A town on a reservoir has to sacrifice one of its own every 20-30 years to appease a serpent we know nothing about, or even see other than occasional glimpses. Note to self: Move somewhere else.That is pretty much it. Some unlikable main characters. Lack of decent dialogue and characters made this a snoozer. Difficult to sit through with so much lack of action.Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief nudity.

Please do not spend a dime to see this movie. It is the worst movie released ever, please trust me. I only watched until the end because for some weird reason I wanted in to get better but it never did. A monster in a lake that has to receive a human offering every 30 years so that is doesn't kill tourists. Was this script written by a thirteen year-old? Terrible acting. Terrible script. Flat boring cringe worthy dialogue. Nonsensical lines like "I can't leave this town because of all my memories", spoken by some crusty old loser who is the leading lady's father. (And the worst actor ever...) Everyone involved in writing, acting and directing this movie needs to think seriously about a career change. Right now! Actually I feel kind of sorry for him now.

I'm already seeing some wildly different opinions on this film. Rather than spend time mudslinging the other reviews or accuse them of being "insiders" or fluff, I'd prefer to analyze why. One actually said "if it was an urban legend film it would be good". Okay, so as an "urban legend" film it works, but as a Syfy channel monster movie it doesn't? Either it's good or not and one shouldn't hold the film responsible for their own misperception. Also if you have to resort to claiming that other reviews "were done by people in the production" then that's a surefire sign of your own lack of any discernible writing skill.Anyway...On to the film. There is a giant lamprey out there, traveling the world and becoming mythic, and if it comes to your land, you had best give it a willing sacrifice, or there is hell to pay. That is the dilemma this unnamed town is facing, and Victoria, a former resident, is facing an even bigger one. She's been assigned to investigate the mass deaths of marine life that happen to be taking place in the town she grew up in and quickly left. It seems this town is one of those where people just don't do any good with their lives.Kier and Castor are also residents of the town, both having severe PTSD from participating in the Afghan War (particularly Kier, who is the most frightening character in the film, moreso than the monster, and NOT poorly acted, contrary to one of the other reviews). Now that many years have passed and they're back at home, they're drug runners, and Castor wants local man Callan (yeah the names are a bit strange) to join in as a "mule". Are their actions over the top? Maybe. They do tread a bit of a fine line in regards to depicting servicemen poorly. Whether or not that was the filmmaker's intention is another question, but it makes sense within the film.Victoria arrives in town and high school sweetheart Kier is not happy about it, and Victoria isn't happy when she accidentally meets up with her father. The scenes between the two actors are NOT what you'd normally expect from this type of film, and are actually surprisingly good and heartfelt, if not a bit strange tonally. Kier and Castor throw Kier's methhead bootie call into the water to see if there are any monsters about, and there are. There's also a lonely, lost town girl who is like a mini-version of Victoria, obviously in a similar life path. Both characters seem to be there for exposition.Lamprey-looking creatures are there, but sparingly. You can tell the film had budget constraints, or perhaps moments of "the creature not working". There are far more guns and profanity than there are creatures, and that's fine. The brief action scenes are actually pretty well done, if not also sticking out like a bit of a sore thumb in this type of film.Despite being a clusterf**k of genres, melding a lot of aspects of drama and action that seem out of place at times and some pretty obvious plot holes, Dead Sea isn't a bad late night or mid-afternoon watch. I don't quite understand why a few "cinephiles" who spend more time illegally downloading films feel the need to berate movies like this when they are already the ones doing a disservice to the filmmakers and distributors by STEALING it, but that's another issue altogether.Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Will you have fun? Maybe.

I saw Dead Sea at the Stanley Hotel Premiere. Good story. This is a study in "small town" mentality as much as it is a scary movie. Characters are drawn "back" to their hometown even after they have "escaped". The interactions between characters who have not see each other in years was nicely done. I liked that they did not rely on the monster too heavily. Best scary movies let your own imagination fill in the gaps and do not rely on gimmicks and props. Only complaint is that the filming locations were so different. Town was dry and barren but then the lake area (also part of the town) was green and beautiful. Overall, film is enjoyable and has enough going on I would watch it again.