture—including eyeball-related trauma—if he doesn't tell them where they can find the files he's hiding. There's some confusion about Wheeler's real allegiances—did he go rogue, or is he actually still loyal to his country—but that question is cleared up sooner rather than later since screenwriter Chad Law doesn't seem to care about this tired, but heavily foregrounded complication.

Law's scenario often focuses on keeping track of the various factions housed in the never-named blacksite submarine prison. There's Wheeler and aspiring/good CIA agent Cassie ( Jasmine Waltz ), who form a team, and struggle to escape together. And there's the suspicious security crew led by Kingsley ( Aleksander Vayshelboym ), and the rogue agent whose identity I won't spoil (though really, it's not that hard to guess). There's Ferris and his guys. And don't forget generic good guy Captain Dorsey ( John Posey ) and his hapless crew, all of whom just seem to want to keep their sub from blowing up. Oh, and Marco's there, too.

It's weirdly fitting that Lundgren, the most physically imposing actor in "Black Water," can't be found for much of the film's drawn-out 105-minute runtime. You might says he's the proverbial elephant in the underwater submersible, but he's not really since Marco gets to outsmart and out-maneuver several villains. Lundgren does a fine job with the sliver of a role that he's got, though that's not really saying much.

The most significant problem with "Black Water" is that nobody, not even the good CIA agents (some of whom are proven to be bad before the film hits its midway point), talk about their super-secret, under-water CIA prison setting. In this aqua-jail, torture and undocumented interrogations are standard operating procedure. Nobody balks at that galling reality. Instead, "Black Water" concerns the capture and inevitable release of Wheeler, a good guy who is accused of bad things, but that we all trust implicitly because, uh, his lady partner was executed in front of him? This kind of "avenge the dead girl" stock plot doesn't make sense when transplanted to a modern setting, one where US officials can threaten to stab a guy in the eyeball and walk away looking comparatively innocent. If you're going to exploit something as grisly as  government-sanctioned torture, then you'd better follow through. The makers of "Black Water" never do. 

And what of Van Damme? As Wheeler, he spends much of his time going pew-pew with automatic rifles and/or scowling at instantly forgettable baddies. Forget Lundgren: even the twice-billed star of " Double Impact " deserves better than "Black Water."

Simon Abrams

Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in  The New York Times ,  Vanity Fair ,  The Village Voice,  and elsewhere.

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Film credits.

Black Water (2018)

Rated R for violence and language.

105 minutes

Jean-Claude Van Damme as Wheeler

Dolph Lundgren as Marco

Patrick Kilpatrick as Ferris

John Posey as Captain Darrows

Jasmine Waltz as Cassie Taylor

• Pasha Patriki

Writer (story by)

• Tyler W. Konney
• Richard Switzer

Cinematographer

• Spencer Creaghan

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Film Review: ‘Black Water’

The rough stuff is unevenly apportioned in the latest Jean-Claude Van Damme-Dolph Lundgren teaming.

By Joe Leydon

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The billing is more than a little misleading. “Universal Soldier” cohorts Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren may be listed in the credits (and promoted in the advertising art) as co-stars of “Black Water,” but it’s up to Van Damme to do most of the damage in this routine VOD-centric action thriller set aboard a submarine employed as a CIA black site. Throughout most of the movie’s perceptibly padded running time, Lundgren’s character is incarcerated in a dank prison cell on the sub — next door to the one in which Van Damme’s character fleetingly cools his heels — where we periodically see him reading, exercising, meditating, and generally looking very Zen. To call this a cameo role would be overly generous. Truth to tell, Lundgren enjoys a greater percentage of screen time, and engages in slightly more rough stuff, in the punchy music video for Imagine Dragons’ “Believer.”

Van Damme dutifully handles the lion’s share of lifting as Scott Wheeler, a CIA op whose deep-cover mission to expose a rogue agent takes a turn for the worse during a shootout at a Mobile, Ala., motel. The bad guys subtract Wheeler’s lovely partner and playmate (Courtney B. Turk) from the equation and seize a flash drive containing info about … about … well, never mind, it doesn’t matter — the dingus is just a MacGuffin anyway. All you need to know is, in order to access this particular dingus, you need a unique dongle.

Wheeler survives the shootout with the dongle in his possession. But since he has good reason to suspect he’s been betrayed by a traitor in the ranks of U.S. intelligence, he’s understandably reluctant to reveal where he ditched the dongle after he’s forcibly detained by a team of CIA and FBI agents and heavily armed freelancers.

