Ghost Lake (2004) (V)

User Rating:

2.3/10   

Director:

Jay Woelfel

Writer:

Jay Woelfel (writer)

Release Date:

26 April 2005 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Evil Rises.

Plot:

In a small town in upstate New York, local residents were drowned as a dam was built and the town was flooded to create the Rushford Lake. One hundred years later, the souls of the drowned are becoming restless...

Plot Keywords:

Lake | Death | Supernatural | Small Town | Accident

Cast

Tatum Adair	...	Rebecca Haster
Timothy Prindle	...	Stan James
Gregory Lee Kenyon	...	Sheriff Dobbs
Azure Sky Decker	...	Flora / Saundra Tompson
Chuck Franklin	...	Doctor Bloch
Damian Maffei	...	Young Fisherman / Son #2 on Boat
Dan Metcalf	...	Old Fisherman
Linda Brown	...	Ruth Haster
Raymond Suriani	...	Richard Haster
Rick Kesler	...	Reverend
Edward M. Valenta	...	Sexy Club Guy
Mary Ann Layman	...	Librarian
Carolyn Ricketts	...	Grandma Tompson
Richard M. Kennedy	...	Grandpa Tompson
Cindy Ohanian	...	Car Crash Wife

Also Known As:

The Empty Lake (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for horror images and some sexuality.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Norway:15 | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Sweden:15 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Rushford, New York, USA

Company:

Young Wolf Productions

Trivia:

Rebecca's cottage in the film was actually used as living quarters for nearly the entire first billed cast and the crew during filming. The garage to the next door cottage was initially used as the makeup and effects room, but was later moved to the basement of Rebecca's cottage.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Becky is confronting Flora/Saundra in the library, we see the dollhouse behind Becky. We already know there's no one else in the library except the librarian, yet when the camera is on Becky, you can see that someone playing with puppets in the attic window of the dollhouse.

Quotes:

Grandpa Tompson: Why is all this happening?
Rebecca Haster: Understanding it doesn't matter. Surviving it does.

For those who enjoy the acting in pornos

Once in a while, you watch a movie where you can just immediately tell that the directors mother is also his aunt. One such movie is Ghost Lake. As a no-/low-budget filmmaker, I generally sympathize with others in this end of the field. One has to cope with annoying editors and actors who, in various strange ways, convince you that they can actually act and sign on to the point where it's too late to replace them. But much of this can be forgiven if the general intention with the movie is good or just honest. Not so the case with Ghost Lake. It repeatedly rips off one horror movie after the other, all the while setting new lows in acting, shooting and musicianship (yup, the score was awful to boot).

That being said, I did laugh my ass off watching it. Watching this movie was the equivalent of reading a list of cinematic don't's. And I don't mean "don't" as in "Don't use voiceovers" and similar snooty filmschool bs. I mean "don't" as in, "Don't do this, because it looks like you can't tell your ass from your elbow, anyway you slice it". If you're in any way into films (just being an avid moviegeek will do) this movie will provide literally dozens of laughs-per-minute with it's machine-gun like barrage of ineptitude. You're going to want to show this to your friends just to see their bewildered expression that simply says "Wtf were they thinking?!" like nothing else.

If your idea of awesome cinematic experiences is films like Death Tunnel or Kaw, well this movie is too shoddy for even that. No person living could possibly like this dreck, and the mere possibility is downright offensive.