Harvest Lake

Harvest Lake_360P

Harvest Lake

Big budget movies often carry big expectations and can easily bring big disappointments, so seeking out something less commercial and financed at a lower budget was the order of the day with 'Harvest Lake'. We had never heard of this previously and although low-budget movies are expected to have bikini-/scantily clad females as some enticement, the main draw was the mildly disturbing, yet enchanting atmospheric lake setting in the trailer. Some reviews of 'Harvest Lake' have made comparisons to other movies and we agree that the surreal 'Under the Skin' is similar in atmosphere to 'Harvest Lake', although 'The Blood on Satan's Claw' is a completely different genre of film, so do not be mislead by such a mention of that early 70's classic. There are some issues with 'Harvest Lake': camera angles and shots could have been improved, especially in the dialogues, along with the exchange between Ben and Cat which was rather contrived. The indoor lighting was another issue, but the lake scenes were perfect, as well as the settings and scene design. If horror and fast thrills are desired, please stay clear of this film - 'Harvest Lake' attempts to create a somewhat supernatural experience and almost pulls off a success from a low-budget attempt. Well done!

Bottom of the line is I thought it was an interesting plot with potential. I also found it interesting that someone reviewing it likened it to a lovecraftian style. I enjoy the way they tried to blend humans with plants and or interspecies in what might be considered a symbiotic relationship. They did very well on the special effects. Cons are that it needed editing to pick up the pace and speed things along more, and I just didn't really get into it like I wanted to. The charactors didn't make me believe that they themselves were really believing what was happening, or whole heartedly really into it. I think with the proper director, crew and a little bit of magic it could be made into a hit.

"Community, Sexuality , Stability," The film starts off like an adult film with two super bodies go at it (Derek Sturgeon + Lucretia Lynn) with full frontal on both. Then they mindlessly walk into the lake until they are gone. The scene changes to two couples (1 couple plus gay guy plus extra eye candy) who do the cabin the woods thing by the lake which takes control of them...more sex, less nudity. The movie had to stretch out scenes, repeating them in the final scene in order to get the length. This may have been better as a short. The dialogue was okay, maybe slightly above par for a "B" horror. Theme wise we are looking at a Hobbesian vision in the form of a Leviathan willing to create a Utopian world where one sacrifices freedom for Utopia. Or it could be horror soft core. Guide: F-word, sex, MFF, MM, bestiality? FF nudity 7 stars for the nudity

If you liked Scarlet Johansson's Under the Skin (2013) but wanted more sex, more lovecraft and a little more dialog without any more exposition you'll probably like this film. The actors are attractive and their characters came across as genuine. I thought it was better than it had any right to be, and it looks like all of the people involved were better than the budget.

No pun intended - and maybe you should not be fooled by my summary line - as some may have been fooled by the poster (which I think is great by the way). The movie is first and foremost a horror movie. There are some erotic undertones and there is nudity, but if this is the reason you want to watch it ... you may as well be dissapointed in the end. There is a lot of mystery, there is a lot of ... well artful thoughts and symbolism I reckon. The lake, what does it stand for? What makes it so ... attractive? You will get answers ... well some answers I reckon. Because while the ending is quite visual, I am not sure if it will be satisfying - sorry for the pun. Also not for the faint hearted or those who have issues with different sexualities and likings ... yes the movie is not just heterosexual - and that was not even planned as a pun ... but there you go ... or come.

Heading out for a weekend in the woods, a group of friends arrives at a secluded cabin where they soon come across a mysterious stranger who joins them, unaware that the trip is about to be crashed by the emergence of a strange entity around the lake that begins to target them one-by-one. Overall, there was quite a lot to like with this one. One of the strongest aspects to this one is the rather strong build-up here that manages to make the group immensely fun and enjoyable. There's no drama or urbane secrets to be had from each other but are instead treated to a wholly enjoyable and fun starting point as they are fun to be around, joking around, offering comebacks to each other and playfully teasing that gives a sense of genuine friendship between everyone. That, in turn, manages to add a strikingly enjoyable quality to the horror scenes later on. The build-up from these early scenes is just as good, going from absolutely stellar scenes featuring a hypnotic quality to the group being affected by the atmosphere of the lake, creating not only a haunting quality to these scenes but likewise furthering the sexualized air created here. As that slowly turns into the discovery of something not quite human being in the woods with them, not only subtle or physical which are all possible due to the fine start this one works from. While this work is incredibly well-done, the strong poetic nature of these scenes does make it hard to fire out the general sense of what's going on. As characters seem to shift between being possessed one minute and acting like they're normal the next, the further throws confusion upon things as we try to figure out the whole plotline involving the group coming under the spell of whatever's living in the woods surrounding the lake which seems to feed on sexual energy. That is furthered along by the surreal, dialogue-less final ten minutes where they seem to be pleasing a gloopy, pulsating blob of some kind, yet without words to fill in the blanks, this becomes somewhat frustrating. That factor does lead to the lone true flaw in the lack of horror action. Although the group is slowly becoming possessed by a strange force living in that area, its intentions are never remotely threatening as the general atmosphere is kept incredibly light. Instead of being stripped away of their humanity and forcing everyone else to do so against their will or meeting their end via a ravenous, blood-crazed beast, the seemingly utopian based nature of whatever's in the lake doesn't provide as much of a jolt as it should've since there's a sense of harmony and euphoria experienced rather than fear and revulsion. As that could combine with the slow, deliberate pace to throw some people off, it's the only issue to be had with the film. Rated Unrated/NC-17: Full Male and Female Nudity, Continuous Sexual Activity, Language, Violence and drug use.

Two beautiful people run into the woods get naked and have softcore but pretty explicit sex and fall asleep. Women wakes up and there's an Adam and Eve moment with some liquid off a leaf. Then they wander mesmerized like into the lake. Apparently the lake makes you horny and walk into it? It's a decent setup and = erotic horror. The only reason this gets 6/10 is for this and the soundtrack and the cinematography, which are pretty good. Minutes, days, months? Later four people show up. One couple, one single straight woman, and one single gay dude. They spend what seems like half the running time of the film sitting around a campfire talking. About what? Who knows. Hint, FF here, because it adds nothing to the plot. Another gay dude shows up so now we have two couples. There's some swimsuit sunbathing by the lake. Apparently the lake creature gets to the single gal, who then wants to have a threesome with the straight couple with no nudity and a brief appearance by the monster (who looks like the trash compactor thing from Star Wars) that no one seems to notice. There's a fully clothed orgy with every one but the first gay dude. Then they run through the woods chasing the gay dude to get him to drink the plant juice. Abruptly they all wind up in some cavern? Under the lake? Where, because there's no water and no explanation of how they get there. They don't show up all at once either, but they all start having sex with an oily giant squash with various orifices and appendages. They seem to be absorbed into it after some rubbing up against it while naked. We must assume this was the fate of the couple at the beginning of the film too. That's it. This really could have been a good movie. The plot (Lovecraftian thing in lake makes you have lots of sex, then you have sex with it until you're absorbed into it) could have worked. It's almost like two different directors made this movie. We get the erotic/suspense at the beginning. Then we get, boredom: broadcast TV sexual content: unexplained connections between the lake monster, the plants, and the single woman; a glacial pace; and an abrupt transition to the end. Finally we get the premise summed up in one 4 minute "sex" scene with the monster.

90% of this movie is people taking about sex and having sex but not in a good way. The horror part starts with 10 minutes left with some boob shaped fruit that brainwashes people. Then the 5 people dive into the bottom of the lake and have sex a lovecraftian monster. And that's it. There's zero explanation of anything and zero reason to watch this.