Landing Lake (2017) Poster

(2017)

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4/10
Lost in the woods
BandSAboutMovies19 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Shot in Super35mm in Trentino, Northern Italy, and the UK, director Cesare Pollacci Libardi di K's aspires to be "cocktail of The Thing and Rabid," according to the film's PR materials. Well, you can't fault the hyperbole, as those are big goals to shoot for. The truth is, there's a lot of wandering the woods and people yelling one another's names.

Satellite technicians enter the woods to repair a communication station, but then they encounter the crew of a crashed airplane. However, something inside the lake is taking over everyone's minds, loosening their inhibitions. However, one of their number is about to bond with the entities and be reborn in a new body.

There's a fair amount of body horror on display, with one character melting into a giant pile of guts and blood. But there's also more than a fair amount sheer nonsense. And not in a good way. In a way that makes this film seem like it's ten times longer than its actual running time.

There is a pretty cool synth soundtrack, though. So it has that going for it. I've just seen too many movies lately where people are lost in the woods and screaming one another's names for twenty minutes in a row, maybe.
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3/10
"Landing Lake": Swimming in Swill
jtncsmistad26 June 2019
"Landing Lake" is sunk by underwhelming acting acumen and proceedings so incomprehensible it is impossible to determine what these filmmakers intended. Except evidently to make their audience both baffled and bored.
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4/10
My Review Of "Landing Lake"
ASouthernHorrorFan30 July 2019
The story, in theory, is a fun, and chilling way to approach first contact tropes in sci-fi horror. I have seen it done well in movies like "Yellow Brick Road" and "Star Lead". Unfortunately "Landing Lake" never coalesces fully enough to marry the dreamscape psychedelia and core sci-fi aspects. It all plays out like a wilderness mushroom high but weren't all tripping the same.

The fault doesn't fully fall with script or direction. Not that there isn't some issues in both, it just seemed that too many concepts came into play without proper structuring. The acting is decent, some characters really came out strong. A couple were just so---ugh! They just made it impossible to fully succumb to the movie's experimental theatre vibe enough to wanna like this madness.

Now on a positive note, the cinematography is great. And on its own, the whole surrealism, arthouse style was- at times impressive. Sadly the foundation of the story and continuity just didn't come together to allow the audience to make sense of the going-ons. Another cool aspect is the creative, throwback score.
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1/10
What the ...
seasidesaffa19 November 2019
I don't enjoy slating movies just to slate them, but this film is BAD! The script seems to be cobbled together by kids at school, the acting is just dire, the background music doesn't flow, there are scenes that have absolutely no relevance to the film - almost time fillers, and the plot itself is all over the place.... I really am struggling to find anything redeeming in this film, it was just poor! Please do not believe any review over a 5, especially the review from someone who worked at the Production company giving it a 10 stating it should be the only film you watch this year... it should be avoided if you can.
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1/10
Total Crap
chrisbw196510 January 2020
Really don't need to say anything more. The acting was beyond bad, except for the accountant character. No real plot, and nothing made sense. Totally unbelievable: who would rescue plane crash survivors, but never ask them any questions. The psychedelic aire was totally off putting: basically, I didn't care about any of them, or what happened to them. I just wanted them to shut up and stop acting like total imbeciles. What a waste of my time: the best parts of the movie were the times I fell asleep during it. Total Crap!
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3/10
Bad acting is the best thing about it
C_Jags21 November 2019
Landing Lake is a visually monotonous, unengaging film that gets old fast... but I have to give it a couple points for the hilariously weird bad acting. A movie purportedly about aliens, but very possibly written and acted by them.
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4/10
Yikes !
terrazygotes-3088122 November 2019
Nice images of a forest. I guess it was dubbed, which probably added to its weird atmosphere and the impression of poor acting. I found all the running around somewhat entertaining, but the scenario was very disjointed, so the plot didn't really make much sense to me. When things seemed to be going somewhere, they just stopped and went somewhere else. Plus, there were some characters, who just appeared out of nowhere, who seemed to belong in some other movie. I also found the "music" to be overbearing. There were some impressive gory effects and dramatic photography. Too bad the plot wasn't worked on more to get it tightened up.
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1/10
Terrible
royeighmey7 February 2020
Here's a thought...start watching this movie, wait 10-15 minutes then realize how bad it is, turn it off and watch something else. ANYTHING ELSE!!
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1/10
One point for my rewire!
rubalogy-845-47769513 December 2019
Simply speaking, I could not wach more than 20 minutes. Believe me the script was done overnight. Characters are horrible.
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1/10
Not sure
somgimlet30 November 2019
Just... confused? What was the point, where was this plot going?
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Promises Unfulfilled
HughBennie-77712 July 2019
It's not a zombie film, so the movie earns a point there. The practical effects on 35 mm film, plus atmospheric locales and a genuine synthesizer score, raise this to above average, but the grade is paralyzed by the always-fatal imbalance of quality acting versus wretched acting. The bonkers plot, which does has the nerve to play out with little concern for coherence or audience-pleasing, still could have benefited from a 100% strong cast. Yet it's not often you encounter good acting in most horror-thrillers nowadays. At least there's ample gore and squishy killings to delight all the Fangoria geeks.
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8/10
Loved This Movie !!!!!
christianlovella16 August 2019
Ok so I am a fan of 80s horror movies, I fully appreciated the effects in this film the story was intriguing Id like to see a part 2, maybe the characters can come back different and start a colony on earth !!! Camera work was beautiful. Mystical and wonderful, action packed 80s thriller!

Not too mention some really good acting in there, in particular I rated the character of Matt played by Aaron Stielstra I thought that accountant guy was played nicely, Some very natural characterisation happening this guy knows what he is doing. Id like to see more of him if theres a part 2.

Alexandra played By Joanna Leigh Hewitt, beautiful actress. her inner life reads extremely well on camera I think she's a natural and one too watch! Im exited to see more from her, definatley and Actress to follow. she looks like a young Margot Robbie.

Thats all from me folks !!
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1/10
So bad acting/acters
daropaz12 November 2019
It could have been a good movie with that plot. But NOT!!! Its crap all the way. Stay away i say.
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1/10
I'm confused too...
cdnkelly6 December 2019
Couldn't figure out what was going in the first 29 minutes, so i was off to another movie. Just plain bad.
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2/10
Yelling
jani-varpujarvi18 May 2020
I seem to be always nagging of sounds.. Well, after 20minutes I got enough of endless yelling and arguing, without reasons. I fastfowarded till end. There was few interestig synthsounds in music, and I liked colour in this movie, so thats why I dont give 1 star.
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1/10
A lacklustre scifi spectacle minus special effects and a plot
murraycohen-032878 March 2021
When the movie started, it seemed on arrival the acting was pretty basic and the dialogue somewhat "tired". However, once they got in the forest, the environment seemed ripe for mystery and some excitement which unfortunately never was realized. The development of the plot was uneventful and the scary parts seemed sketchy at best. The worst part of the move however is the lack of any sense to most of it and when the ending comes, one is thankful that now one can continue with household chores like taking out the garbage as a relief from boredom. It's hard to be non-judgmental on this movie and the fact that I watched the whole thing is a testament to my ability to hope for the best regardless of the outcome.
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10/10
Great movie
marika-gnolidze11 August 2019
Kept my attention the whole way through. Rare for me...love it

Everyone should see this film...if you see no other film this year.
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