Movie Review: LAKE NOWHERE (2014)

I'm a sucker for a well-done homage, and that's absolutely what we have here. LAKE NOWHERE is a loving tribute to those halcyon days of the 1980's VHS era, and does a great job of invoking the memories of finding an unknown gem of a flick sitting on a shelf in the horror-section. And I have to say, its definitely worth the nostalgic ride that follows.

In this modern world of digital releases, its as easy as proverbial pie to find something worth watching. From Netflix, to Amazon Prime, YouTube, Hulu, Shudder, Disney Plus, Tubi, Pluto TV, and more, you can browse, select, and start watching in less time than it took to wait in line at BLOCKBUSTER (I don't miss you, btw), or your favorite mom-and-pop video store (I do miss you).

Now, as AWESOME as this convenience is, there's also something that has been lost in the process, a feeling that amounts to the thrill of the hunt, not to mention that sense of anticipation once you had it in your grubby, little hands. Back in "the day", for example, you could go to one of your favorite video-stores, and search and search for something you've been itching to see for months, or maybe even years. And even if the store may have acquired said gem, you may get there only to find that it had been rented out to someone else. So there were definitely times when heading home with a new video to watch could feel like a real accomplishment. Combine that with the effort of ordering a pizza or making a big bowl of popcorn, or even inviting a friend or two to watch with you. and you have yourself an experience that can be difficult to replicate these days.

Yes. I'm old. Hush.

Anyway, the way we do things now is so much better in most respects. You don't have to make an extra trip, you don't have to wait in line, you don't have to worry about a lack of available copies, you don't have to rewind, you don't have to worry about late-fees, you don't have to worry about making tracking-adjustments, or worn-out portions of a tape, and you sure as hell don't have to worry about your VCR deciding to eat the magnetic tape because technology SUCKS. Hell, you can also easily skim some reviews (both critical and user reviews) before you commit your precious time. But, I'm digressing a bit here.

So, if you were anything like me at all, your main criteria for judging the quality of any mom-and-pop video store revolved around their sections for SCI-FI and HORROR. If those shelves were poorly populated, then you might decide the place was next to worthless, or at least, way down the list. Now, while you stalk the rows and rows of VHS boxes, if you were something of a connoisseur of the genre, you might have been forewarned to a degree by reading something like FANGORIA every month. Its reviews section was a definite boon during that era, I have to say. But even it couldn't keep up with the sheer volume of releases that were hitting the shelves at times, so there were definitely times when you might have to take a gamble and risk watching something that could either be a diamond in the rough, or a dirty pile of broken glass that makes you wonder why you bothered popping some corn.

LAKE NOWHERE replicates that sense of finding the proverbial diamond-in-the-rough. Filmed in upstate New York, and kicking itself off with fake trailers before the "feature presentation" starts, you can tell a LOT of love and enthusiasm went into this production, because it really goes out of its way to replicate the FEELS involved with watching an old rental. And in this case, watching someones BOOTLEG copy of an old rental. I mean, we all knew that guy (or were that guy) who had two VCRs and would daisy-chain em together to copy films that had no embedded copy-protection. And this film feels just like that: a bit worn, with tracking-issues, and a few flickers of the video that was on the VHS cassette before they taped over the contents with LAKE NOWHERE. Its a very nice touch in a film filled with nice touches. From the filming style, the locations, the clothes, the car, this movie does a pretty damn fine job of replicating something that looks like it was shot in 1978-80, and hit the rental shelves in 1983.

Coming across as nothing less than the thematic love-child of THE EVIL DEAD and JUST BEFORE DAWN, there's some absolutely gorgeous low-budget cinematography to be found in LAKE NOWHERE, some great sound-design, and some wonderful musical scoring as well. The actors all give fair account of themselves, especially Wray Villanova as Bonnie, who was, for me, the standout here, and I would dearly love to see her in more things. The horror-elements are well-executed, and there's plenty of grue for the gorehounds that restrains itself enough to be satisfying, without descending into the realm of overkill.

If there's one thing that's actually wrong with this film, its the run-time, but even that can be viewed as one of its great strengths. The main feature itself is essentially a deluxe short-film less than 45 minutes long, and because of that, it moves at a very brisk pace and doesn't overstay its welcome. BUT, because its so endearingly good, you may be left wanting more. I know I was left with that feeling, but I also know that extending the feature could have left us dealing with unnecessary padding that would have bogged the whole thing down. Lord knows too many flicks suffer from that very issue, and have suffered from that issue since for-fuck-ever.

Final verdict? If you feel like investing 50 minutes of your time in an effort to replicate the feeling of shuffling down those video-store isles in the mid-80's in search of something good, or of pulling something from a friend's little stash of bootleg VHS movies, then LAKE NOWHERE may just be your cup of tea. Or coffee. Or blood. Or whatever.

And before I sign off, a tip of the hat to good old August "Gus" Winter, wherever you are, owner of EMPORIUM VIDEO, the best video store in Logan WV for the entirety of its lifetime. Here's to you, buddy!

Four-and-a-half stars! ****1/2