This is a great one. I’d actually recommend watching the film first (about 9 minutes long) before the ‘behind the scenes’ material. Don’t even watch the trailer, just go in clean. Here’s how to watch it. Go to the official site via link below, scroll down a little, and there’s a link to watch it on Hulu (age verification required, or I’d link directly to Hulu).
Yeah, we’ve been putting off watching “Dead Man’s Lake” because …well… honestly, we got sort of impatient waiting for it to snap out of “80s Slasher Film Mode”. At the time we were watching snappy horror shorts around five minutes (or less, sometimes) that scared the beejezus out of us almost right off the bat, hey, not much happening here, probably some candy-ass teen-slasher genre tribute…. We admit it, we got spoiled, OK?
We decided to give this one a chance, because of all the great press it’s been getting; plus it’s an indie, which means Bloody Cuts and the entire team went all out throwing themselves into it. Sure, it might be little slow, with lots of stereotypical 80s Teen Camping Stalk/Slash footage, but that’s just the first few minutes. So just keep watching, because all of a sudden, HOAH! All HELL breaks loose, rattling and rolling its way to a very clever ending reveal that was done so perfectly, I’d recommend it for that alone! If you’re thinking shades of Cabin Fever (which I was predicting 2/3 in while patting myself on the back for thinking I was super-cool because I knew where it was going), well …you would be wrong.
…but surprise surprise, that fun weekend doesn’t go too fucking well!
Now I know why it’s so popular. BTW, you probably don’t want to eat (especially anything warm) while watching this, but Dead Man’s Lake REALLY deserves a look! Not to mention, Dead Man’s Lake is very hard to second-guess. It’s also just a teeny bit disturbing… something tells me I’m in for some real bad dreams tonight! Also, I wish I’d seen the above KICK-ASS poster art for the short before I watched …but you should check it out before you watch! Oh, and here’s a link to the IMDB page for Dead Man’s Lake, if the writing on the poster art for the credits isn’t big enough print (I almost had to get out a magnifying glass). Save it for after you see it, though, just go in clean and check this short out fast! Especially since the first twenty seconds or so below consist of this:
…aaaaand you’re ON! When you’re done, visit the kick-ass official website by clicking here (Note: also spoiler-y, watch the short film first, but take a look, because it’s got all kinds of extras and other cool shit)!
I’ve been following the progress and development for “Dead Man’s Lake” through Bloody Cuts, which have been covering it amazingly. I’m now pleased to say that they have officially released the short “Dead Man’s Lake”.
When 3 campers visit a private lakeside hideaway for some summer fun, little do they know the horror that awaits them…
“Dead Man’s Lake”, an homage to the classic slasher flicks of the ’80s, is the sixth episode in the Bloody Cuts anthology, as well as being the directorial debut of series producer/creator Ben Franklin.
If you want to get the most of watching Dead Man’s Lake then turn out the lights and plug-in your earphones!! Enjoy…
Hey! I highly recommend going into this one clean. Just give it a watch. Relax, though! It’s just one of those funny prank fails, happens to be Halloween-related. Would you wear this lame costume to scare your friends? Watch the short (it’ll fly right by), THEN read my piece underneath (trust me). Perfectly safe for you to shut off the lights and crank to volume up while you watch this viral video below! What could possibly go wrong?
Yeah, you could say that prank failed horribly! I love the idea that someone on You Tube might just think it’s a regular “fail” viral video and have no idea it’s made by a team of talented horror filmmakers. Surprise! Hopefully including the idiotic tweener trolls that now seem to make up half of You Tube’s viewers base, or the elitist hipsters who go out of their way to find something to insult in every video/trailer/clip, no matter how good it is. Actually, I kind of feel sorry for that last group, they’re missing out on some cool stuff.
I found this one while I was looking into the directors of the various segments of V/H/S.; I was most impressed by the first and last stories. The most memorable and fun ones, the ones that actually frightened and even disturbed me. I was fairly sure of the direction “10/31/98” (the segment where three guys go to what they think at first is a really inventive haunted house on Halloween) was taking, though that was due to the fact that one reviewer spoiled the hell out of it by not understanding the fucking difference between writing a plot set-up and a plot synopsis.
