The Lake (2022)
Directed by: Aqing Xu, Lee Thongkham
Written by: Lee Thongkham
Starring: Amnaj Wajaon, Palita Chueasawathee, Ren Youxuan, Supansa Wedkama, Thanachat Tunyachat, Wanmai Chatborirak
THE LAKE (2022)
Directed by Lee Thongkham and Aqing Xu
Thai Language with English Subtitles
Screened at Grimmfest 2022
When a group of villagers are attacked in the paddy fields by a mysterious creature from the lake, the fight for survival begins. As the devastation spreads inland, the community must work together to defeat the creature that threatens their very existence.
As a huge fan of monster movies, I was quite excited for Thai movie THE LAKE but what results is a badly edited and organised story that fails to deliver on what a good monster movie needs.
The film starts off slow but promising, and is how we’re introduced to a set of characters after a child is caught up in a monster attack. We follow various strands, such as a sibling pairing and a cop who’s having trouble with his teenage daughter, but neither plot threads do enough to keep the viewer’s attention when there’s a monster on the loose. Darting between the storylines gets a bit tiresome, as it’s hard to keep up and care about any particular thread, not even the one involving the creature itself.
The monster design appears rather nifty at first, looking as though Resident Evil’s Licker had offspring with a dilophosaurus, but as the film progresses, the creature looks less effective and imposing. The film seems to show too much of the creatures, especially doing things that seemingly have little consequence but the most confusing aspect is discovering in the next scene that they were responsible for more devastation that we initially saw. I found this quite jarring as though my eyes were deceiving me of the events which I saw unfold with the film subsequently and repeatedly telling me otherwise. We also don’t get down to the nitty gritty of the monster, other than realising that it’s not best pleased about humans keep laying their hands upon its egg. Haven’t any of these humans realised by now that no mother, no matter what species, is happy if their child, unborn or not, is stolen from them?
Disjointed and lacking a credible story or script, THE LAKE fails to pack a punch. It’s plain to see that quite some effort has gone into the making of the film, but it just isn’t enough to make it a coherent watch. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even make it into the ‘so bad it’s good’ monster movie bracket where many cheesy but rewarding movies have landed a cult following. Whilst there might be something in this lake, it’s sadly quite forgettable.
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