Lake Bodom

It was a good surprise this Finish movie. A group of friends go to lake Bodom trying to make a reconstruction on murders that occurred there some years ago. From there the story has a lot of unexpected twists that keeps your interest in the movie. I understand why the rating is low, it's not spoken in English and it's no an American movie, but for me this is really a good movie,with good acting and with a story full of twists. I recommend this movie.

So I guess I just didn't "get" LAKE BODOM. Why was it a good idea to go to the isolated site where a group of campers were massacred in the 1960s? To "recreate it"? And if there was an active psycho back then, he'd be in his 70s now...or early 80s? This film just seemed to lurch from one "surprise" to another and instead of show don't tell, the characters sat in the car and explained at great length why they did what they did. I thought the acting was fine, but the character's motivations seemed wildly out of sync with what they were reacting to. And no fault of the filmmakers, but the subtitles (yes, it's subtitled) are pretty bad. What's also interesting is that while the critics love it at RT, with a current score of 100% from 6 critics, audiences only give it a 38%. I'm one of those who is fine with "movie logic" but if you're going to have your psycho appear at the end, he needs some kind of explanation or we're to believe that for no reason whatsoever he hangs out in the woods for 50+ years...just hanging out?

It can be a tricky thing to make a film around actual real-life killings. Daniel Farrands has found that out the hard way. While the film is really its own story entirely, the fact that is refers to the real-life killings at all has probably garnered it some unfair/fair (depending on your point of view) hatred. If you look at it just as a film purely made for entertainment purposes however, it isn't half bad.

I love me some European horror. They aren't afraid to go to the places that the American filmmakers are. This is a film that gets darker and darker as it goes along. It keeps one-upping itself.

There are some jump scares in this movie that have the most ridiculously loud noise accompanying them in relation to the sound mix. It's almost impossible to not get a fright, not so much because the scare is well crafted (it usually isn't) but just because the noise is so unexpectedly loud.

I didn't mind this film. If you go in just looking to be entertained then you'll likely have some fun with it. I can see it being considered insensitive too though and wouldn't argue with anyone trying to make that point. 7/10.

I don't know what to say about this one. It's an original approach which is great, but I felt that the execution didn't really work that well. I think the first plot twist should have been the only one and should have happened much later, like...in the last scene.

Even if the production values and the acting are positive things to mention, I don't think the film did something particularly well (except the existence of the first plot twist). The first act was a bit lame and not that exciting (ok, the build-up on these films is always very similar but this wasn't one of the most exciting), then the suspense and slasher elements of the 2nd act run for no more than 10/15 minutes (the best part of the film) and after that we have the 2nd plot twist that doesn't need to exist and it's not that interesting ending on a low note.

5,1 out of 10 is a disgrace to this film. Well-paced, well-acted, suspenseful and a somewhat original plot (see for yourself) with a few good twists and turns. The very most parts of the film take place in the woods, and the solid nature definitely builds up a true horror atmosphere to the film.

"Lake Bodom" also has this great unsettling "nerve" to it, which reminds me of some of the best classic 80s horror flicks like "Just Before Dawn" and "The Burning".

In my opinion "Lake Bodom" is the best Finnish horror flick out there. Well worth a watch for horror hounds and/or people who appreciate an entertaining, thrilling 85 minute ride!