Lake Consequence

Interesting setup. Although the unrated version comes to us for only one reason... it does make a valid attempt to become more than a sexual experience. It does have flaws, but it has a plot, that many movies of the sort don't have. (ex. Fatal Pursuit)

A 30-something housewife gets a crush on this manual worker who is living in a caravan close to her house. She feels sexually unsettled despite possessing a pleasant home, a charming little son and a loving husband - who are, as it happens, just off on a fishing trip for a few days. She is so besotted by her initial contact with the worker that she enters his caravan in his absence and sentimentally strokes some of his books. Then, a shock - suddenly the vehicle is driven off with her inside.

Quite a good start, you might think. But it soon deteriorates into the soft porn, witless directionless movie matched by a few thousand others. The caravan stops beside a picturesque lake and a superbly-built naked blonde bather enters the scene. She soon persuades the non-swimming housewife to not only enter the water, but submit to being ferried on her back by said blonde to a large swimming-raft. As you may imagine this is the start of some lesbian goings-on.

The manual worker of course returns complete with rippling muscles and completes the sexual triangle which somehow finds itself later immersed in a stormy jacuzzi in the middle of Chinese New Year junketings. Our mild housewife, after being caressed under water by Mr. Muscles, gets a bit put out when she sees him paying similar attention to the blonde, takes one of the burning candles which bestrew all porny films at erotic moments and, via a handy diaphanous curtain, sulkily sets the whole place on fire.

As if that were not proof enough of brain-damage in the direction department, the script (?) takes another, even less likely twist when Mr. Muscles not only drives the obviously bonkers, still-naked woman to her home (hubby and little boy having fortunately not yet returned from the fishing), accompanies her indoors, lectures her on her wifely responsibilities, finds her a dress and clothes her, disappearing before hubby and son return to enjoy a rapturous reunion.

A sadly flawed irresponsible film despite the best efforts and good looks of the women. A jarring note was the frequent loud crashes in my speakers accompanied by split-second images apparently inserted by the director to keep the audience awake.

This nonsense barely deserves the four rating it has been given.

The best reason to see this movie isn't for the two lead actors Billy Zane and Joan Severence. It's the supporting actress May Karasun. Joan plays a bored housewife and Billy plays a lawncare man to whom Joan is attracted. She sneaks into his trailer and falls asleep. Not knowing she is inside, Billy hooks up his trailer and drives off to Lake Consequence. When Joan wakes up, she goes outside to examine her new surroundings. Billy is gone, so she goes down to the lake shore where May Karasun bursts from the water nude, startling Joan. May is a beautiful creature and is unashamed to be seen skinny-dipping in a lake. This scene goes on for quite awhile and is, in my opinion, the best part of the movie. Eventually Billy returns, the three become friends, and Joan is led on an adventure of sexual freedom. Like most of Zalman King's movies, there isn't any hardcore sex, though this movie does involve a menage'-a-trois scene in a hot tub as part of Joan's sexual experimentation. Overall, one of the better "Red Shoe Diaries" style movies and one worth keeping around.

Erotic thriller starring Joan Severance anyone? What would you imagine the film would be like? Cheesy? Jazz music with smooth sax playing over the numerous pointless sex scenes? Well that's what I assumed but that is by no means what means what the film is like. It has a strange atmosphere to it and the build up to Severances infidelity is intriguing.

The film is well shot and there's a sense of actual artistry and this never resorts to the cheesy clichés we have come to know from Joan and her soft core peers Shannon Tweed and Shannon Whirry. What I also really liked was the score from George Clinton. It helps that he has a bit of class unlike many musicians working in low budget movies. Clinton has done many scores for big screen movies and has a good pedigree for a movie this size, and his score is interesting and atmospheric.

Overall this was surprisingly watchable. It has some intrigue without being overly entertaining. It is certainly the best thing I have seen from the gorgeous Severance. ***

.....Well i'm a fan of Zalman King and he didn't disappoint me with 'Lake Consequence', I loved it, the gorgeous brooding Billy Zane and the beautiful Joan Severence, great erotic scenes to brilliant music. I think Zalman King is a genius, he knows how to tune into peoples fantasies, men and women, he always casts beautiful people (Billy Wirth and Sherilyn Fenn to name but a few) and there's so much nervous tension throughout the film it's great! I have 2 soundtracks from his movies and they're fantastic too, I can't believe the rating for this is so low...if you like 'Red Shoe Diaries', 'Two Moon Junction' and of course '9 1/2weeks' then i'm sure you'll love this!