Sunday, July 30, 2017

'Lake Alice' DVD: Christmas Stalkings


The Breaking Glass Pictures July 18, 2017 DVD release of the 2017 low-budget horror film "Lake Alice" follows up the Breaking main act of showing that gay-themed films reflect EVERYONE who has love and lost or had it unrequited with proof of intelligent life regarding a well-produced student-film grade slasher flicks. The primary distinctions are that the "rabbits" are an ordinary American family, and we get to know the potential "coyotes" before rabbit season commences.

The following YouTube clip of the "Alice" trailer provides a good sense of the horror invading everyday lives that the film expertly accomplishes.


"Alice" commences with affluentish couple Greg and Natlie driving to their isolatedish year-round vacation home in the titular rural community. Adult daughter Sarah is in the backseat with boyfriend Ryan Emerson, This sets the stage for what can be considered "Meat the Parents."

Mom and Dad going into town for provisions sets the stage for introducing the natives who consider the part-time "immigrants" a necessary  economic evil. The first up is the malicious sheriff who engages in his ritual of stopping their car just for the fun of it.

Next up is lonely middle-aged single man Carl, who is the kind of guy who buries you in unwanted zucchini from his garden and is vampire-like in that he takes a polite invitation to come in as a basis for putting his feet up and staying a while.

This leads to doting Mom Jane, who is nice and very down-to-earth but hopes that her 20-something son Tyler still has a chance with Sarah several years after what Sarah seems to consider The Summer of Slumming. We later meet Tyler when Mom and son arrive at the Thomas cabin in the wake of momentous news for that family.

A subsequent encounter introduces the bullying not-so-bright Deputy Reed.

Meanwhile back at the ranch house, the first signs of something being amiss are discovered footprints in the snow. In true horror-film style, the degree of menace increases as the seemingly di rigueur blizzard approaches.

Things culminate when a middle-of-the-night knock at the door wakes the family; they don't know who it is but know who its for. This leads to the entry of the monster of the film. Director Ben Milliken does an excellent job making a guy wearing a green parka with fur-lined hood and covering his face with a red-streaked Spider-Man style mask made out of what looks like a jockstrap pouch menacing.

Of course a family member going out to investigate quickly earns that person one in the back; a subsequent escape attempt nets a comparable result. The remaining two vacationers find themselves alternatively fleeing in terror, fighting off Jockface, or coming to the rescue of his or her fellow survivor.

Milliken and writer Stevie Jane Miller further provide awesome twists that include a variation on a cliche that is worth watching for. This rollercoaster ride begins roughly 20 minutes near the end of the film where many things are not as they seem.

Our dynamic directing/writing team save the best for last in terms of presenting a case of a New Norman; those who wait for the final solution with Bated breath will not be disappointed.

Breaking further outdoes itself regarding its typical truly special DVD features; this time it is a 51-minute version of "Alice" that goes beyond being a Cliff Notes version of the main feature to provide an altered narrative of the story. A prime example is a linear timeline in the main feature changing to one in which we join our story already in progress and go back to a sequence that follows a scene that Milliken and Miller entirely omit from the beginning of the film.

Any who figuratively wants to go ask "Alice" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.



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