All of which leads to Wheeler’s being carted off to the recommissioned submarine that one character aptly likens to Gitmo. While a skeleton crew of Navy personnel operates the vessel in a sealed-off area, the spooks set about the task of interrogating and torturing our hero. (Well, at least he seems to be the hero of the piece.) Right from the start, however, it’s clear that Wheeler is too tough to crack, and too shrewd to remain restrained. Rhodes (Al Sapienza), Wheeler’s CIA mentor, gives his associates fair warning: “He so much as gets his hands on a strand of floss, and he’ll find his way out of here.”

As it turns out, shooting, not flossing, is what allows Wheeler to make his escape, as his captors turn against one another while acting out one of scripter Chad Law’s predictable plot twists.

Like many small-budget B movies intended mainly for small-screen consumption, “Black Water” consists primarily of people running, shooting, hiding, and colliding at various points along dimly lit corridors. (Or, in this case, passageways.) Cinematographer Pasha Patriki , here making his directorial debut, proved capable of handling comparable mayhem in close quarters while shooting “Gridlocked,” a better-than-average 2015 quickie set mostly in a secluded police outpost. He evidences similar proficiency here, although he must periodically rely on stock footage of submarines to convince the audience that, no, what they’re seeing isn’t happening in a deserted warehouse somewhere.

Van Damme, appearing appropriately weather-beaten, gamely goes through the motions while picking up an easy paycheck, while Jasmine Waltz struggles, with only sporadic success, not to generate derisive laughter from the audience as a rookie CIA agent who becomes Wheeler’s reluctant ally. Eventually, the mismatched pair need a third player on their team, so they spring Marco (Lundgren) and hand him a gun or two. Not surprisingly, Lundgren is refreshed and well rested by the time his character joins the fray. Unfortunately, he doesn’t stick around long enough to work up a sweat.

Reviewed online, Houston, June 26, 2018. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 104 MIN.

• Production: A Saban Films release and presentation in association with Taylor & Dodge of a Dawn’s Light production in association with Rodin Entertainment. Producers: Jason Cherubini, Alexander Ferguson, Richard Switzer, Tyler W. Konney. Executive producers: William V. Bromiley, Ness Saban, Shanan Becker, Luke Taylor, Matthew Helderman, Patrick DePeters, Joe Listhaus, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Viviana Zarragoitia, Eric Fischer.
• Crew: Director: Pasha Patriki. Screenplay: Chad Law. Camera (color): Pasha Patriki. Editor: Michael Lane. Music: Spencer Creaghan.
• With: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Al Sapienza, Courtney B. Turk, Jasmine Waltz, Aleksander Vayshelboym, Patrick Kilpatrick.

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The Tragic True Story Behind Black Water, Explained

It may come as a surprise that the Australian horror flick Black Water is actually based on a true and terrifying crocodile attack from 2003.

• Black Water, a 2007 Australian horror film, was inspired by a crocodile attack in real life.
• Black Water fictionalizes the encounter, making the crocodile more anthropomorphic and malicious.
• Black Water won multiple awards, and the film's sequel added a natural disaster to the plot.

Horror movies have the power to evoke strong feelings of anxiety and fear from their viewers. Whether from a sudden jolt of a jump scare or even just the appearance of the killer, the sheer terror that arises from this genre can be quite effective, even when knowing that it is all just a work of fiction. However, if a movie also boasts the "based on a true story" disclaimer right at the very beginning, the gravity of the horror that is about to unfold hits just a little differently, and it even begs the question of how much of the movie was inspired by actual events .

Black Water is an Australian horror film from 2007 that, at first glance, seems like another low-budget effort to capitalize off of other crocodile creature features like Lake Placid . So when this movie's opening warns audiences that "This film is based on true events," the warning may seem generic to some people, given that crocodiles and other predatory animals that have starred as the monsters of horror films are just as prone to attacking humans in real life. Despite being a work of fiction, Black Water is purposeful with its foreboding message, as its story was inspired by a real-life tragic event that happened four years earlier.

Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on December 25, 2023: Interest in horror movies has risen in the past two years, with the genre becoming perhaps the premiere type of film at the box office. This popularity has included both mainstream slasher franchises and one-shot hits, as well as older horror and thriller entries that have stood the test of time. One of the latter is Black Water, a terrifying crocodile movie that was based on real-life events, Visceral and grisly, this creature feature still drags viewers down into the murky depths for a truly scary story.

Black Water Is Based on a True Crocodile Encounter

Jaws' biggest changes from book to movie.

