Black Lake

Swedish drama 'Black Lake' combines the vibe of 'The Blair Witch Project' with a Mexican standoff, as a group of young people gradually lose it in an isolated winter resort, driven mad by strange (and possibly supernatural) events. Unfortunately, the story defies logic: any normal person would just run away once people start dying, instead the protagonists spend the entire drama venturing on their own into dark cellars where their friends have already been killed, with predictably awful results. By the end, I barely understood the plot, but each episode felt like a repeat of its predecessor. In conclusion: not one of the best Scandi-dramas.

Right from the start season 1 was very mysterious and scary. Not always logical, but very exciting nevertheless. I loved the enchanting winter scenery. Season 1 gets a rate from me of 8.

Season 2 was very boring. Also the sect / commune was very annoying. After 3 episodes it still did not capture our attention, so we skipped the rest. Season 2 gets a rate from me of 2.

What do you say about a program where the two lead characters take their friends to an abandoned resort, get engaged and 15 seconds later are cheating on eachother especially the Hanne character. She says yes to her boyfriends proposal only to meet and fall in love in a half minute later with the local kid who she trusts more than all her friends put together. Sarah-Sofie Boussnina plays a very unlikeable character with a ridiculous obsession with the past and her new boyfriend. I normally enjoy foreign shows but this isn't good.

When a group of good looking 20 something Swedes head off for a skiing holiday to a remote ski lodge, it turns out that more than Skiing, Schnapps and Sex are on the agenda. Unknown to them twenty years previously a family staying at the lodge had been brutally murdered. This of course means strange things start to happen. Lights flicker on and off books fly off shelves and one by one the group start acting strangely. All this and throw in a creepy caretaker and a cellar that no one will dare enter, and you have an above average thriller set in the stunning Swedish mountains. 7/10

The first season doesn't beak any new ground in the horror genre, but it's a fun enough riff off The Shining taking place in an abandoned ski resort and pulling from aspects of Swedish racism to build its story. Has good atmosphere and a lively performance from Aliette Opheim. The second season is awful, though - a prequel to the first, of sorts, but so slow moving that nothing really happens at all, leading to a finale so anticlimactic that you barely notice it - there's not even enough to it to qualify as dumb fun.