Ithaca 2015 Review: LAKE NOWHERE Treads Nostalgic Waters

The film is reminiscent of some of Astron-6's output, except that there is nothing particularly tongue-in-cheek about it. The 51-minute flick starts off with some fake trailers and even a beer commercial that I enjoyed and made me wonder; besides the Grindhouse fake trailers packaged with Planet Terror and Death Proof, where isn't there a big beautiful collection of these somewhere?

Anyway, there's a giallo trailer entitled When the Rivers Run Red as well as one for the type of nature-run-amok films popular during the '70s called Harvest Man. That pumps us up, and then we get into the actual film Lake Nowhere. The well-worn plot --- teens go to a cabin in the words and run afoul of a killer after doing all that typical stuff, sex, drugs, drinking --- isn't the point. A film like this one relies on murders and FX gags (created here by Madeleine Koestner and Jonathan Phelps). This wasn't made for fans of Boyhood, Selma, or any Hollywood tentpole or prestige film.

For the most part, the film actually looks like it was made decades ago. It has that veneer of grime, that brownish-yellow tint that muddies the picture --- and that's sincerely enjoyable. At Ithaca, I heard that the filmmakers repeatedly put the film through old VHS decks to achieve the correct look and feel of that era. The camera moves freely and quickly, which helps to instill a sense of frenzy. I'm not sure they used ANY lighting, but for a film like this, that equates to a small detail. For those who grew up on old horror video tapes, this is a lake that offers visually deep nostalgic waters. (For a short period of time, Lake Nowhere VHS tapes were available for sale in the theatre's lobby.)

Directors Christopher Phelps and Max Van Scoy clearly have a love of genre films. The kills and the gore are usually pretty great when the film gets going. Just like an older film, the plot takes its time to advance. There's some fat to trim, but once you get to the meat, Lake Nowhere is a tasty dish.