REVIEW: ‘Camp Pleasant Lake’ plays to the horror crowd with mixed results
Photo: Camp Pleasant Lake follows a masked killer at a horror-themed camp. Photo courtesy of DeskPop Entertainment / Provided by press rep with permission.
The new horror movie Camp Pleasant Lake, now in cinemas and on digital platforms thanks to DeskPop Entertainment, is a mostly forgettable exercise in bloody kills and genre homage. With a plot reminiscent of Friday the 13th, the movie follows a bunch of adult campers who are promised an outdoors adventure of fun terror and ghoulish delights at a horror-themed camp. Instead, what they receive is a one-by-one killing spree courtesy of a masked villain who is either directly connected or inspired by a dreadful murder that plagued the camp years ago.
The acting in the movie, which is written and directed by Thomas Walton, doesn’t add up to much, although there are some sinister delights from The Nun’s Bonnie Aarons. The jokes don’t land, and the horror is never terrifying enough for the audience to care too much. The kills are gratuitous and not terribly original. Plenty of blood is spilled, and tons of carnage-riddled sound effects give the impression of cutting and jabbing with sharp knives, but nothing works well in this 90-minute feature.
The poster for the film is enticing and scary, and the masked killer, who likes to tilt their head ever so slightly in Michael Myers fashion, is nicely used throughout the narrative. So, kudos to the team for trying to pay homage to camp-centered horror flicks of yesteryear, but unfortunately Camp Pleasant Lake won’t join their ranks.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Camp Pleasant Lake (2024). Written and directed by Thomas Walton. Starring Jonathan Lipnicki, Bonnie Aarons, Andrew Divoff, Michael Paré, Kelly Lynn Reiter, Robert LaSardo, Maritza Brikisak and Greg Tally. Running time: 90 minutes. Rating: 
