Swimming Pool (2001 film)
| Swimming Pool - Der Tod feiert mit | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Boris von Sychowski |
| Produced by |
Benjamin Herrmann Werner Possardt |
| Written by |
Lorenz Stassen Ryan Carrassi (dialogue) |
| Starring |
James McAvoy Isla Fisher Kristen Miller Jason Liggett Cordelia Bugeja John Hopkins |
| Music by | Johannes Kobilke |
| Cinematography | Notker Mahr |
| Edited by | Sabine Mahr-Haigis |
| Distributed by |
Senator Film Produktion GmbH Calypso Filmproduktion Artisan Entertainment Senator Film Mediafilm Home Entertainment Corporation PLC |
Release dates | 2000 |
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | English |
Swimming Pool is a 2001 German slasher film, known in Germany as Swimming Pool - Der Tod feiert mit and The Pool in the United States. It was directed by Boris von Sychowski and stars James McAvoy, Isla Fisher, Kristen Miller, and Jason Liggett. It was followed by Swimming Pool 2 in 2005.
Plot
To celebrate graduation, a group of international students, which consists of Sara (Kristen Miller), Mike (James McAvoy), Greg (Thorsten Grasshoff), Carmen (Elena Uhlig), Mel (Cordelia Bugeja), Frank (John Hopkins), Chris (Jonah Lotan), Diego (Maximilian Grill), Carter (Bryan Carney), and Svenja (Linda Rybová), go to a nearby swimming pool, with the help of their friend, Marty (Jason Liggett). Everybody enjoys themselves, except Mike, who has just broken up with his girlfriend Kim (Isla Fisher). As Kim is making her way home, she's attacked by a masked killer, who murders her with a machete.
At the park, everybody starts partying and drinking. When Chris attempts to push Sara into the pool, she kicks him in the face, pissing him off. Meanwhile, Carter and Svenja go swimming together. Svenja goes to a slide, and Carter waits for her, but he's attacked by the killer, who hacks him to death, before splitting Svenja vertically in half when she comes down the slide.
Frank attempts to seduce Carmen, but she rejects him because he is dating another girl, Tanya (Annora Müller), so he gets drunk and later leaves to throw up. Marty and Mel also leave to have sex. While Marty is looking for condoms, Mel is attacked by the killer, but escapes, while the others discover the bodies of Svenja and Carter. They find Marty, and they leave to look for Mel, but arrive too late, as Mel is killed.
Greg and Diego leave for help, while Marty, Carmen, Mike, and Sara try to escape through the air vents, and Chris stands guard with an axe. In the air vents, Mike and Marty are killed, but Sara and Carmen escape, and hide. While they hide, Carmen reveals to Sara that she slept with Greg. Greg then comes in, but Carmen knocks him out, apologizing to Sara before escaping through a pool shaft. Meanwhile, someone grabs Chris's shoulder. Thinking it is the killer, he panics and swings his axe at the person. However, it is revealed that it was actually Diego, who dies when the axe splits his head. A shocked Chris backs up slowly, and the real killer appears and slaughters him.
A police officer (who had gathered clues of a girl that was killed in the beginning of the film) reaches the park, but is quickly killed. Carmen finds his body, before she too is killed. Inside, Sara, now all alone, finds Frank, who reveals himself as the killer before attacking her. Sara attempts to escape, but Frank starts slashing at her with the machete, while revealing that he wanted revenge against everybody, as he and Tanya were mistreated, especially by the girls.
Greg wakes up and jumps to the pool, while Sara manages to set Frank on fire. Frank jumps to the pool and he and Greg begin fighting. Frank gains the upper hand, injuring Greg's shoulder, but Sara grabs a broken bottle and enters the water before stabbing Frank repeatedly. As Sara and Greg are exiting the pool, Frank suddenly rises again, and chases Sara and Greg away from the pool. Sara and Greg run to the front of the park, where they find the bodies of Carmen and the police officer, and Frank catches up with them. They beg him to stop murdering, but he says that he will not stop until he gets revenge. Greg and Sara try to run again, but when Sara trips over Carmen's dead body, Frank stabs her in the back, seemingly killing her. He then decides to spare Greg, who was nice to him, and it is revealed that Tanya is Greg's cousin. Frank begins walking away, but the still-living Sara rises and shoots him dead with the police officer's gun.
As the day dawns, help reaches the pool, and Sara is taken to the hospital. Sara forgives Greg for sleeping with Carmen and their relationship survives. It is also revealed that Sara was dating a boy named Bernt (Eduard Stein) and she knew that Greg had slept with Carmen. Sara breaks things off with Bernt, saying that she wants to be with Greg.
Later, a party is being held at the swimming pool to mourn the deaths of Kim, Carter, Svenja, Mel, Mike, Marty, Diego, Chris, and Carmen. When Sara arrives, Tanya looks at her disdainfully. Bernt has a new girlfriend, Stacy (Ally Major). As Stacy is gossiping with her friends Liesl (Emiline Schulze) and Kara (Torinne Angelica), Sara walks by. Stacy gets up to console Sara, and Kara admits to Liesl that she and Bernt are having a fling. Kara leaves to have sex with Bernt. Sara admits that she is lonely after the deaths of her friends, and the two girls become friends. Liesl goes to look for Kara. Sara meets up with Greg and the two start kissing. The party is suddenly halted when Liesl and another boy named Kevin (Stanley Sims) find Kara and Bernt dead. The on-duty police rush all of the teens out of the party, and Sara worries that Frank might be alive. The killer murders Liesl and Kevin and corners Sara away from the others when she takes a walk to clear her head. The killer is revealed as Tanya, who says that she knew about Frank's plot and that he has unfinished business because Sara is alive. However, Greg and Stacy, who were searching for Sara, see what is going on and alert the police. They tell Tanya to give herself up, but she chooses to commit suicide by police. Sara is reunited with her boyfriend and friend, and she begins to cry with guilt over her mistreatment of Frank and Tanya.
In a post-credits scene, a group of friends is laughing about how Frank and Tanya had the right idea by killing the popular and mean girls, as well as their clueless boyfriends. One of the friends, Alwin (Kyler Böhm), says goodbye to his friends and leaves. He is then seen in a store purchasing a machete as well as a mask similar to the ones used by Frank and Tanya.
Cast
| Actor / Actress | Character |
|---|---|
| Kristen Miller | Sara |
| James McAvoy | Mike |
| Isla Fisher | Kim |
| Jason Liggett | Marty |
| Cordelia Bugeja | Mel |
| Elena Uhlig | Carmen |
| John Hopkins | Frank |
| Thorsten Grasshoff | Greg |
| Jonah Lotan | Chris |
| Maximilian Grill | Diego |
| Bryan Carney | Carter |
| Linda Rybová | Svenja |
| Annora Müller | Tanya |
| Daniel Wurm | Tommy |
| Ally Major | Stacy |
| Eduard Stein | Bernt |
| Emiline Schulze | Liesl |
| Torinne Angelica | Kara |
| Stanley Sims | Kevin |
| Anna Geislerová | Catherine |
| Kyler Böhm (as Tyler Beam) | Alwin |
| Claudia Zimmermann | Carleigh |
| Jan Vlasák | Kadankov |
| Josef Pejchal (as Josef Pejchl) | Oliver |
| Marek Libert | Kadankov's assistant |
| Karel Belohradsky | Security guard |