Ghost Lake (Video 2004)

In a small town in upstate New York, local residents were drowned as a dam was built and the town was flooded to create the Rushford Lake. One hundred years later, the souls of the drowned are becoming restless...

Director:

Jay Woelfel

Writer:

Jay Woelfel

Stars:

Tatum Adair, Timothy Prindle, Gregory Lee Kenyon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tatum Adair	...	Rebecca Haster
Timothy Prindle	...	Stan James
Gregory Lee Kenyon	...	Sheriff Dobbs
Azure Sky Decker	...	Flora / Saundra Tompson
Chuck Franklin	...	Doctor Bloch
Damian Maffei	...	Young Fisherman / Son #2 on Boat
Dan Metcalf	...	Old Fisherman
Linda Brown	...	Ruth Haster
Raymond Suriani	...	Richard Haster
Rick Kesler	...	Reverend
Edward M. Valenta	...	Sexy Club Guy
Mary Ann Layman	...	Librarian
Carolyn Ricketts	...	Grandma Tompson
Richard M. Kennedy	...	Grandpa Tompson
Cindy Ohanian	...	Car Crash Wife

Storyline

Rebecca Haster blames herself for the death of her parents and decides to spend sometime alone in the lakeside cottage of her parents in Rushford Lake. She meets Stan James on the road and gives a lift to the stranger. Later they become friends, while Rebecca sees supernatural events with drowned people in the lake. While searching the accidents in the library, she finds that mysterious deaths happen in the spot every thirteen years.

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Plot Keywords:

lake | death | small town | ghost | accident | 

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Taglines:

Evil Rises.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror images and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

American World Pictures [Distributor] Young Wolf Productions

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 2005 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

The Empty Lake

Filming Locations:

Rushford, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$110,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Young Wolf Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rebecca's cottage in the film was actually used as living quarters for nearly the entire first billed cast and the crew during filming. The garage to the next door cottage was initially used as the makeup and effects room, but was later moved to the basement of Rebecca's cottage.

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Goofs

As Becky is confronting Flora/Saundra in the library, we see the dollhouse behind Becky. We already know there's no one else in the library except the librarian, yet when the camera is on Becky, you can see that someone playing with puppets in the attic window of the dollhouse.

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Quotes

Sheriff Dobbs: No, don't die... yet.

User Reviews

Eat your heart out remake of 'The Fog'

It's amazing what filmmakers can do on a small budget. All you need is a great imagination and a love for what you do. A lot of the greatest Horror films were made with little money. 'Halloween' wasn't even made for half a million dollars and to this day it has a loyal following. With the birth of the video market in the 80s, it became possible for pretty much anyone to make a film. Enter Jay Woelfel, the man who gave us the sleeper 'Beyond Dreams Door.' 24 years later, he's still making films on small budgets. Though not a genre classic, this 2004 offering is another great effort worth checking out.

Pros: Great performances by Tatum Adair, Timothy Prindle, Gregory Lee Kenyon and Azure Sky Decker. Writer/director Woelfel still has a great eye. He also composed a haunting score. Suspenseful story full of twists and turns. Beautiful scenery. Some eerie sequences. Quite good effects. Steady pace.

Cons: Amateur performances by nearly all the other actors. Some poor dialogue here and there. A bit too much exposition. Could have been trimmed by a few more minutes.

Final thoughts: Just like Woelfel's feature debut 'Beyond Dream's Door,' this was obviously a labor of love. A lot of effort went into making a suspenseful ghost story with more depth than others. There are a few bumps in the road, but the good far outweighs the bad. Aspiring filmmakers could learn a thing or two by watching little gems like this.

My rating: 3.5/5