THE LAKE (2023)
Thailand giant monster flick has some rather large eggs showing up during a particularly stormy season. When a child innocently takes one, creatures begin to show up in the remote village and spread destruction and bloody carnage.
Flick is badly directed by Lee Thongkham and Aqing Xu from a dumb script by Thongkham. It’s a hodgepodge of scenes from other better movies thrown together without rhyme or reason. Some examples being why in an entire village does no one figure out that mama monster simply wants her egg and baby back and why the hell does one of the survivors have a physical and psychic link to the captured baby anyway? It makes no sense. Very little is explained here as even the creatures’ origins are only hinted at with brief mentions of a local legend and the effects of uncharacteristic storm activity. Other than that, we are on our own. The flick is slow paced, and the monster action is sporadic. It’s a shame as the creature effects are mostly practical and are very good with even the brief CGI looking very well rendered. The action can get quite bloody, though the editing is slipshod and the acting not much better. At least the cast does play it straight as do the directors. The ending is anticlimactic, and the film’s epilogue is outright laughable. Too bad, as it has a cool monster that is far better quality than the movie it’s in. Extra half star added to the rating for the FX crew’s wasted efforts.
-MonsterZero NJ
MonsterZero NJ's Movie Madhouse 