By Dana Berry
Camp Pleasant Lake is billed as “refreshingly indie”. It is indie and if refreshing means to fall face first into a pile of cow dung, it is that as well.
A decent premise is wasted on a movie where every aspect of filmmaking is in a death match to stand out as the worst part of the film. Putting yet another spin on Camp Crystal Lake, the filmmakers call it Camp Pleasant Lake (although it’s also Camp Echo Lake) and turn it into a profitable Camp of Terror, where adult campers are immersed in a weekend of staged killings. Which of course turn out to be real. The revenge backstory is told in the most awkward and confusing way possible. Sadly, the predictable Scream twist is probably the best part of the movie, mainly because it’s near the end of the movie and gives the viewer hope it will soon end.
The first ten minutes of the movie are spent desperately searching for anyone who can act and then it’s Michael Pare (Streets of Fire) who comes to the rescue. Unfortunately, it only gets worse. Besides Pare cashing a check there are a couple of other “known” actors, the best being ’90’s child star Jonathan Lipnicki. To their credit, the filmmakers were democratic. They made sure that every one of the fifty campers and counsellors had at least one line of throwaway dialogue. It would not be surprising if they recruited the actors the night before shooting at Mabel’s Roadhouse.
There should be a limit on the amount of drone footage that can be used in one movie (not to mention the gratuitous train footage that has nothing to do with the plot). The filmmakers also got their money’s worth out of the bleeding knife prop and blood spurt pump. I guess when you have fifty deaths, you don’t have time to get too creative. However, the killer does have a signature karate kick to the face after stabbing his victims.
This is the type of movie that makes one question our purpose on this planet.
Camp Pleasant Lake hits cinemas and VOD platforms on 27 February 2024.
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