I would first like to open this review by stating one of the funniest and best lines out of the entire movie: "That's how you f***k, family." With that out of the way, this was an interesting film that caught me off guard. I expected a movie that was worse than Ghost Lake or Zombie Lake. Boy I couldn't be further from the truth. This movie is about three four sisters who inherit the Lake Hotel from there newly found grandfather, their dad did not tell them about him for "security" reasons, and the sisters soon realize that their grandfather was murdered and that there are these men who are trying to kill them. I will say that this movie had some pretty okay acting and the scares somewhat there. You'll also see that this movie was influence by some earlier movies that had the same premise.
Let me get started by stating that story was heavily influence by a warm house blend of Wrong Turn, The Hills Have Eyes, "Home" from the X-Files and the Texas Chainsaw. You'll notice why it incorporates these films because of two main concepts presented in this film. One being deformed brothers, who wear jumpsuits, running around and murdering/raping teenagers (Wrong Turn, Hills, Home) and secondly the biggest concept I will not say since it involves a twist ending but that ideas includes movie like Texas Chainsaw and Hills. The storyline was somewhat tiring, you figure that these teens have to be beautiful people with hot bodies or this would never work, furthermore, they have to inherit a house or hotel that comes with killers. Kind of tiring. What turns this already milked story into original is the twist and subtext of the movie, which I will not say. It can become over the top and points and even to melodramatic. I could compare this movie to an A&E special or Cold Case reenactment gone horribly wrong, but than I would contradict myself, since I obviously like this movie.
That acting was good, but in parts. The beginning of the movie seemed like it was an afternoon soap opera like General Hospital. This being that the dialogue seemed scripted and painfully dramatic. Malea Richardson, who plays the foul-mouthed drunk sister, who, for my taste, swore too much. In one short scene she says about 10 F bombs, and even for a movie of this caliber, it was unnecessary. There were some okay jokes and at points the teens reacted to minor details as being life threatening, even before they got to the lake. Plus there is a random unnecessary drug scene and an unwanted sex scene. However, when the first murder takes place, that's when his TBS drama turns into a Fright Night. When the sisters begin to display real emotion, when the male character becomes the hero and villains become more real and into their characters. Half of the movie was okay acting and the other half was great horror acting.
Scares were not big in this movie, but when they did appear, it was okay. The parts where those 6ft brutes blast down camper doors and appear out of nowhere and asphyxiate their victims where a bit scary, and I admit that I jumped here or there. Of course I saw this in a darkened theater during Horror Fest. What was scary was not only just those deformed Billy brothers but the family in which they come from, again I will not say since this is a twist and I don't want to ruin it, but that realization is far more disturbing than those evil twins. There is a point when the killer pickaxes a girl in the ear and she cries blood as her eye turns red, yeah, a great example of classic slasher horror.
Overall, this movie was good for what it was worth, in fact, I sort of like this movie. There were some over dramatic parts to it, the scares where okay, there was great twist and a disturbing subtext, the actors where okay in the first half and excellent in the last half and the story seems to keep you on the edge. Despite that it was a low budget and that this style had been done and redone so many times, it was okay. I would recommend this movie to horror fans since this is a newbie of horror and I think that it should be given a chance. I like it, and again, I wish I could tell more but I would be giving away too much sensitive information.
