Lake Artifact

Ok so gather up some friends and make popcorn and get a bottle of quality whiskey. Every time someone says "You want a beer?" take a shot. If you are at the pro level you can take an additional shot every time the editor drops in that ridiculously loud can opening sound (thankfully we are spared the follow-on loud swirly pouring into a glass). When you can't take it anymore - which won't be long - switch over to Triangle and watch a real movie.

Oh boy. What to say on this one. I'm leaving it a 5 and it's almost painful to do it because the moments that are great in this movie really are great but the ones that aren't significantly drag it down.

As you've already seen in other reviews, this movie deals with separate timelines. It does it in a way that is somewhat unique and I appreciate what writer and director Bruce Wemple set out to achieve, but it feels like he either didn't quite understand his own concept or didn't have the time to flesh it out. Where most indie movies could use some time shaved off of them, this is a rare example where I feel like we could have easily had another 15 to 20 minutes added on to really develop this story, or maybe we could have lost the nearly 20 minutes of "buildup". I appreciate a story taking its time in the beginning for character development but this bit did little for developing its characters and until the end their characteristics are nearly indistinguishable.

The cinematography is another thing that aggravated me throughout because at times it was simply splendid and at others it was painful to look at. How do you get something so right in one moment and so wrong at others? This question is the one I found myself asking with so many pieces of this puzzle.

The one thing that is never off course is the acting. Bravo to every performer in this movie, as they all did very well in their respective roles and the performances all felt natural and comfortable.

Overall, this isn't a terrible movie by any means. It has some genuine humor and some legitimately frightening bits to it as well. At times the differing styles don't always mix the way they should but there was only one moment where it completely took me out. I can't decide if this movie was too ambitious for its own good or not ambitious enough, which is also strange. This entire thing it a conundrum that I would neither recommend for or against.

I'll be interested in seeing where Wemple goes from here.

I enjoyed this film from the opening credits right through to the end. It's nicely photographed and well acted. Certainly the story contains some challenges for the viewer - at the start of the film information comes in from all angles, but stay with it and it assembles into a good story.

This film is very similar to Mine Games (2012) if not almost exactly the same, but this is better acted and the story more interesting. I just feel like it could have been a little longer and explained a little better. This type of storyline is quite complex and it needs to be explained properly.

And I do not agree with the review about the 'token black actor'. I think the actor Thomas Brazzle was fantastic and very funny. It's not often you get good acting in these low budget horrors and I think he was brilliant. The actor Dylan Grunn was also amazing. Two fine actors there.

I do like scenes nowadays where people are walking along train tracks all in bloody clothes. Reminds me of mid-series Walking Dead episodes where the train tracks were all so relevant to the story. But that's how this opens....

And then I suppose we regress, backwards in the story.......

-1 Star for the dumb beer drinking 'dance' scene...what lame music was that anyway??? Derrr............

What was with the weird water bottle drinkage? I've never seen a human drink a bottle of water like that.

Okay so when they find a picture of the group of them that they had not taken YET, is when the hilarity begins.........

-1 Star when the 2 idiots go outside to LOOK for 'the guy' Huh? Poor acting, poor dialogue. Poor story choices......

Then the story gets bizarre, dreams, walking in circles..... lots of confusion. And one female character goes off the rails really for no apparent reason.....

This whole place is a loop TOMMY!!!!!!

+1 Star for when Black dude screams like a girl lol I think the hilarity that was the last few minutes of the movie saves it from the toilet bowl really.

If ever there was a case for why a man wandering thru the woods should always carry a case of BEER with him, this is it.

4/10