Fantastic Fest 2024: ‘Bone Lake’
by Tito W. James
“Directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan Bone Lake follows two young couples who are mistakenly double-booked into the same vacation rental. Their romantic weekend is transformed into a twisted maze of sex, lies, and survival.”
I’m big fan of the juxtaposition of horror and eroticism. From the works of Go Nagai and Shintaro Kago to films like Basic Instinct and Park Chan-wook The Handmaiden-— there’s a lot of compelling artistic erotica out there. Bone Lake is billed as an ode to early 2000s erotic thrillers but it is really more of a campy gore film. Bone Lake is about as sexually charged as your average CW show. It is surprisingly tame on the erotic front and completely over the top on the gore. The third act had more in common with Evil Dead 2 than anything established at the start of the film.
I will give the filmmakers credit though– as I exited the theater I was handed a cookie in the shape of a finger a character lost during the film. Bone Lake is unapologetically trashy and is sure to get a laugh out of some viewers.
