Morte no Lago

"Just one more thing and it's all over and we can do whatever we want with our lives." Todd (Labine) wants everything to be just perfect at the family cottage where he plans to propose to Cammie (Akerman). Things are going to plan until his brother and his girlfriend show up. After an attempt to get them to leave goes horribly wrong Todd's brother winds up dead. When Cammie finds out she has one solution, kill his girlfriend as well and no one will ever know. The plan is perfect until they return to the cabin and see a party happening...with guests invited by his brother. I was looking forward to this one mainly because the slasher- comedy movie Tucker and Dale vs Evil was so great I was hoping it would be like that. This did have funny parts in this but overall this wasn't nearly as funny as Tucker and Dale was. Much like that one though this is a very dark comedy and you laugh at things you shouldn't laugh at but the problem for me was that even though the actions were way over the top the actors seemed to play the movie straight. This little aspect made the movie lose some of the laughs that it could have gotten. Comparing this to Tucker and Dale isn't fair but that is the type of movie it is and is not as good as that one. Overall, disappointing but mainly because of my expectations. Not as funny as I was expecting. I give this a B-.

From the producers of "Hobo With a Shotgun" comes Cottage Country. The film's lead being Tyline Labine, who you will probably recognize from the film "Tucker and Dale vs Evil", a film where he both figuratively & literally killed it in the role as Dale. Labine returns to a film filled with accident evil, not quite as good as Tucker and Dale, but a fun romp

Here Labine plays the somewhat more refined role of Todd Chipowski, a man who has planned out the perfect week long getaway at his parent's lake house with his longtime girlfriend Cammie(Malin Akerman). Todd has planned a bit more than just the vacation, he and Cammie have plans to paddle out to the lake's remote island and find the perfect spot for Todd to pop the question. Before they even get settled in, Todd's rowdy, obnoxious brother Salinger(Dan Petronijevic) shows up with his sleazy girlfriend Masha in tow(Lucy Punch). When Todd tells Sal to hit the road they end up in a scuffle which ends up with the better part of an ax head buried into his Sal's neck. When Cammie hears the news, she decides that nothing is going stop their engagement and they continue with their plans on the island. Little do they know that Sal has invited all his friends over for a big bash that very night and they return to find a house full of strangers and a whole lot of explaining,lying and diverting to do as to the whereabouts of Sal and why his car is in the driveway.

It has been done before effectively in numerous dark comedies, but this film has a fresh feel and once it fully gets going, will have you laughing a good deal as well as squirming in your seat. One great surprise for me was the effective zig-zag in the film's final minutes, it does something unpredictable and leaves you with a certain upbeat sense of karma. I think it's a fine choice for some good laughs and some great spurts of uncomfortable tension which I recommend if that's what you're in the mood for.

Malin Akerman (Watchmen) and Tyler Labine (Reaper) are Cammie and Todd, one of those awful couples that have cutesy nicknames for each other. They plan on spending a momentous romantic vacation at Todd's parents cabin by the lake, but when his slacker brother shows up with his girlfriend this go quickly from bad to worse,

A proper black comedy needs to mix the comedy with the macabre. Look at Heathers for black comedy done right. Hell look at Very Bad Things, a film that this one has a passing resemblance to. Both the aforementioned films work because of this mixture. Cottage Country does not. The dark moments aren't funny, the funny scenes not particularly dark. The film is passable entertainment but only marginally so. It's not terrible, just not funny and overlong.

If you know Macbeth, you can have a lot of fun seeing how the basic plot is lifted from that play. The ambitious woman drives her compliant mate to pursue the unthinkable, and having done so, both are haunted by the horror of their deeds. Mix in a little contemporary hilarity for the times, but you can't deny it's the Scottish play. It would have been cool to have read a few reviews that touched on this delightful parallel. It's like seeing 10 Things I Hate about You and finding a classic plot.

I had forgotten the name of the movie, and was searching "movies based on Macbeth" to no avail. I know there was the word cottage or cabin, but beyond that, couldn't think of a single actor's name or anything. Thanks IMDb for documenting everything!

Cammie and Todd are a couple who is trying to find peace and quiet and they go at a cabin in the middle of the woods to have a few days of relaxation. All good until Todd's brother along with his girlfriend Masha arrives at the chalet. They don't realize that are bothering them and after the girls are gone for a little hike Cammie tells Todd to convince his brother to leave them alone. They fight and Todd accidentally kills Salinger and covers his murder. After Masha and Cammie return he tells her what he has just done and Cammie encourages him to get rid of Masha also. They are dumping the part of their bodies after they cut them in the lake and are surprised when they arrive back that a party in the middle of progress is at their house and comprehend that Salinger invite them to come but he wasn't sure if he really made the announcement.

Now the two must behave normal and not to give suspicious to the guest and make them believe that they don't know where the missing couple is. Although this should be easy the situation complicates when Todd has some hallucinations with his dead brother and attracts attention with his unusual behavior. One guest specifically becomes involved and want to find out the truth but end up having the same faith as his friends. When police arrives the couple must play innocent and soon Todd's parent are coming to the cottage but for how long will they manage to hide the reality for those around them?

I catalog this movie to be a black comedy although there are only a few scenes where you laugh for some seconds and in rest it's a little bit silly but still is a good way to spend you Sunday evening.