Open Water DVD Easter Egg: How to Find the Hidden Split-Screen Commentary

The Open Water DVD contains a hidden Easter egg that can only be activated by pressing a button at exactly the right moment.

How to Access the Easter Egg

From the main menu, select Go Deeper to open the Special Features section.

Highlight Calm Before the Storm but do not press Enter.

Wait for the animated menu to play.

As the menu runs, a dagger falls from the top of the screen. The moment you see it, press Left on your remote.

Crosshairs will appear on the screen.

Press Enter when the dagger lines up with the crosshairs.

The timing has to be accurate. If you press Enter too early or too late, nothing will happen.

If successful, a hidden split-screen feature will load featuring commentary on scenes from the film.

How the Easter Egg Works

One of the interesting things about this Easter egg is how it was authored.

Examining the DVD in PgcEdit shows that the animated menu is a 33-second video labelled 60b.

That menu is divided into six cells.

The dagger animation only appears during cells 3, 4 and 5.

When the button data for the menu is examined, there are no active buttons available during cells 1 and 2.

A hidden button becomes active during cells 3, 4 and 5, positioned along the path of the falling dagger.

However, the button behaves differently depending on which cell is currently playing.

Cell 3

The button exists but does not link to any content.

If the viewer presses Enter at this point, the Easter egg is not triggered.

Cell 4

This is the only cell that contains a valid link.

Pressing Enter while cell 4 is active launches a six-second video clip labelled 27.

This clip acts as a transition away from the menu.

At the end of the clip, a command tells the DVD player to jump to Title 6.

Title 6 contains the hidden split-screen feature.

Cell 5

The button remains visible but once again does not lead anywhere.

If the viewer presses Enter after the correct timing window has passed, the Easter egg will not activate.

Why This Easter Egg Is Unusual

Most DVD Easter eggs rely on hidden buttons that remain active until they are selected.

The Open Water DVD uses a different approach.

The hidden button only performs a useful action during a specific section of the menu animation. Outside that short window, the same button becomes inactive.

This creates the impression that the viewer has to “hit” the falling dagger at exactly the right moment, turning the menu itself into a simple interactive challenge.

It is a good example of how DVD authors could use menu cells and button commands to create more complex Easter eggs than the standard hidden-menu approach.