Svartsjön

The first season doesn't beak any new ground in the horror genre, but it's a fun enough riff off The Shining taking place in an abandoned ski resort and pulling from aspects of Swedish racism to build its story. Has good atmosphere and a lively performance from Aliette Opheim. The second season is awful, though - a prequel to the first, of sorts, but so slow moving that nothing really happens at all, leading to a finale so anticlimactic that you barely notice it - there's not even enough to it to qualify as dumb fun.

In short - it's really good. The Swedish horror takes a great deal of unoriginal and common themes, but manages to connect them in such a way, that it's hard to stop watching. The movies strengths, are most definitely:

• Aesthetics: (from the intro, to the scenery to the actors themselves, the movie is beautiful and it's cold atmosphere works well with the plot).
• Properly done shots: I personally dislike many of "spoiling" horror shots or predictable scenes. 'Black Lake' does have a couple of those, but not enough to spoil the fun.
• Music - not intrusive but atmospheric (and fitting well the movie's aesthetics)
• Ending - while there is one detail which annoyed me in the ending, what I like is that here it doesn't come in a 'one big bang' but unfolds through at least 2 episodes and reveals more than one secret.

The weaknesses:

• Uneven perfomance - varying not as much between characters, as between the same characters in different episodes. Sometimes it's really good, however at some scenes you get the impression the protagonists are dull inside. Perhaps it's intended though
• Characters doing stupid things - okay, so this one is extremely common in horrors and 'Black Lake' is not the worst one... but neither clean of this sin. A person who - by themselves even though they can call their boyfriend/girlfriend or simply friends, decided to visit a creepy cellar alone? Stupid. And what's worse is that this behaviour repeats to the very end (even when the character's are perfectly aware of the dangers).

If there's ever season 2 I will certainly watch it

Biggest load of rubbish I've watched in ages. Never got better. Totally artificial. Not possible to suspend disbelief at any time in this poor show. Poor script and ludicrous plot. As much as the story line has some credibility it fell into nonsense. It could not be taken remotely seriously.

Swedish drama 'Black Lake' combines the vibe of 'The Blair Witch Project' with a Mexican standoff, as a group of young people gradually lose it in an isolated winter resort, driven mad by strange (and possibly supernatural) events. Unfortunately, the story defies logic: any normal person would just run away once people start dying, instead the protagonists spend the entire drama venturing on their own into dark cellars where their friends have already been killed, with predictably awful results. By the end, I barely understood the plot, but each episode felt like a repeat of its predecessor. In conclusion: not one of the best Scandi-dramas.

Hedda Stiernstedt, she got the whole pakkage and keeped me watching. When the writers had more fantasy, like i have in mine dreams, it had become more potential and 4sure a S3