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Lake Artifact
USA 2019
produced by Bruce Wemple, Dylan Grunn, Nate VanDeusen, Anna Shields, Catharine Daddario, Chris Cimperman, Thomas Brazzle, Rick Montgomery, Grant Schumacher for 377 Films, Lil Red Hen Media
directed by Bruce Wemple
starring Thomas Brazzle, Catharine Daddario, Anna Shields, Dylan Grunn, Chris Cimperman, Grant Schumacher, Rick Montgomery jr, Ben Hauck, Sheila Ball, John Willoughby Noble, Adrian Burke, Delil Baran
written by Bruce Wemple, music by Nate VanDeusen, Dylan Grunn
review by Mike Haberfelner
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On their way to a remote cabin by a lake in the middle of nowhere for
some partying, Tommy (Thomas Brazzle), Grace (Catharine Daddario), Megan
(Anna Shield) and Kip (Chris Cimperman) run into car trouble, and
fortunately they also run into a stranger, Thomas (Dylan Grunn), who
manages to fix their car in a flash - and thus they invite him to their
party ... also maybe because he carries a large crate of beer with him.
Now the party goes pretty well, and they all get mighty drunk, but the
next day, everything seems slightly off, especially since they find photos
of themselves at the lake lying around that they definitely have not taken
(and that's already taking drunk memory loss into account). Also on these
photos there are people in the background that ought to not be there. Then
Kip leaves to get some supplies, and just fails to return. Tommy and
Thomas go looking for Kip, but however far they go, they seem to just run
in circles. Later they run into an old man (John Willoughby Noble) they
knock out in a defensive over-reaction, later tie up because he spooks
them out. The old man soon breathes his last, but not before Megan finds
out he's actually Kip, only decades older. Then Kip returns, without
supplies, as apparently as much as he wanted to get some, he found himself
traveling in circles ... and suddenly Megan wants to kill Kip, as the old
man told her before dying that they are caught in a time loop, and only
one of them will be able to escape. The others lock up Megan, but that
doesn't stop Thomas from being killed, and the others soon go pretty
crazy, as the more they think about it, the more they figure Megan might
be right - but if they're assuming that, that means that this might not
end well for most of them ...
Now true, above synopsis probably sounds more than a little
confusing, but the whole time loop premise makes a lot more sense when
actually watching the movie, as it's integrated into the story very well,
and also adds to both the mystery and the dread of the whole thing. So
while in the first half the film might still feel like a slasher (after
all, the set-up is pretty much slasher 101), the movie eventually veers
off into much darker territory where your best friends become your worst
enemies. And thanks to a very solid directorial effort that doesn't try
too hard to make sense of it all (and in process explain everything away),
and a very capable cast, this has actually turned out to be a rather cool
piece of horror. If
this has at all gotten you interested, you can find this movie on
TerrorTV.
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