Ghost Lake (2004)

**_Take a haunting trip to Rushford Lake in western New York_**

After a tragedy, a young woman (Tatum Adair) goes to her family’s summer house to process things. A cool guy (Timothy Prindle) helps keep her from the abyss of depression, but there are spooky goings-on at the reservoir.

“Ghost Lake” (2004) only cost $110,000 and was written, scored & directed by one man, Jay Woelfel. He evokes some haunting atmosphere and the special makeup effects are surprisingly good and horrific; the occasional CGI isn’t so bad either, all things considered. It’s basically a meshing of “Messiah of Evil” (and a little “Carnival of Souls”) with “Terror at Tenkiller.”

Blonde Tatum does well as the protagonist, but since the entire (overlong) movie is focused on her, I would’ve preferred someone (from back then) like Cerina Vincent, Jennifer Morrison, Danielle Savre, Dominque Swain or Emily Blunt. On the other side of the gender spectrum, Prindle is very effective as the (supposed) bad boy while the guy who plays the sheriff (Gregory Lee Kenyon) is good enough; some of the peripheral actors, not so much.

The spooky story gets a little convoluted, involving the number 13, but I’m sure everything makes sense if you put the pieces together. I don’t feel like racking my brain.

If you don’t appreciate micro-budget indies, I’d say steer clear (critical viewers go on-and-on about how bad it is), but it works if you’re disposed toward a moody story that takes its time with focus on the region.

It runs 1 hour, 52 minutes, and was shot in Rushford, which is a 30-minutes drive southwest of scenic Letchworth State Park, as well as Wellsville, which is a 40-minutes drive southeast of Rushford.

GRADE: C/C+