As reported by Daily Mail , in December 2003 (four years before the release of Black Water ), Shaun Blowers, Ashley McGough and Brett Mann took their quad bikes (similar to ATVs or four-wheelers) out for a ride through the swampy bushland near the Finniss River, a river south of the city of Darwin in Australia. Stopping by the river to cool off, the tide began to rise, and the three teenagers were attacked by a crocodile. In an attempt to escape from the creature, Mann's shoulder was unfortunately grabbed by the crocodile's mouth, causing him to be dragged underwater by the large reptile. Blowers and McGough were able to climb up into a tree before the crocodile returned.

After 22 hours of being up in a tree, a rescue helicopter was able to find and save the two young men from the crocodile in the river below. A search for the missing teens had been in progress since their disappearance from Sunday evening into late Monday when they did not return home that night. While Blowers and McGough were taken to the hospital to recover from the traumatic incident, Mann's body was sadly never found. These horrifying events were used to inspire the later Black Water movie.

How Black Water Dramatized True Events

Betty white’s best role is lake placid’s foul-mouthed crocodile queen.

While the plot of Black Water does have a brutal crocodile attack and the survivors holding up in a tree as they wait for any sort of rescue, the similarities between the movie and the devastating real-life story end there. Instead of three friends quad biking near the river, Black Water 's main cast involves husband Adam, his wife Grace, his sister Lee and tour guide Jim, who is the first victim of the crocodile, going on a boat tour to do some fishing. Quickly into the movie's runtime, the crocodile attacks their boat, which claims the first victim and prompts the family to climb up the tree and eventually attempt to get the boat back into working order. By the end of the movie, Lee is the only survivor as Adam and Grace both die from crocodile-related injuries; Lee confronts the animal by shooting and killing the river monster with a revolver before wading down the water, leaving her fate unknown as the credits roll.

In the real-life tragedy, while the crocodile did continue to stalk Blowers and McGough, Black Water took a more anthropomorphic approach with the movie's monstrous reptile. As is the case with the antagonistic animals of the creature feature genre , this crocodile exhibits a far more aggressive attitude than its real-life counterpart may, going so far as to actually tip the tour guide boat over without any sort of provocation. While crocodiles are definitely dangerous and are known to attack both humans and other animals, especially in Australia, the relentless nature of the beast in the Black Water movie may have been slightly exaggerated for the horror aspect of the film. Regardless, these attacks still occur in real life and are sometimes fatal, like in the tragic case that made Black Water based on a true story. In the case of a crocodile encounter, though, one fact does remain the same in both the real-life story and the movie -- be sure to get out of the water as quickly as possible.

5 Best Australian Police Procedurals, Ranked

Black Water went on to receive surprisingly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike. The most notable part of this praise (beyond how successful the movie was at creating tension) was the lack of extensive CGI and the preference for practical special effect in the film. This is particularly commendable given that it was a low-budget Australian survival production , with the Black Water movie reportedly made for about $700,000 USD. Much of the movie's footage of crocodiles was shot in Darwin, Australia, with real saltwater crocodiles.

This afforded it a sense of authenticity, which helped the Black Water movie score over $1 million USD at the box office. Conversely, the movie also saw success when it came time for the movie awards season . Black Water won multiple movie awards in the Australian ranking system, and it was nominated for even more. The unexpected success of the crocodile horror film allowed it to become a modern classic, not to mention finally get a sequel made several years later.

Did Black Water Have a Sequel?

10 horror sequels that ruined their franchise.

Announced in 2018, a sequel to the Black Water movie was finally released in 2020. Titled Black Water: Abyss , it was also directed by Andrew Traucki. The movie switched things up by adding a natural disaster in the form of a tropical storm, with several friends getting stuck in Australia during the natural occurrence. Unfortunately, they're forced to contend with nature's true fury in the form of a gigantic crocodile.

Black Water: Abyss wasn't quite as well-received as the first Black Water movie, though it was seen as a success in its own right. Many noted the quality of the scares and kills, with the tone of the sequel also being surprisingly different from its predecessor. It released theatrically in Australia on July 10, 2020, with international distribution coming afterward. Black Water: Abyss and the first Black Water movie can both be streamed on multiple streaming platforms.

Black Water

A pregnant woman, her boyfriend and her sister take a boat tour of a mangrove swamp, where they are terrorized by a killer crocodile. Directed by David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki. Starring Maeve Dermody, Diana Glenn and Andy Rodoreda.

