Blumhouse’s New Horror Movie Looks Eerily Similar To A 28-Year-Old Episode From A Kids’ TV Show

The latest horror-thriller from Blumhouse and renowned horror icon James Wan Night Swim bears several similarities to a famous episode of one of the most beloved kids’ shows of the 1990s. After writing and directing a 2014 short film with the same name, first-time feature director Bryce McGuire is collaborating with Jason Blum and James Wan on the feature-length version of Night Swim, which is due to release on January 4th, 2024. While plot details are still murky, the latest Night Swim trailer revealed a terrifying water creature that terrorizes a family from the pool of their new house.

Night Swim is based on McGuire’s original short film along with his own personal experiences, but there are a number of similarities between the movie and one of the scariest episodes of a beloved 1990s kids’ show. From the overall concept to the physical appearance of the creature at the heart of the feature, there are plenty of parallels between the new movie and that classic episode. While the central premise of both stories is very similar, it’s the small details that they share that really raise eyebrows when comparing Night Swim to the 28-year-old TV episode.

Night Swim Is Very Similar To An Episode Of Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

The 1995 Episode “The Tale Of The Dead Man’s Float” Contains Many Parallels

The early 1990s Nickelodeon show Are You Afraid of the Dark? has evolved into a cult classic over the last 30 years. The horror anthology series gained popularity for straddling the line between unsettling and legitimately scary, as some of the ghouls and ghosts featured in the show pushed the limits of the show’s child-friendly rating. One episode famously included a terrifying zombie corpse that resided in an abandoned pool, titled “The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float”.

“The Corpse” is among the scariest characters to appear in Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and its appearance is eerily similar to the creature featured in the trailer for Night Swim. The two evil entities both share zombie-like skeletal features, but the most striking similarity is the hair that covers their faces and bodies. The trailer of Night Swim even shows its pool creature using the hair to ensnare one of its victims. Both creatures behave similarly in that they seem to stalk their victims before actively attacking them, with The Corpse often grabbing and releasing its victims and the Night Swim creature following them around the pool.

From a plot perspective, “The Tale of the Dead Man’s Float” involves the main character discovering an abandoned pool in the basement of his high school, while the family at the center of Night Swim finds an abandoned pool that accompanies the new house that they bought. Both creatures prove capable of coming out of the water to attack their victims, which elevates the horror in both stories, given that even exiting the pool doesn’t keep the protagonists safe. The biggest difference between the two projects is that the creature in Night Swim appears to be able to possess people as well, which makes it a much more powerful villain.

What Is Night Swim Actually Based On?

Director Bryce McGuire’s Original Short Film Was Based On His Childhood

Night Swim is based on writer-director Bryce McGuire’s five-minute short film of the same name, which went viral on YouTube in 2014. Via Universal Pictures, McGuire himself stated during the feature film’s production that he was inspired by classic horror films like Poltergeist, Jaws and The Creature From the Black Lagoon, along with his own experiences as a child. Growing up in Florida gave McGuire a fear and reverence for water, given that the state is surrounded by the ocean and riddled with lakes and wetlands. It’s clear that Night Swim wasn’t actually inspired by the classic Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode, but the similarities are certainly striking.