Reviewed by Carol Sullivan
Genre: Horror
Released: November 9th, 2007
(After Dark Horrorfest 2)
Rating: R for strong violence/gore, a rape scene, language, some sexual content and drug use
Director: George Bessudo
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Starring: Alex A. Quinn, Tara Gerard, Dan Woods, Vanessa Viola, Kelsey Wedeen, James C. Burns, Jim Devoti, Edwin Craig, Malea Richardson, Kelsey Crane, Cyrus Alexander, Ryan Coughlin
Studio: After Dark Films
On DVD:
March 18th, 2008
DVD Features
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“Miss Horrorfest Contest” Webisodes
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"I bet you're never gonna want to leave... ever !" -- Gloria Lake (Pat McNeely)
Having been a little under-whelmed by the first two of the 2008 AfterDark Horrorfest's selections, I picked up Lake Dead with dread. Determined and clinging to hope that this one would renew my faith in the 8 Films to Die For, I stuck it in my trusty, if not overused, DVD player. Read on, if you dare...
Lake Dead begins as three sisters discover that they have inherited a motel from a dead grandfather they didn't know they had. At the grandfather's funeral they curse their father for not giving them the opportunity to know dear old Grandad and announce their plans for their inherited motel. The father insists that they should stay away from the hotel, but the girls are not listening.
So gathering a few friends, they climb in an enormous motor home and head north to see what their inheritance holds. Brielle (Kelsey Carne) and her sister, Kelly (Kelsey Wedeen), are unsure if they should sell the motel or keep it and have allowed sister Sam (Tara Gerard) to go ahead of them to check it out. But, as expected, the Lake Motel is not what it seems.
Moments after her arrival, Sam is attacked by two enormous Neanderthal men in coveralls and clunky black boots. Looking a little too much like Michael Meyers for my taste, the two men are silent under scruffy manes of long hair. They drag Sam out to the lake where, after weighing her down with a cinder block, they drop her in.
After more of their friends are murdered and go missing, local sheriff Chuck (James C. Burns) shows up, and the two remaining sisters finally learn the truth. They have been brought to the Lake Motel for a reason; to keep the tradition of the Lake family going: a horrible tradition of incest and murder.
I suppose the writer and Director felt it was necessary for the story line to show the two Neanderthal brothers raping the women before they killed them, but I found it repulsive. Surely there was another way to infer what was going on, without showing it again and again and again.
All in all, I found Lake Dead to be tiresome, with a weak plot, poor acting and too much sex - both willing and un-willing. I would be remiss if I did not warn against this flick.
Overall Rating: 0
VIDEO | Original Trailer |
