Ghost Lake - movie review

David Brown



While browsing the local video store, I found the two for one dollar section. Naturally I did the first thing that came to mind and started searching for some fun movies to watch. I looked in the z section first and sadly found no zombie movies. I then searched the u section and found no undead movies. Feeling like I was defeated I went in search of the d section during which time I passed along the g section. It was there that Ghost Lake jumped out at me. It showed a nice image of a ghastly figure coming forward out of a lake. I picked it up and read the back during which I found a summary detailing zombies coming from a cursed lake to hunt their victims every 13 years.

With DVD clutched in my hand, I completed the rental transaction and was on my way home. A few days of work made it impossible to watch more than a brief glimpse of it. It was only tonight that I was able to sit down and give it my full attention. First and foremost I want to say that the menu layout is very muddled with every option except for play being at the bottom of the screen, causing you to miss the play option if you didn’t search carefully. This was the first warning that the movie was not as good as it billed itself.


From here the movie only went down hill at a brisk pace. We are given as the box described a story of a cursed lake. Our main character runs to the lake in the small town following the death of her parents due to a gas leak. This gas leak by all common sense should have been clear and odorless as it was leaking from the stove, but the film ruins this by making it appear the color of fog. It is one thing to have the viewer suspend their disbelief for zombies and ghosts but to make them think a gas leak appears like a fog is a bit too far for me.


Bad effects aside there are kills that happen on screen at times where no actual fake blood is used. I kid you not there was a scene where a person was bludgeoned and fake digitized/cartoon blood was splashed on the screen. There is also a laughable puppet that is supposed to be a drowned girl that is one thing to see on a table, but totally becomes worse once it start to move and talk. Truly we have a laughable movie that feels so disjointed that you have to force yourself to keep watching. In watching the behind the scenes, we have our director saying eh didn’t want to have blood in the film, which I think is a laughable concept considering the amount of needless tna that is shown.


We have a film with a very think plot that easily become predictable. You find after about 50 minutes of watching that the rest of the movie is one that you the viewer could have created better. The director praises the film for being so good on a small budget, but I have seen movies with far less do so much more. (If you want to know what I mean go read the review of the Italian Zombie Movie). One other big complaint is that it is never really clear whether you are watching a zombie movie or a ghost movie, with even the director never being honest. In what has been said I feel that I am still giving this film too much credit.


In being fair, it tries to give us a decent story of a cursed lake and a woman trying desperately to stop it. If you have someone who wants to give you a good laugh then watch this movie... with caution. It is a sad attempt at a ghost movie and an even sadder attempt at a zombie movie. It is a film where zombies eat no flesh nor hunger for brains. It is a sad train wreck of a movie and a cheap attempt to cash in on the word itself. Like any good hunter, if you see this movie, treat it like a zombie and stop it before it reaches the rest of civilization.