Camp Pleasant Lake, 2024.
Directed by Thomas Walton.
Starring Jonathan Lipnicki, Bonnie Aarons, Michael Paré
SYNOPSIS:
A couple reopen a campsite as an immersive attraction for horror fans. The events of the past intertwine with the present in mysterious and horrifying ways.
The campsite is such a staple of slasher horror films. The comfort for fans is often in the sense that you know the tropes and what might happen. An audience pretty much knows that most of the cast are going to get offed in inventive ways by the killer. Back stories are less important than the stunts, kills, and the thrill of the chase, and how, when or if the killer is unmasked.
Thomas Walton’s Camp Pleasant Lake aims to breathe new life into the campsite horror. It doesn’t succeed.
An overly convoluted introduction set in the past confuses matters straight from the off. Supposedly showing why the camp was shut down before being regenerated by Rick and Darlene Rutherford as an immersive horror experience, the opening scenes focus on two kids, Echo and Jasper dispatched at the camp by their bickering parents. After some unpleasant bullying from some older campers, poor little Echo is abducted by a grim-faced biker who they had earlier encountered at a petrol station.
Back to the present and it’s revealed that Echo and her brother were never seen again. Oh yeah, apparently, he went missing too. Also, their parents were murdered. Well, that’s certainly horrible, but the most horrifying thing about this film is how badly the thing is held together. The story jumping around all the place doesn’t make any sense at all, and it seems to be deliberately messed up to hide a seriously underwhelming central story.
That wouldn’t be much of an issue had the thing been funnier and more camp. As it is, the movie seems to think that by stuffing the film with a huge cast of genre performers and supporting actors doing a sort of cosplay for slasher flicks there will be sufficient fun to be had.
However, it turns out that Camp Pleasant Lake offers the one thing that slasher films really don’t want and that’s boredom. There’s a sluggish apathy about the film that isn’t helped by a failure to subvert any of the cliches associated with the genre.
It’s a shame as there was a chance to find some fun with the concept, such as it is. Even the most minimally scripted slashers can be a laugh if the set pieces are creatively thought out. Not the case here, unfortunately. Everything plays like a one-note bash to the head, dulling any potential thrills as soon as they get close.
As it turns out, the film is like a holiday from hell in the worst possible sense.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★
Robert W Monk
