Director: Scott Schirmer
Year: 2016
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural; Exploitation
Plot:
Heading out for a weekend in the woods, a group of friends arrives at a secluded cabin where they soon come across a mysterious stranger who joins them, unaware that the trip is about to be crashed by the emergence of a strange entity around the lake that begins to target them one-by-one.
Review:
Overall, there was quite a lot to like with this one. One of the strongest aspects to this one is the rather strong build-up here that manages to make the group immensely fun and enjoyable. There's no drama or urbane secrets to be had from each other but are instead treated to a wholly enjoyable and fun starting point as they are fun to be around, joking around, offering comebacks to each other and playfully teasing that gives a sense of genuine friendship between everyone. That starts with the great cast, as both Tristan Risk as Cat and Ellie Church as Jennifer provide fun appearances here with fun, down-to-Earth best friends that are open-minded and amorous that are really fun together. Jason Crowe as the outdoorsman Josh and Dan Nye as the lovelorn Ben are both really likable, displaying a great dynamic which is enhanced by Kevin Roach as the mysterious Mark whose intensity is a great offset to Ben's more reserved nature to compliment everyone nicely in a truly great group.
That in turn manages to add a strikingly enjoyable quality to the horror scenes later on. The build-up from these early scenes is just as good, going from absolutely stellar scenes featuring a hypnotic quality to the group being affected by the atmosphere of the lake as the scenes of the group acting as if in a trance during any kind of overt sexual activity while the forest around them oozes to life, creating not only a haunting quality to these scenes but likewise furthering the sexualized air created here. As that slowly turns into the discovery of something not quite human being in the woods with them, not only subtle like the growing realization that happens between the lovers in the tent or physical as in the twisted vision of the insectoid being creeping out in the threesome in the bedroom which are all possible due to the fine start this one works from.
While this work is incredibly well-done, the strong poetic nature of these scenes does make it hard to fire out the general sense of what’s going on. As characters seem to shift between being possessed one minute and acting like they’re normal the next, the further throws confusion upon things as we try to figure out the whole plotline involving the group coming under the spell of whatever’s living in the woods surrounding the lake which seems to feed on sexual energy. That is furthered along by the surreal, dialogue-less final ten minutes where they seem to be pleasing a gloopy, pulsating blob of some kind, yet without words to fill in the blanks this becomes somewhat frustrating.
That factor does lead into the lone true flaw in the lack of horror action. Despite the fact that the group is slowly becoming possessed by a strange force living in that area, its intentions are never remotely threatening as the general atmosphere is kept incredibly light. Instead of being stripped away of their humanity and forcing everyone else to do so against their will or meeting their end via a ravenous, blood-crazed beast, the seemingly utopian based nature of whatever’s in the lake doesn’t provide as much of a jolt as it should’ve since there’s a sense of harmony and euphoria experienced rather than fear and revulsion. As that could combine with the slow, deliberate pace to throw some people off, it’s really the only issue to be had with the film and it’s simply one that’s down to personal preference.
Overview: ****.5/5
Far more of an arthouse-style genre effort than a true out-and-out horror piece, that's really the only the only main issue to be had here as the rest of the film has plenty to like with it's poetic experiences, grindhouse interludes and overall fun time. Generally go into this one if you're a fan of those experiences or curious about this one based on the crew's previous efforts, while those looking for a straight-up horror experience should heed extreme caution with it.
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