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Black Water Reviews

...the indie-stylings of Black Water help distinguish it as a unique entry in the creature feature horrors. It may be the smallest of the Aussie croc flicks, but it's no less effective.

Full Review | Aug 4, 2020

Splendid in its economy, Black Water gets a grip on our senses and never lets go %u2026 the writer/directors portray nature as something wondrous and deadly all at once, which is what it is of course, without guilt, without an agenda %u2013 except surviva

Full Review | Apr 18, 2008

...an uneven yet sporadically tense thriller...

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 26, 2008

Nasty, brutish and at 89 minutes just the right length.

Full Review | Feb 22, 2008

Writer-directors David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki calibrate the tension with creditable skill.

While the when-animals-attack genre has been a staple of direct-to-retail movies for decades now, this tries for a more realistic approach than the usual rubber or CGI reptile's buffet.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 22, 2008

There are some nice creepy chills to be had from the directors David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki's low waterlevel camera work, but ultimately the outlandishness of their real-life adventure deadens the visceral impact.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 22, 2008

Packs enough shocks to keep you gripped, not to mention a conclusion that refreshingly refutes the genre rulebook.

Lean and mean, this basically does for crocodiles what Open Water did for sharks, Snap it up.

Well acted and all the more engaging for having been based on a true story, ultimately Black Water lacks teeth.

Short, sharp and refreshingly nasty, it's a light antidote to all those heavy Oscar hopefuls clogging up the multiplex.

Tapping into the primeval fear generated by these perfectly evolved killing machines, the filmmakers ratchet up the tension, while sustaining our interest in the fate of the trio.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/6 | Feb 22, 2008

A barely disguised B-movie - but one that bites deep.

Watchable crocky horror flick that makes the most of its low budget and simple set-up, though the characters aren't especially engaging and you keep hoping they'll get eaten.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 21, 2008

"Black Water" is the scariest film of its type since "Jaws" - you'll wanna strap in for this one ... otherwise you'll be continuously jumping out of your seat. One of the most genuinely scary films I've seen in a long time.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 11, 2008

A lack of incisive action takes the teeth out of croc pic...offering too few scares and insufficient tension for audiences to take the bait.

Full Review | Jan 22, 2008

Black Water may be derivative, but it ain't no crock

Full Review | Dec 10, 2007

There's something to be said for a chomp-em-up tale that exhibits some class, intensity, and restraint.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 20, 2007

‘Black Water’ films (2007, 2020) are a croc (in a good way)

Australian writer-director Andrew Traucki got on the map with “Black Water” (2007), a gripping low-budget feature about a killer croc ( no, not that one ) stalking stranded tourists in a tree-filled river inlet. Rather than branching into other things, he has stuck with what he knows, following it up with a crocodile sequel (see review below), a jungle beast flick and two shark films (the second comes out this month). 

Man vs. Nature. Advantage: Nature 

And why not? He’s good at illustrating the fine line between civilization and deadly nature – especially in the wilds of Australia after your boat flips and you’re forced into a tree like a monkey. Except in this case, you’d rather be a monkey. Things like a coupon for a free coffee aren’t much help out here. 

In “Black Water,” Traucki is helped by co-writer/co-director/visual effects creator David Nerlich and three totally convincing actors. The tale starts innocently as can be, with Grace (Diana Glenn), husband Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and kid sister Lee (Maeve Dermody) vacationing in northern Australia. They’re relaxed, they’re playing it by ear, and we like them. 

“Black Water” (2007)  

Directors: Andrew Traucki, David Nerlich 

Writers: Andrew Traucki, David Nerlich 

Stars: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda 

But we’re not here to watch home movies. Tension encroaches when a guide takes them on a river cruise. But his dock co-owner is gone at the moment so nobody knows where they’re going. Playing it easy-breezy on vacation can be taken too far, we learn. 

Tension-based horror movies are like original symphonic works. Traucki places scares in the right place the way a composer positions loud notes. Long stretches go by and then he hits you with a jump scare — “Black Water” has at least three. 

The film is a safe way to experience nature without going into nature. Traucki breaks up shots of the trio convalescing in tree branches with wider shots of the waterlogged forest. But not too wide: He maintains the claustrophobia, reminding us that the croc owns this remote area and there’s no easy escape. 

Saving some for later 

As a bonus, we learn croc traits that play perfectly with the plot. For one, they don’t eat their whole meal right away; they save it for later. This leads to the creepy fact of a loved one’s corpse floating nearby as you hide in a tree; the croc will consume the body when it is hungry. 

