I noticed this film while browsing at a local Blockbuster, and the DVD cover and story premise on the back were good enough to make me want to rent it. I went back and picked it up a day or so later. It was one of countless low budget horror films, and I wasn't really expecting a Hollywood blockbuster with it. In that regard, I can't say I was disappointed. I don't buy the, "It's low budget, don't expect LOTR" argument; I don't ever expect such a thing from any film. Hell, when I saw LOTR I wasn't expecting LOTR, so that's a non-issue.
What I was hoping for was a film that lived up to its compelling premise. Did Ghost Lake deliver? Sadly, no.
The story begins interestingly enough - Rebecca's parents have just died thanks to a gas leak in their house, and Rebecca (who was out banging some stranger in her back seat at the time) blames herself. Upon returning home after the funeral, she is plagued with ghostly visions of her parents that drive her to eventually retreat to her family's summer cabin, near an enormous lake. En route, she nearly runs down a guy named Stan, who begs for a ride. After a bit of character development and the nascence of a romance, Rebecca discovers a dead body in the lake, which vanishes as soon as the authorities are called in. The sheriff relates the story of how the lake is artificial and that an entire town was flooded to create it. This apparently has some truth to it, if IMDb's trivia is to be believed; however, it seems highly bizarre and impractical to destroy a town simply to create a lake. Rebecca is caught up in a series of increasingly confusing events where we find that the dead are able to look, act, and interact like the living. The number 13 plays a pivotal role in a cycle of death that has been operating at the lake since the town was destroyed. Rebecca escapes with her life and breaks the cycle.
The story starts off promising, but it becomes very convoluted and confusing as it progresses. Repeated viewings might help clear things up a bit, but that works against the film. You should want to re-watch it for the fun of it, to catch things you might have missed - not just to understand the plot. Admittedly, this concept is original and a breath of fresh air in the genre. But the narrative falls apart at the end, and there are too many gaping holes in the mythos to really appreciate the story in its entirety. On the other hand, there are some fabulous observations about the nature of death and the operation of the two key components of human beings: body and soul. Sadly, this seems thrown in and doesn't mesh well with the story at large. Had it been a recurring theme, it might have made for a stronger film.
The acting is what you'd expect from low budget, worse for the supporting cast. The sheriff and doctor were both woeful. Tatum Adair was decent, but the character was fairly bland. Her psychological turmoil was interesting but poorly handled. Rebecca comes off as something of a slut from the get-go, willing to have sex with a guy she's only just met. On the upside, she's quite beautiful so the gratuitous sex scene is pretty easy on the eyes.
Her parents seemed too good to be true. Certainly within the context of the situation - her mother seems a bit off, and her father is wheelchair bound, and she has been taking care of them - it's understandable that they would want her to go out. I think it's mostly bad writing that makes them come off a bit too Cleaver-ish.
The supporting players - the little girls, the doc, the sheriff, and Stan - were all replaceable and completely forgettable.
As for direction, this film suffers in that department. The camera angles are all straightforward - no risks are taken There was also a drastic over-use of split screen panels that was extremely distracting. It was a stylistic choice, but a poor one, as the film seemed to be edited by a rookie wanting to play with their editing software than someone interested in cutting together a good film. What few "action" sequences there were, were also poorly shot, with no tension whatsoever. I don't mind a purely psychological film with little action - it worked wonders in "The Others" for example. I'm talking about dramatic tension - it just wasn't there at all. Not when she ran into zombies, not when she was being chased... nowhere.
The audio was likewise at the standard low budget level. Most of the score sounded like it was put together on a keyboard. The quality of audio capture was also poor - some scenes it was just hard to hear, and throughout the film it just sounded poor. Again, though, with low budget films it is to be expected to a certain extent. Still, I'm a videographer and own a number of mics that capture better quality sound; they aren't that expensive.
Overall, Ghost Lake is a great concept that suffers from extremely weak - darn near amateurish - execution. From mediocre writing to a lack in even basic technical and editing skills, the film comes across as the lowest of low budget. The special effects are actually pretty good comparatively, and I'm not quibbling over those. It's the basics - good cinematography, good lighting, good audio... these are all lacking, and combine to weaken what is already a weak script with a strong concept.
