Taglines: Till death do us part.
What starts out as a romantic honeymoon on a deserted island turns into a horrible nightmare as Julianne discovers that her new husband is psychotic. Trapped on the island, he has no plans of ever returning to civilization, or even of letting her go. She slowly realizes that only one of them may ever leave the island.
Devil’s Pond (alternatively known as Heaven’s Pond) is a 2003 American direct-to-video thriller film directed by Joel Viertel, who co-wrote it with Alek Friedman and Mora Stephens. It stars Kip Pardue and Tara Reid. It tells the tale about two newlyweds that head to a remote lake house for their honeymoon, during which the husband turns it into a prison for his new wife.
Newlyweds, Mitch (Kip Pardue) and Julianne (Tara Reid), escape their normal lives and travel to a deserted island for a romantic and adventurous honeymoon, staying for two weeks at an old cottage in the middle of a secluded lake. They discover the area has no electricity or phone coverage, as Julianne tries to settle in despite her fear of water and inability to swim. Mitch enjoys the country life, and when Julianne wants to go into town to call her parents, to confirm her safety, he gets overprotective of her.
While the two weeks go by, Julianne is eager to return home to start their new lives, but Mitch refuses to go back to that life, wanting them to stay put in his ideal setting, even when Julianne cannot find her birth control pills to prevent her pregnancy. When Julianne finds out Mitch had stalked her before they met and got married, she attempts to leave, and she sees a grave in the woods across the lake before Mitch brings her back. To ensure that she does not attempt to escape again, Mitch disposes of their boat.
One night as Mitch is asleep, Julianne takes the key worn around his neck to open his safe box, having grown suspicious of it. She finds a property deed and learns he inherited the land from his deceased father and that he had often visited the property with his dad. Using a raft to head across the lake, she tries to escape again in Mitch’s pick-up truck, only for Mitch to find her there, and knock her unconscious. Chained to an anchor and a tree, Julianne realizes how psychotic Mitch is, and that he knew everything about her, including her fear of water, using it to hold her at their location.
Devil’s Pond
Directed by: Joel Viertel
Starring: Kip Pardue, Tara Reid, Meredith Baxter, Dan Gunther, Guy Graves
Screenplay by: Alek Lev, Mora Stephens
Cinematography by: Matthew Jensen
Film Editing by: Jeff Wood
Music by: Louis Febre
MPAA Rating: R for language and some violence.
Studio: Artisan Entertainment
Release Date: December 16, 2003