Comments on: Sam’s Lake (2005)

By: Nathan Shumate

Nathan Shumate — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:42:59 +0000

Well, yeah. It’s a professionally put-together production; it just lacks in the story department.

By: Dan Hostler

Dan Hostler — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:13:20 +0000

Hey, at least they used depth-of-field and somewhat decent cinematography. That has to account for something, right?

By: Nathan Shumate

Nathan Shumate — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:45:06 +0000

I’ll have to bump that a little higher on my list. (Yes, I tell everyone that.)

By: Sandy Petersen

Sandy Petersen — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:37:08 +0000

I did want to point out that the old flick SILENT NIGHT BLOODY NIGHT had a murder house which the town DID want to tear down, and in fact the final murders are in part precipitated because of their attempt to buy the house so this can be done. So at least once the movies treated the idea in a good way.

By: Felicity

Felicity — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:56:58 +0000

“Shucks, it’s nothing that any obsessive pedant with a drive to see pop culture on his own terms wouldn’t do.”

But you do it entertainingly, and that’s tough. (I know; I’ve tried.) I add my thanks to John Campbell’s. Keep it up!

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:20:42 +0000

Great review – I’m a big fan of slasher films playing on and subverting convention. I think with most of these sorts of films there’s always going to be inherent flaws which can be forgiven if, like you say, the writer-director is inventive enough to know the limitations of the film but be creative enough within those limitations to keep the audience entertained. I like the look of the film from your screengrabs – it has that 80s Camp Crystal Lake aesthetic, even though the plot does sound like an all-too familiar set-up. But I’ll be checking this one out.

By: Brimstone

Brimstone — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:32:39 +0000

I spent a week starring in a no-budget film out in the country (‘bush’, since i’m in Aus). i was scared as shit that the locals were going to beat me up or eat me or something

By: Nathan Shumate

Nathan Shumate — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:30:29 +0000

See, I thought that the acting and the screenwriting (or the dialogue at least) were much better than the normal for slasher flicks. I don’t know how I’d judge them against the greater spectrum of film.

By: CMrok93

CMrok93 — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:06:12 +0000

Even though this flick is from 2005 it “feels” as if it was made in 2009 and was an attempt to be original in a worn out genre. Heck, in 2005 it was a worn out genre and this flick shows it. Woods? Check. Lake? Check. Madman who disappeared? Check. The rest of the plot might have been good except the acting and screenwriting were horrible.

By: fish eye no miko

fish eye no miko — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:24:52 +0000

“I’m all for defying genre conventions, but there’s also an obligation to give the audience what they pay for.”

That’s a good point… it’s all well and good to be experimental and all, but if your audience expects a slasher film, you need to give them either 1) a slasher film or 2) a film that’s good enough that the people coming to see a slasher film will enjoy it anyway. If you give people want they want, you can probably get away with half-assing it (hell, even quarter-assing it, if you find the right crowd), but if you’re going to defy their expectations, you better damn well make it worth their while.