A Forgotten WWII-Era Fantasy Movie About the Loch Ness Monster Is Leaving Netflix

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Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

Shortly after New Zealand was put on the global cinema map by Peter Jackson and his The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and only two years after The Chronicles of Naria: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe emerged as a global box office success, another fantasy movie filmed in New Zealand and set against the backdrop of World War 2 debuted in theaters. The movie in question, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, didn't exactly have the cultural impact of Jackson's franchise or the Narnia movies, but it earned positive reviews and did respectable business at the box office. It was even compared to the films of Steven Spielberg by some reviewers back then, and is now available to stream on Netflix. But those who haven't yet watched the movie don't have much time to do so, as it'll leave the streaming service soon.

The Water Horse was released in the United States in December 2007, followed by a United Kingdom release in early 2008. The movie followed a young boy who lives next to a large lake in Scotland in the 1940s, where he discovers an egg that hatches into a creature from the deep. They forge a bond, and the creature eventually comes to be known as the Loch Ness Monster. The Water Horse starred Alex Etel as the young protagonist; Etel made his acting debut with a lead role in Danny Boyle's Millions a few years prior. He was supported by the veterans Emily Watson and Ben Chaplin, while the older version of his character was played by Succession's Brian Cox. Directed by Jay Russell and based on a children's book by Dick King-Smith, the movie earned over $100 million at the global box office against a reported budget of $40 million.

Roger Ebert Was a Fan of the Movie

The Water Horse opened to mostly positive reviews, and is now sitting a 74% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "The Water Horse is a fine family film. It takes a classic tale and infuses it with extra imagination, sly humor, heart, and inventive special effects." The late critic Roger Ebert was a fan of the movie, hailing it as a welcome alternative to Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was released that same Christmas. He wrote in his review that "viewers of all ages will appreciate that Water Horse, despite its fantasy, digs in with a real story about complex people and doesn’t zone out with the idiotic cheerfulness of Alvin and his squeaky little friends."

You have until February 1 to watch the movie on Netflix. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.