Movie Review: Neverlake (2013)

The movie stars Daisy Keeping, Joy Tanner, David Brandon, Martin Kashirokov and Anna Dalton.

As has become the standard for us, my wife and I spent part of our New Year's Eve at the ice rink with our daughters and, after returning home, rang in 2016 by watching a horror movie. After some discussion, we decided to finally watch the film "Neverlake." As it turns out, the movie wasn't quite what we were expecting it to be. But, it was still a pretty good film.

As far as being a thriller goes, this film does lack something. The eerie location, combined with the idea of a haunted lake, gave it some potential in this category. However, the movie honestly doesn't fully capitalize on that and, if anything, the haunted lake is more of a secondary story that, ultimately, has very little impact on the movie.

That being said, the film still proved to be very entertaining, mostly because, from the moment Jenny (Keeping) arrives, it's pretty obvious there is something going on that her father (Brandon) and the woman he lives with, Olga (Tanner) aren't being honest about. This starts out as simple things like her father making sure she isn't around when he conducts business and a locked study. But, when she ends up in the hospital because of a surprise surgery, it became pretty obvious he was up to something.

It wasn't just her father either. The kids she meets are very friendly. But, much like with her dad and Olga, there just seemed to be something about them that didn't quite add up, especially since there were things about her encounters with them that (either intentionally or unintentionally) reminded my wife and me of Peter Pan. I figured they were keeping a secret from her but I wasn't sure if they would end up helping her or would turn out to be evil. Plus, for a while at least, I wondered if maybe they weren't even real and were, instead, a figment of her imagination.

One thing I liked about this movie was the way the film keeps the secrets under wraps until toward the very end. At first, I figured her father's secrets had something to do with the spirits in the lake. But, even though I was partially right about that, the actual truth was a bit more extreme and even a little creepier than I was expecting it to be. And, believe me, there aren't many movies out there that truly surprise me.

As I mentioned, even though the movie is classified as a horror/thriller, it isn't very scary. However, if you like mysteries, this is a film that is worth taking the time to watch.

My Grade: B