THIS low-budget Australian horror film is not without its charms. Taking its cue from the similarly titled Open Water - in which real sharks appeared to eat real Americans - Black Water puts a small group of smug idiots in a dinghy and propels them into crocodile-infested waters.

Before long a pre-op handbag has upended the vessel and forced the Brads, Bruces and Sheilas to take shelter in a tree.

There are some satisfactorily horrid situations in the succeeding hour. The scene where one survivor tries to draw a crocodile towards her by plunging her friend's severed arm in the water is particularly noteworthy. But far too much

of the film is taken up with attempts by the party to negotiate themselves from one branch to the next.

If I wanted to watch a 90- minute Australian version of The Crystal Maze, I'd . . . well, I'd probably check myself into a lunatic asylum.