That’s on the reviewer, though, because knowing where the plot was going was not due to the writing and acting in the segment itself, which was outstanding. Even with the spoiler for everything but the last five minutes lurking in my brain, things got so freaky and wonderfully chaotic in that final segment that I was 100% in for the ride, and the dénouement was a brilliant and fun payoff. They definitely made the right call saving their segment for last, because it was a show-stopper. Both David Bruckner’s “Amateur Night” and especially “10/31/98” brought something fresh and thrilling to the found-footage genre that’s been given a very bad name in the last ten years by dogshit movies likeThe Devil Inside, Apollo VII (I don’t respect that crappy movie enough to research the correct Roman numerals in the title), 8213 Gacy House, and many, many WAY too many more. You know, the all-too-familiar kind; the ones that don’t have an ending, and instead just …stop.
Yup, the short you just saw and the final segment of V/H/S are indeed both the work of Radio Silence, AKAthe team Chad, Matt & Rob. Like “10/31/98”, the above video sure didn’t end the way I thought (I knew something scary was going to happen, but not ...that ). This “Mountain Devil” short is one of their highest-rated on You Tube, but you can bet your ass I’m going to start watching the rest and posting the best. Let’s hope their work appears in more movies soon and gets the wider audience it deserves!
Is it possible to scare the living shit out of a viewer when the short is less than two minutes long, and the setting is bathed in warm, cheerful sunlight (accompanied by a sweet lullaby, no less)? Yes, it is. However, I’m trying to think of another horror short that accomplishes this and coming up empty. For that alone, this terrifying, rare gem deserves some sort of award.
This one was directed by Marichelle Daywalt. Short …but far from sweet. Listen to the lullaby lyrics right before it cuts out (someone had to point it out to me, I was too busy taking deep breaths to avoid a panic attack)!
Remember that “ABC’s of Death Competition” I raved about in a previous post? This was an official submission, and probably the one I’d have voted on if I’d discovered the contest in time. I realize I already posted Best Claymationshort film of the month, but this one’s live action. It’s flawless and very impressive. I think it’d probably get away with a PG-13 rating –or be very close–in terms of content. Also, doesn’t quite go in the direction you think it will, and I’m usually pretty dead-on (too dead-on for my own good, when my brain ruins plot-twists and reveals and spoils it for myself) at second-guessing plots in any horror content. I also hope it gets the attention it deserves. It was obviously created with care and concern and craftsmanship, and it all comes together perfectly.
…a fine work of film-making that REALLY knows what horror fan audiences want: story, scares, and some gore. A horror film can be pretty good when it contains 2 of the above (for example: good story, good scares, I can live w/the barest amount of gore possible).
I gave it a 10/10 on the IMDB page for the short film (which was written and directed by Michael Foulke, and trust me, he knows what he’s doing. Here’s the official plot description:
An ambitious, cookie selling girl scout who won’t take no for an answer may have bitten off more than she can chew when she knocks on the door of a serial killer.
The writer/director was even cool enough to send me a message when I raved over it and gave it positive feedback (after it blew me away) on the YouTube listing. Here’s how it went:
Me: love it! Not sure where you found that actress, but she NAILED it. I’ve been on a binge of watching these “T” contest entries (unfortunately, discovered it after voting closed) since I found the movie’s site last night, and yours really stands out. Will feature it on my blog. Guess I’ll have to tell people who are too scared to watch it that it has a happy ending…
mfoul2422: Thank you so much for the kind words! I would definitely appreciate you featuring the film on your blog and I’m so glad you enjoyed the film. I found the young actress Ashley when she auditioned for one of my earlier shorts. Even though I ended up going with another little girl, I remembered Ashley and when this came up I gave her a call and asked her to come in for it. I thought she would be great for it and she was. Thanks for watching and posting it on your blog. It really means a lot!
So, a cool horror short with story, scares, and a little gore, plus a really cool director who’s clearly a horror fan himself? This deserves a look, and it’s less than five minutes (plus, I put up the HD version). It’s still got the top ranking on my list (an official actual list is coming in a post soon) for the “T” entries in the competition entries. Check it out!
HORROR BOOM 