LAKE ALICE (LAKE TOMAHAWK) (2017)

Studio:       Breaking Glass Pictures
Director:    Ben Milliken
Writer:       Stevie Jane Miller
Producer:  Scott Miller, Lamar Billups
Stars:     Caroline Tudor, Brad Schmidt, Brando Eaton, Laura Niemi, Eileen Dietz, Peter O’Brien, Michael Shamus Wiles

Review Score:

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Summary:

A family’s Christmas getaway to a snowy cabin becomes a night of terror when they are stalked by a masked murderer.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

A masked murderer stalks and kills Julia Mahoney while she is alone outside a restaurant in Lake Alice, Wisconsin.

Aspiring actor Ryan Emerson accompanies his girlfriend Sarah Thomas and her parents Greg and Natalie on a Christmas getaway to a remote cabin in Lake Alice. When they are alone, Ryan proposes to Sarah. Sarah says yes.

Greg and Natalie drive into town. Greg is hassled by Sheriff Hank over bad blood in their past. Natalie greets old acquaintance Jane Patterson at a coffee shop and has an awkward encounter with local plowman Carl.

Sarah and Ryan reveal their engagement when Greg and Natalie return to the cabin. Greg later expresses his worry that Ryan might not be a suitable match for his daughter.

Jane Patterson visits the Taylors with her son Tyler. Tyler, who once had a summer fling with Sarah, is distressed to learn Sarah is engaged. Tyler invites Sarah and Ryan to watch him perform at a tavern the following evening.

Ryan accompanies Greg on a drive into town to gas up the truck before an oncoming storm. Both men are harassed by Sheriff Hank as well as Deputy David Reed.

Back at the cabin, Ryan, Sarah, Greg, and Natalie learn of Julia Mahoney’s disappearance on the news. Carl comes to the door, but Greg dismisses him quickly. Meanwhile, the masked murderer recovers Ryan’s video camera and begins stalking the family.

Sarah and Ryan go to the bar to watch Tyler perform. Later that night, someone pounds on the cabin door, rousing the family. Natalie discovers the phone is dead. Greg goes outside to investigate and is killed when the murderer throws a blade into his back.

The killer breaks into the cabin. Ryan, Sarah, and Natalie scatter. Ryan and Sarah reunite outside. They decide to search for Natalie as well as the truck keys to make their escape.

Carl returns to the cabin to check on the commotion. The killer slits Carl’s throat from behind.

Ryan and Sarah find Natalie hiding back in the bathtub. The killer scatters the trio once again, knocking Ryan to the floor and chasing Sarah outside. The killer captures Sarah.

Ryan hears a loud crash. Ryan investigates and finds Natalie seemingly dead behind the wheel of the truck, having apparently lost control while trying to escape.

Ryan rescues Sarah. Tyler finds the duo, explaining that he heard gunshots and came to investigate. The killer seemingly stabs Tyler from behind. Sarah runs while Ryan remains behind.

Sheriff Hank arrives at the scene. The killer knocks Hank unconscious and ties him to a tree. When Hank recovers, he sees that there are actually two masked murderers. One of them records with the camera while the other one sets Hank on fire.

Sarah seemingly gets the jump on one of the killers and beats him to death. Once unmasked, the victim turns out to be Ryan, having been tied, gagged, and disguised to fool Sarah.

The killers capture Sarah and unmask themselves as Jane and Tyler Patterson, who faked his apparent death earlier. While Jane tends to Hank’s corpse outside, Tyler confesses to killing his former girlfriend Julia Mahoney. Tyler also professes his undying love for Sarah as well as his desire to marry her.

Tyler is drawn outside by a gunshot. Tyler discovers his mother dead in the snow.

Tyler frantically unties Sarah and rushes her to the police car outside. Tyler is suddenly shot. His killer is revealed to be Natalie, who did not die in the truck crash after all.

Natalie and Sarah sobbingly embrace. Observing through a video camera in the distance, Deputy Reed is revealed to be a third masked stalker.

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Review:

The US box art for “Lake Alice,” which features a blade-wielding madman in a bloody mask hovering ominously above a snowy cabin, sets a slaughter scene fit for Jason Voorhees.  The box art used in the UK, where the film released as “Lake Tomahawk,” is more appropriately tuned to the actual tone of the film.  It’s simply a bloody tomahawk jutting from frozen water.  Not exactly exciting, yet not overselling the movie as something it isn’t.

“Lake Alice,” or “Lake Tomahawk” if you’re on the east side of the Atlantic, still qualifies as a slasher and does include the bloody killer, even if he doesn’t appear exactly as depicted on the cover.  But that’s only during the last act.  The two acts leading into it involve an anemic whodunit, or rather whowilldoit, with about as much intrigue as wondering what leftovers are currently in your fridge.

Having dated for a year, it’s finally time for Ryan to meet Sarah’s parents.  A Christmas trip to the snow-covered family cabin seems like a perfect opportunity for introductions, as well as to pop the question whose answer turns Sarah from girlfriend to fiancée.

Not everyone is pleased with the nuptial news.  Sarah’s former summer fling who still lives near the lake appears unusually brokenhearted.  And even with Sarah’s mother Natalie offering unconditional congratulations, her father Greg has only a suspicious grimace suggesting Ryan isn’t fit for his daughter.

Greg has additional issues on his mind.  Some bad blood in their past puts Greg on the wrong side of shifty local sheriff Hank, who seems determined to make the family’s temporary stay an unpleasant one.  Deputy Reed has a similar agenda, taking as unkindly as anyone to Ryan working his way in with Sarah.

That’s why when bodies start dropping, which takes quite a while, no one can be sure who is wearing the murderer’s mask or why.  Is someone obsessed with Sarah?  Is a dark secret coming back to haunt Greg?  Or could the killings have something to do with a local oddball settling an unknown score with the family?

This mystery of whose vendetta will bring out the blade makes up the movie’s true meat and potatoes, which isn’t much of a meal.  After an abduction that occupies the pre-credits prologue, no action occurs again until the 45-minute mark, when there is only another half hour remaining in the runtime.

Every potential troublemaker in the interim is established with the same modus operandi: the camera cuts to a close-up of the person in question while a music cue warbles underneath.  The concerned expression over whatever was just revealed blinds the audience with a bright neon “suspect!” sign.  What we aren’t offered is backstory to put context behind obvious clues.  The unspecified beef between Greg and law enforcement remains between them.  Multiple men appear unhealthily interested in Sarah, although there is no reason given aside from her attractiveness.

Drama drags for three-quarters of an hour because “Lake Alice” has a hard time drumming up a consistent beat.  Setups serve their purposes to the story.  Then misguided moments freeze momentum or shots linger a hair too long before cutting to the next part of a conversation.  Editing doesn’t provide nearly enough energy to step up the tempo.

Effort is evident in “Lake Alice.”  Any indie production with the guts to go out in the snow and at night is a step ahead of less motivated microbudget movies.  Able acting takes a slim script as far as it can go too.

There’s just no getting around the lethargic lack of zip sucking the life out of everything.  An ending that spins itself dizzy from several far-fetched switcheroos confirms “Lake Alice” relies too much on its silly surprise destination instead of fulfilling a satisfying journey of suspense.

Review Score:  45

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