Lake Alice

I spent equal parts of this movie laughing and cringing. The writing wasn't horrible but the sound and effects were pretty bad which I don't usually mind in a good slasher movie. Obviously a low low budget movie. I barely made it through it. I don't know who plays the lead in this but I don't remember the last time I witnessed such atrocious acting. It's definitely not something I would watch a second time but on a slow Wednesday night it was alright. I wouldn't recommend it for your movie night unless you are slasher film fanatic. Lots to pick apart and laugh about but nothing to scare, shock or surprise you.

A family consisting of mother, father, daughter and boyfriend take a retreat to a cabin at Lake Alice, Wisconsin, during the Holidays, but the joys of the season take a deadly turn when a mysterious slayer suddenly emerges.

"Lake Alice" (2018) is a modern slasher Indie in the mold of traditional slashers with the tropes thereof, e.g. The silent killer with a mask of some sort. The technical filmmaking is good except for a couple of issues. What works best is the authentic cold winter setting of northern Wisconsin. I like the whole set-up of the family returning to their home town in the rural Great Lakes region and the entertaining drama thereof. Sometimes the director spends a little too much time on a mundane scene, but I felt it established the reality of the situation, so I didn't mind.

The second half is where some weaknesses rear their heads. I didn't find the killings very convincing for the most part. For instance, when the first person is fatally attacked I giggled and thought maybe it was a prank. Most of the rest of the assaults have an unreal vibe as well and were okay at best. So the director is good at drama but needs to improve when it comes to staging action/suspense sequences. The micro-budget Indie "The Ridge" (2005) had the opposite problem: The drama of the first half is so weak it tempts the viewer to tune out, but the horrific second half wherein the killer chases the victims is superbly done.

The diff between this and "The Ridge" is that "Lake Alice" features a Whodunit angle. The first half establishes 4-5 possible suspects and the scriptwriter came up with a decent conclusion (as far as whom the killer turns out to be and the details thereof). The director just needs to work out the kinks in the attack sequences.

The movie runs 1 hour, 18 minutes, and was shot at Tomahawk in the Lake Alice region of northern Wisconsin.

GRADE: C.

I love horror, and I love whodunnits. Becoming a fiftysomething grandma has not changed my preference for good horror. My favourites are The witch in the window, (best horror ever made), Terrified, Dark was the night, Don't look now (from 1973,with Donald Sutherland) The Witch, Caveat, and most of James Wan. This film is far from those.

However, it is by no means bad. In fact, I found it quite good. The actors are fine, the scenery, suspense, the cold weather, the christmas theme, the build up, the killings, the twist, the lovely cabin, I liked all of it.

No annoying teens, no plot holes, likeable main charachters. I want them to survive, and I care about them. Especially one scene, which has to do with mistaken identity, was heartbreaking to watch.

No, its not brilliant, but it is decent. I'd rather watch this than snore fests like Saint Maud or Amulet.

Wow, I really have no idea what movie some of the positive reviewers were watching here. This movie that clocks in at barely 80mins was painful to get through. Awkward acting, terrible editing...just bad all round.

Firstly the "action" really doesn't begin until about 65 minutes into the film at which point you're thinking to yourself "when is everything going to happen?, "At what point are people going to start dying?" By the time this does start occurring, you really don't care. I personally WANTED these unlikable characters to die..

The editing in the last 30 minutes...will make you care even less about the outcome, characters pop in and out at different environments, even for a horror, I was like "how the hell did they get here?" "Characters act more moronically than they usually would in a horror, and that's saying something. The poster of this movie looked great, hence my reason for watching it...but as the saying goes, 'Don't judge a book by its cover'...in this case, the cover is way better than the content.

As for spoilers...whatever you do, don't read the IMDb "Storyline" it essentially gives away the "big reveal" and I'm assuming the viewers who watched this movie and stated it was an unpredictable ending, hadn't read this...not that one really needs to, to guess who the killer may be.

I have never seen such a poor, so called horror film, lots of over the top screaming and very little action or story line. Very predictable victims and very predictable assassins. A child of 11 could create a better script.The film only lasts 75 minutes and believe me, that is the only good point. If you have an hour and a quarter to spare, do not use it watching this movie. You will regret it.