Lake Dead

Just to get it out of the way, I seem to be one of the only people here who understands that "low budget" isn't an actual criticism. A LOT of things can be done on a shoestring these days, and "low budget" doesn't mean a movie is bad any more than "big budget" means a movie is great.

That being said, I didn't think this was that badly done. Sure, you're working with no-name actors in archetypal characters who aren't particularly polished at their craft. And, of course, it's entirely predictable just like you know it will be simply by reading the synopsis of it before watching/renting. At least they when they shot "day for night" everything wasn't blue like in the first three movies I tried to watch tonight and stopped before getting 3 minutes in.

The problem with this movie - as was the problem was similar movies and others I've seen of late - is that they can't resist trying to slap a little epilogue onto the end of the film that makes no sense. For example, lets say you've been watching a movie where a female character has multiple rendezvous with men during the movie, and after everything is tied up at the end, they tack on a couple of minutes where it's revealed that the female is actually a guy, equipment intact. Because it's obvious that one of the guys earlier in the film would have noticed that, it makes that trick ending insulting to the viewer. This actual circumstance did not happen at the end of this movie, but something equally insulting did.

As in other films, I would have been perfectly happy to give this one 5 stars, but when the writer/director tries to be too cute at the end, I've invariably been left having to knock it down a notch or two.

A decent journey with an ultimately ridiculous destination leaves me no choice but to not recommend this movie.

Three sisters, upon learning that their Grandfather that they never knew has recently died and left them a motel, decide to take a road trip with some friends to the property not knowing that some deviant lunatics are awaiting them there.

Imagine "The Hills have Eyes" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Now imagine if those films had no wit, no finesse, and were deathly boring. OK now you have a good idea what to expect if you're forced to endure this crappy little film. Easily one of the worst of the second crop of "8 films to die for" that I've seen thus far (I've seen 4 of them including this)

Eye Candy: Malea Richardson provides the T&A

My Grade: D-

I look forward to Horrorfest each year, and I always expect a few clunkers in the group, but this one was truly awful. You can see the plot points coming a mile away, and it clearly plays to the teenage T&A crowd. While I don't mind a dose of that in a movie, the horror elements also have to be there for me to enjoy the flick, and in this case, there is just nothing there.

The deaths are a bit creative but, again, nothing that hasn't been done 100 time already. Also, there are enough plot holes to drive a truck through, and a few of the scenes and lines had the audience laughing out loud.

Wait for them to show it on TNT.

The Lake sisters - Brielle (Kelsey Crane), Kelly (Kelsey Wedeen) and their step-sister Samantha (Tara Gerard) - receive a surprising inheritance from their unknown grandfather that has just deceased. Brielle and Kelly join a group of friends and travel in a RV to visit the Lake Motel and decide what to do with the property. Sooner they finds that their unknown relatives are deranged psychos.

"Lake Dead" is an average slasher B-movie and has an unoriginal story that I have seen many times: "The Hills Have Eyes", "Wrong Turn", I can not count many movies with stories similar to the original "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" plus a collection of clichés of the genre (naked women, friends surrounded and under siege by psychos etc.). Even the incestuous relationship among relatives is not original - "Timber Falls" is better and better. But entertains, and my vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Lago da Morte" ("Lake of the Death")

Wow. This movie is painful. Unfortunately, the best performance comes from the former Reality TV star. The acting is awful. I kept getting the feeling that this movie was made by a few guys who wanted to get some chicks naked, play with guns, and screw around with fake blood. This movie is what gives the horror genre such a bad stigma. It strives to be camp, but only succeeds at being terrible. To make matters worse it's completely unoriginal. The guys that made this seemed like they just wanted to recreate some of their favorite slasher horror scenes, then just threw a couple of rape scenes in for that extra shock factor. I'm two into 2007 Horrorfest, and I have yet to be impressed. Maybe they changed judges because this movie is nothing compared to any of 2006 8 films. Don't watch this movie, it may ruin your day.