A gigantic and bloodthirsty monster emerges from a lake after its egg is stolen and unleashes its fury on a town’s inhabitants, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake. The town of Bueng Kan, now cut off from the outside world, must mobilize its officials and citizens, as well as a group of scientists that are in town conducting research, to catch this predator before it’s too late.
For thoughts on The Lake, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
[youtube https://youtu.be/iTQfj0MHFHQ?t=4103]
Video Quality
The Lake makes its Blu-Ray debut with a pretty good 1080p video presentation that translates the movie’s intentions well enough. Black levels lack a bit of depth and show slight signs of crush and banding in a few shots, especially during nighttime scenes. There are also fleeting compression artifacts present at different points. The presentation shows off a notable amount of depth when out and about on the land. The production design and costumes provide clear textural details that stand out in high definition.
The transfer is clean with the natural color palette radiating off the screen, especially when it comes to the environment. The film deploys some stunning colors when it comes to elements of the production design and certain lighting choices. Flesh tones are natural and consistent to the lighting. There are a few areas where this disc could be finessed, but overall this Blu-Ray holds up more than capably.
Audio Quality
Epic Pictures continues their trend of delivering Blu-Rays with a Dolby Digital 5.1 lossy audio track instead of a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. The track does not sound half bad, but there is little doubt that it could likely be given greater nuance with a lossless track. This disc is presented with its original Thai audio with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles, along with an English dub in the same configurations. There are no standard English subtitles provided, which means if you want to watch the film with subtitles you will be subjected to descriptive text such as “gentle music plays” or “phone rings” alongside the normal dialogue. If you want to experience the film in English without this annoyance, you will have to listen to the English dub. There is no perfect option here.
Environmental sounds are a prominent part of this world, and they engage the surround speakers in a formidable way. While this is a monster movie, there is not as much mayhem as a Hollywood blockbuster, but what is present is realized effectively. The low end of the track provides some welcome texture to the proceedings. Dialogue comes through perfectly clear without being overshadowed by any competing sounds. The score is swelling and well-balanced while maintaining its fidelity. The audio track does the job, but it potentially could have been a more rewarding experience with a full lossless track.
Special Features
- Behind The Scenes: A selection of brief moments from the production which give you a fly-on-the-wall overview.
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- James (Teerapat) (0:31)
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- May (Wanmai) with the Monster 1 (0:34)
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- May (Wanmai) with the Monster 2 (1:26)
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- Pam (Supansa) Attacked By The Monster (0:28)
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- Pam (Supansa) Escapes The Monster (0:51)
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- Wit (Amnaj) with the Monster (0:20)
- Deleted Scenes: There are two unused scenes totaling two minutes provided here in an unfinished form taking place in a laboratory.
- The Lake – Extended Ending: A 12-minute extended ending is provided here which gives you more information after the time jump.
- The Scoop Featurette: A four-minute promotional piece which takes a look at the production of the film with a focus on the practical and digital effects.
- Trailers: This disc provides the Original Trailer (1:32) and the Thai Trailer (2:19). There are also trailers provided for other Dread titles including Dark Nature, Woman of the Photographs, Hot Blooded and Midnight.
Final Thoughts
The Lake offers some of the elements you expect from a monster movie, but this narrative keeps things less destructive and more focused on the human element more than some may want. That is not to say there are not some impressive, thrilling moments with the creature, but expectations should be in check. The visual effects are pretty effective for the production, but the rendering is not a seamless experience. There is an almost quaint quality that keeps the tone a bit off-kilter, but overall this is worth checking out if you like a creature film. Epic Pictures had released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty good A/V presentation and a few cool special features. Recommended
The Lake is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Epic Pictures has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
