Lake Bodom is a Finnish slasher/thriller film in which four teenagers go on a trip to reconstruct a real murder from the 1960s – but as you can guess with this being a horror movie, it doesn’t exactly go to plan. It provides some interesting twists on the genre that make it original when it would have been easy to fall into a trap of clichés and separates it from what is typically associated with slasher films; for example, it’s slower paced than you might expect, and there is a significant subplot. However, even with this subplot which attempts to develop two of the characters, they’re still very bland – even in terms of their facial expressions there was very little going on – to the point where it made me resent them for how boring they were. The slow pace at the beginning of the film made it even more important for the characters to be engaging and sympathetic, but it seemed like very little effort went into developing them. The writing is the main problem of the film and the twists will probably be considered too much for some people watching it. They somehow manage to be ridiculous and predictable at the same time.
On the other hand, this is a technically well-made film. The lighting and muted colours give it a nice indie aesthetic and makes it fit in more naturally with the setting, creating a sense of realism in an otherwise visually over-the-top genre. The score is very atmospheric and is what makes the film recognisable as a slasher movie. Without this, it wouldn’t have had any familiarity beyond the lake setting and would have been more of a drama/thriller instead.
If only there had been more development in the writing and the characters, Lake Bodom easily could have been a four-star movie. Its issues with writing are made even more obvious when it’s in contrast with professional camerawork, style and sound. The film is good on a visual level, but the content isn’t as interesting as it tries to be and the attempt to create something new from the slasher genre by using plot twists ends up being more confusing than surprising.
LAKE BODOM IS NOW STREAMING ON SHUDDER
On the other hand, this is a technically well-made film. The lighting and muted colours give it a nice indie aesthetic and makes it fit in more naturally with the setting, creating a sense of realism in an otherwise visually over-the-top genre. The score is very atmospheric and is what makes the film recognisable as a slasher movie. Without this, it wouldn’t have had any familiarity beyond the lake setting and would have been more of a drama/thriller instead.
If only there had been more development in the writing and the characters, Lake Bodom easily could have been a four-star movie. Its issues with writing are made even more obvious when it’s in contrast with professional camerawork, style and sound. The film is good on a visual level, but the content isn’t as interesting as it tries to be and the attempt to create something new from the slasher genre by using plot twists ends up being more confusing than surprising.
LAKE BODOM IS NOW STREAMING ON SHUDDER
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