The Lake (1998)

A nurse returns to her home town to care for her dying father, and finds everyone she knows there has undergone a bizarre personality change.

Director:

David Jackson (as David S. Jackson)

Writers:

J.D. Feigelson (story), Alan Brennert (teleplay)

Stars:

Yasmine Bleeth, Linden Ashby, Stanley Anderson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yasmine Bleeth	...	Jackie Ivers
Linden Ashby	...	Dr. Jeff Chapman
Stanley Anderson	...	Steve Ivers
Haley Joel Osment	...	Dylan Hydecker
Caroline Lagerfelt	...	Mayor Louise Terry
Susanna Thompson	...	Denise Hydecker
Dewey Weber	...	Officer Gary Reed
Matt Beck	...	Officer Mills (as Matthew Beck)
Robert Prosky	...	Herb
Marion Ross	...	Maggie
Michael Winters	...	Dr. Braden
Carey Scott	...	The Man
Marc Gomes	...	Lt. Governor Chandler
Geoffrey Rivas	...	Chief Ramirez
David Dunard	...	Lt. Frank Thompson (as David S. Dunard)

Storyline

Jackie Ivers is a Los Angeles nurse who returns home to the small town of San Vicente to find that her friends and family have taken on bizarrely different personalities. Jackie notices that everyone who goes into the town's lake come out different. As the movie progresses, Jackie witnesses what is happening to everyone around her as she is kidnapped by people from a parallel world which is the duplicate to Earth but is now polluted and the ozone layer gone. In order to survive, the duplicates intend to take over Earth. The entrance to the duplicate Earth called the vortex, which are located in major bodies of water, ponds, and lakes.

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Plot Keywords:

child gagged | woman in jeopardy | nurse | lake | parallel world | 

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Taglines:

In one small town, still waters don't run deep... They run deadly.

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Genres:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

A rettegés tava

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dennis Hammer Productions, NBC Studios, Peter Frankovich Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Jackie: Maggie, I need your help. Everybody goes into the lake and comes out different.
Maggie: You sure got that right honey.

User Reviews

Enjoyable, eerie movie

What an enjoyable movie this is! It's one of those plots that keep you thinking right the way through the film. This is fortunate, as it tends to distract you from the low budget and sometimes questionable acting. Although it's basically a variation on the old BODY SNATCHERS story, THE LAKE has some interesting angles which make it quite unique.

Yasmine Bleeth, who wraps up warm throughout the movie (well that red bathing suit can't keep much of the cold out!), is passable as the Los Angeles girl who returns home to find her friends and family taking on bizarrely different personalities. She looks good, but cannot quite grasp that lead-actress air that would have been nice. Her biggest assets (those that were exploited every Saturday afternoon in my teens) are defiantly not an issue here (to the credit of Ms Bleeth and the director). So it's good to see her in a role which relies on other talents. The supporting artists in the film, however, are rather unmemorable and serve as 'character wallpaper' in this highly decorated story. Of interest, though, is a slightly younger (and trendier) Haley Joel Osment who has just shot to fame as Cole in THE SIXTH SENSE.

In conclusion, this is an enjoyable movie with flaws that are somewhat masked by a damn good story. A bigger budget would have really made a difference (a cinema release may have been able to give us a glimpse of "the other side" in its exciting climax). But as a TV-movie this definitely works. So jump right in, and stay close to the shore!