Neverlake

Director - Riccardo Paoletti (Dailies)
Starring - Daisy Keeping (Midsomer Murders), David Brandon (StageFright: Aquarius), and Joy Tanner (Goosebumps)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror/Thriller
Tagline - "Horror is nothing more than truth" and "Death lies beneath"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     No one dislikes supernatural thrillers more than me.  To me, they are boring and use cheap scares to get a rise out of the viewers.  It also doesn't help that I am an idiot and a lot of these story lines are over my head.  However, I am a fan of the genre and I refuse to ignore a movie...within reason.  Recently, I was browsing Facebook and someone shared an image for the supernatural flick Neverlake.  The poster (not the one above) looked very interesting.  I reached out to the company handling the distribution of the film and was able to secure a screener.  Soon after the film arrived my wife went into labor and I had to hold off on reviewing it and for that I apologize.  

     The film follows a young girl (Keeping) as she goes into the Italian country side to spend the summer with her father (Brandon).  Her step-mother is kinda bitchy to her so she ventures out to the nearby lake where she meets a little blind girl.  She helps the little girl back home which happens to be an abandoned building she shares with several other children.  She doesn't question this living arrangement and goes back home to her father and step-mother but continues to visit the children regularly.  One day while visiting them the oldest in the group shows her a special gift he has when he places his hands on the lake.  He is able to show her the gods of the lake who are furious at her father for stealing their idles, or relics.  He keeps them locked away in a room in his home.  The group of kids beg her to steal them from her father and she agrees.  She breaks into his room and discovers a young girl, close to her age, that is bed ridden.  She grabs what she is looking for and leaves the room to take them back to the lake.  She throws them in and heads back to the locked room to speak with the young girl.  Her father and step-mother interrupt the two and explains that the two are actually sisters and she has a horrible disease that turns her to rock more or less.  The only way to cure her is to remove the infected area and replace it with a new one.  The only down side to this is finding the right donor that is a perfect match with her.  That is where the young girl and the group of kids come into play.  Her father has been keeping her mother bound so he can reproduce with her and use her children to save his own.  It is then revealed that the young kids are actually her siblings that he brutally murdered to harvest for parts.  

     One of the many reasons I dislike supernatural thrillers is because they are extremely predictable.  These films usually skip on story and rely on building tension until the spooky specter leaps out at you.  This is a cheap way to get a scare but it is effective when dealing with the average movie goer.  Sadly, I am not that typical movie goer and I need more than cheap scares to entertain me.  Luckily, Neverlake was just the film I was looking for.  The film was very original and was able to grab my attention and keep it!  The acting in this one was superb.  The entire cast did an amazing job and to be honest I feel they all deserve an award.  I have never seen a film cast as well as this one.  The story for this one is very original and fun as hell.  Sadly, it does take a little time to get to the point where the film is enjoyable.  It is a very slow burn but picks up quickly.  Finally, the film showcases a slew of practical effects.  A great deal of which is visual effects and it is a little on the bad side.  However, the practical effects looks great making me wish more of it was implemented into the film.  Overall, Neverlake is a slow burning supernatural thriller that picks up at the halfway mark and then hits hard.  It is original and boldly goes where very few have ventured before.  Check it out because you will not be disappointed.