It might be worth a rental because it IS entertaining in its own way. But mostly, it's not in the same way the director likely intended it to be...
What I was hoping for was a film that lived up to its compelling premise. Did Ghost Lake deliver? Sadly, no.
The story begins interestingly enough - Rebecca's parents have just died thanks to a gas leak in their house, and Rebecca (who was out banging some stranger in her back seat at the time) blames herself. Upon returning home after the funeral, she is plagued with ghostly visions of her parents that drive her to eventually retreat to her family's summer cabin, near an enormous lake. En route, she nearly runs down a guy named Stan, who begs for a ride. After a bit of character development and the nascence of a romance, Rebecca discovers a dead body in the lake, which vanishes as soon as the authorities are called in. The sheriff relates the story of how the lake is artificial and that an entire town was flooded to create it. This apparently has some truth to it, if IMDb's trivia is to be believed; however, it seems highly bizarre and impractical to destroy a town simply to create a lake. Rebecca is caught up in a series of increasingly confusing events where we find that the dead are able to look, act, and interact like the living. The number 13 plays a pivotal role in a cycle of death that has been operating at the lake since the town was destroyed. Rebecca escapes with her life and breaks the cycle.
The story starts off promising, but it becomes very convoluted and confusing as it progresses. Repeated viewings might help clear things up a bit, but that works against the film. You should want to re-watch it for the fun of it, to catch things you might have missed - not just to understand the plot. Admittedly, this concept is original and a breath of fresh air in the genre. But the narrative falls apart at the end, and there are too many gaping holes in the mythos to really appreciate the story in its entirety. On the other hand, there are some fabulous observations about the nature of death and the operation of the two key components of human beings: body and soul. Sadly, this seems thrown in and doesn't mesh well with the story at large. Had it been a recurring theme, it might have made for a stronger film.
The acting is what you'd expect from low budget, worse for the supporting cast. The sheriff and doctor were both woeful. Tatum Adair was decent, but the character was fairly bland. Her psychological turmoil was interesting but poorly handled. Rebecca comes off as something of a slut from the get-go, willing to have sex with a guy she's only just met. On the upside, she's quite beautiful so the gratuitous sex scene is pretty easy on the eyes.
Her parents seemed too good to be true. Certainly within the context of the situation - her mother seems a bit off, and her father is wheelchair bound, and she has been taking care of them - it's understandable that they would want her to go out. I think it's mostly bad writing that makes them come off a bit too Cleaver-ish.
The supporting players - the little girls, the doc, the sheriff, and Stan - were all replaceable and completely forgettable.
As for direction, this film suffers in that department. The camera angles are all straightforward - no risks are taken There was also a drastic over-use of split screen panels that was extremely distracting. It was a stylistic choice, but a poor one, as the film seemed to be edited by a rookie wanting to play with their editing software than someone interested in cutting together a good film. What few "action" sequences there were, were also poorly shot, with no tension whatsoever. I don't mind a purely psychological film with little action - it worked wonders in "The Others" for example. I'm talking about dramatic tension - it just wasn't there at all. Not when she ran into zombies, not when she was being chased... nowhere.
The audio was likewise at the standard low budget level. Most of the score sounded like it was put together on a keyboard. The quality of audio capture was also poor - some scenes it was just hard to hear, and throughout the film it just sounded poor. Again, though, with low budget films it is to be expected to a certain extent. Still, I'm a videographer and own a number of mics that capture better quality sound; they aren't that expensive.
Overall, Ghost Lake is a great concept that suffers from extremely weak - darn near amateurish - execution. From mediocre writing to a lack in even basic technical and editing skills, the film comes across as the lowest of low budget. The special effects are actually pretty good comparatively, and I'm not quibbling over those. It's the basics - good cinematography, good lighting, good audio... these are all lacking, and combine to weaken what is already a weak script with a strong concept.
It might be worth a rental because it IS entertaining in its own way. But mostly, it's not in the same way the director likely intended it to be...