On the other hand, people can survive a croc bite if they get quick medical attention. Grace, Adam and Lee probably don’t have that luxury, though. 

There’s no character building here; the performances are all about emotions, the primary one being fear. All three actors are great, especially Dermody. Lee is the audience surrogate because she’s the youngest and has the least authority among the trio. But she’ll be forced to learn on the spot. 

Nerlich’s practical-effects crocodile looks real when we get a good view, but he uses it sparingly. Traucki builds a lot of the tension with drips and ripples in the water. The attack sequences are frantic, and the camera settles in place only when the croc’s snout goes still, its eyes staring straight ahead.  

If there’s a downside to “Black Water,” it’s that it doesn’t have repeat value unless you simply want to admire the minimalist craftsmanship. And horror fans who want lots of gore and clear looks at toothsome killing blows might be disappointed. But in creating tension with the audience’s cooperation (as we put ourselves in Lee’s shoes – if she still had them after the boat-flipping attack), Traucki knows his craft. 

A solid sequel 

Shark-horror fans looking forward to “The Reef: Stalked” (July 29) will be happy to know Traucki has already proven he can helm a strong sequel with “Black Water: Abyss” (2020). Directing a screenplay by John Ridley and Sarah Smith, Traucki again emphasizes a gigantic croc’s preternatural ability to sneak up on people in the water even as they themselves try to minimize ripples. 

At first, “Abyss” seems too similar to the original. A group takes off without telling anyone, thus perhaps making a cave system into their burial chamber. Yolanda (Amali Golden) even announces her pregnancy, as Grace had done.  

“Black Water: Abyss” (2020)  

Director: Andrew Traucki 

Writers: John Ridley, Sarah Smith 

Stars: Jessica McNamee, Luke Mitchell, Amali Golden 

But while the scare factors are the same, the setting is quite different as five explorers (Jessica McNamee, Luke Mitchell, Benjamin Hoetjes and Anthony J. Sharpe join Golden) get caught underground in a croc’s flooded territory. 

Their dimly lit, claustrophobic situation calls to mind the “Descent” films, including perhaps the most harrowing thing in horror – swimming toward potential safety, but only having tiny pockets of air to breathe along the way. I think I’d rather be stalked by cave mutants than this croc. Again, the practical effects are used crisply but sparingly. 

Despite a bigger budget for the cave set and more characterization, the sequel is hampered by coming into a world that already has “Black Water,” the “Descent” films and “Crawl.” The actors are good, but the production is slicker, and I admire the near-guerilla style of the original a tad more.  

But a daring “What the hell?!” ending garners bonus points. For fans of the first one, “Black Water: Abyss” is worth exploring. 

“Black Water”: 4 stars

“Black Water: Abyss”: 3.5 stars

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Black Water

• A boat tour of a mangrove swamp turns into a fight for survival when a group of people are attacked by a ferocious saltwater crocodile.
• While on vacation on Northern Australia, Gracie, her husband Adam, and her younger sister Lee decide to take the Blackwater Barry tour in the swamp for fishing. Their guide Jim uses a small motor boat and takes the tourist along the river to a remote spot. When they stop, they are attacked by a huge crocodile that capsizes their boat and immediately kills Jim. The three survivors climb a tree and when they realize that help will never come to rescue them, they decide to try to find a way out of their sheltered location. But in the muddy water, their boat is flipped and the crocodile stalks the trio under the water. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Based on a true story, Black Water is a thriller thats sounds a now familiar warning that Australia can be dangerous place for a holiday. Its DNA goes back to the taut, tight thrills of Spielberg s Duel, then traces a line through the classics of Jaws and Alien, past the guerrilla film making of Robert Rodriguez and mutates into the same gene pool as quasi-real horrorsurvival such as the Blair Witch Project and Open Water Black Water is based in realism. It stalks the line between horror and psychological thriller, a tale or true survival, that begs the question what would you do? How would you get out alive?

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Filmed in West Sussex , the modern-day monster the short film portrays is water pollution and its suffocating effect on Britain's rivers.

The filmmakers behind the project - Silicon Gothic co-founders Cathy Wippell and Joseph Archer - say it's a message they felt compelled to shout about.

"Our world faces so many huge, complex, intangible problems out there, and what Silicon Gothic does is we take those problems and 'monstify' them, so we make them physical and understandable."

As rivers around the country are polluted by sewage, caused in part by a changing climate and extreme weather patterns, it offers a timely message.

A keen open-water swimmer, Wippell - who is both the co-star and author of the film - was inspired to write it after stretches of water she was once able to swim in in her home county were closed off due to rising water toxicity levels.

Wippell tells Sky News: "It's not something that's really obvious when you look at a river and you don't really see what's sort of lurking under the surface. So, to make something like that tangible and like a threat was really important with the story."

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And the production's eco-credentials ran deeper than just its storyline, with two beach cleans during pre-production to help raise funds and a strict sustainability policy practiced throughout the shoot.

The production company has pledged to carry out at least one climate positive action per film, not only trying to complete a swifter shoot and produce less waste, but proactively trying to fix damage already caused.

All cast and crew were asked to sign a green rider ahead of the shoot, detailing the sustainability measures in place on set and basic conduct measures, including bringing a refillable water container to set and agreeing to separate rubbish.

Pass it on, don't burn it

All meals available on set were vegetarian or vegan, and in place of plastic-wrapped crisps or cereal bars, over 160 flapjacks were homebaked for the shoot.

In the spirit of a "circular production", assets from bigger TV and film productions were re-used for the shoot, and after wrapping, items were passed on or donated onwards.

Archer admits items from fast turnaround movies and shows are sometimes burned rather than passed on - a crying shame amid a cost of living crisis and pressing concerns around overconsumption of the world's resources.

Even the month of the shoot - October - was chosen to ensure that no birds were nesting in the marshes, with priority given to the natural cycle of the marshland, not to the film production.

'Forget trailer sizes - it doesn't matter'

Fittingly for a film commenting on the damaging effects of over-consumption of resources, battery-powered generators, rather than traditional gas ones were used as well as LED lights over fluorescent lights in an attempt to be more efficient.

Australian actor Ishtar Currie-Wilson, who stars in the film alongside Wippell, tells Sky News it was a joyful production to work on.

She explains: "The green rider was really refreshing to me, I think because it's really small, simple, actionable changes. And I think from an individual and like an actor's perspective, it's something that we can bring on to all other sets moving forward."

The First Omen star goes on: "I know on big productions, there are conversations about trailer sizes and things that really don't matter. But you can make little changes and it feels quite good as an actress to be able to have control over the variables."

National treasure Stephen Fry

Comparing it to other jobs, Currie-Wilson says: "After being on this project, I went and did reshoots for a bigger project and was completely aware of my, just single use plastics. So, I made sure that I had a keep cup and my water bottle, and I kind of looked into the past of how much waste I personally would use on a set without thinking about it."

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Another element in the film is actor and comedian Stephen Fry , who voices an unseen character - a less than supportive media boss.

Describing him as an "absolute delight", Wippell says his involvement "made a massive difference", with the recognition and gravitas of his voice "really adding something to the film".

A micro-budget film with big ambitions, the part-crowdfunded project hopes it will set an example to larger studios.

Setting an example to other studios

Wippell explains: "It's so important to do these things at a smaller indie level because it holds the bigger companies accountable as well for their own sustainability measures on their sets. If we can do it with this amount of money, [they] can do it with millions of pounds."

Away from its eco-credentials, the 13-minute production uses its short screen time to lay bare the plight of our precious river habitats.

The equivalent of more than 1,270 years of raw sewage has been dumped into Britain's rivers, lakes and seas since 2016, according to Environment Agency data.

But despite hitting the headlines, both water companies and regulators seem slow to take action.

Campaigning group River Action UK, which partnered with the production, hope those in charge will now sit up and take notice.

'Delving down into the murky depths'

James Wallace, chief executive of River Action UK, who came on board during production to executive produce the film, says that while they'd previously used animation and short documentary films in their work, this was the campaigning group's first venture into the world of horror.

He told Sky News: "I couldn't resist [the film]. It delves down deep into the murky depths of what's going on in our rivers when it comes to sewage pollution, agricultural pollution, other nasties that lurk in our water."

He goes on: "It's going to tell a very powerful story, one that's going to be really hard to ignore if you're a politician, if you're a polluter, or if you're a member of the public. Hopefully this will really get into the heart of what's going on in this world."

But decades of underinvestment in the sewage and water systems, mean it's an issue no one seems quite ready to deal with head on.

With the clock ticking as dirty water is pumped into seas and rivers, this green tale about dark forces, strives to highlight the potential horror story flowing through our waterways, and the consequences of ignoring the signs.

Watch the full interview on The Climate Show with Tom Heap, Saturday and Sunday at 3.30 and 7.30pm on Sky News.

Black Samphire is now being developed into a full-length feature film. For more info on the project's progress visit @blacksamphire on Instagram.

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