A weekend of terror?! At a summer camp for adults?! Sign me up!
Opening with a throwback slasher vibe assigned to its atmosphere, Camp Pleasant Lake concerns itself with the brutal murder of Meadows family some 20 years ago. All of them wiped off the face of the earth by a killer as mad as he is brutal and efficient. Serving as the backdrop for the stomping ground about to be on display, the story of what happens to The Meadow Family is, at once, emotional and violent. Part of this is because of what happens to the kids. Watching their parents constantly argue, they are fully aware of the divorce that is headed to their family and frightened of what that could mean . . .
. . . but they shouldn’t be.
This family should be more concerned with the strangers gathering around the diner they stopped at for a bite to eat. While the youngest was never heard from again, Echo is rumored to haunt Camp Pleasant Lake, where this “show” - a camp of terror - is taking place. And those camp counselors? Well, they were there the day she disappeared!
Oh no! In Camp Pleasant Lake, Rick and Darlene Rutherford breathe life into the eerie remnants of an old campsite, unaware of its dark past. Strange occurrences haunt the area, mirroring the tragedies of the old camp, where two decades earlier, a young girl was kidnapped and her parents brutally murdered. Amidst chilling atmospheres and long-forgotten secrets, the couple grapples with a horrifying revelation—they are entwined in the camp's history. And as the shadows of the past collide with the present, the Rutherfords must confront the haunting histories of a sinister crime.
While brutal, there is a lot of set-up before it goes balls to the wall crazy. Some audiences might grow bored with the early drama, but it definitely pays off, especially when we realize just how far down the rabbit hole this film goes with the KA-RAZEE, especially when the orchestrated kills turn absolutely real. With a tongue-in-cheek swagger to most of the gore and kill sequences, this slasher pokes fun at the slasher and offers fully aware humor, which works.
DeskPop Entertainment will release Thomas Walton's refreshingly indie new horror film CAMP PLEASANT LAKE in select cinemas and on VOD February 27th! The picture, which stars 90s screen icon Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry Maguire, Stuart Little) alongside a bevy of genre film icons, is a loving throwback to the thrilling, violent summer camp slasher films of the 1980s.
Written and directed by Thomas Walton, Camp Pleasant Lake stars Lipnicki alongside Bonnie Aarons (The Nun 1 and 2, Jakob's Wife), Andrew Divoff (Wishmaster 1 and 2), Michael Paré (Eddie and the Cruisers, Streets of Fire), Kelly Lynn Reiter, Robert LaSardo (Death Race), Maritza Brikisak, and Greg Tally.
Jared Safier produces the film alongside Walton, with Jeremy Hirsch, Matthew Macur, Damien Douglas, Lenny Vitulli, Jackson Everest, and Michael Mahal acting as its executive producers. Production companies on the picture are Safier Entertainment, PhilaDreams Films, Lux Angeles Studios, Stag Mountain Films, RMR Productions, and Movies By Misfits.
Handle with scare!
MPAA Rating: R for strong/disturbing violent content, language throughout and some sexual references.
Runtime: 106 mins
Director: Thomas Walton
Writer: Thomas Walton
Cast: Jonathan Lipnicki; Michael Paré; Bonnie Aarons
Genre: Horror
Tagline: Terror Comes Home.
Memorable Movie Quote: "This week's theme, camp of terror"
Distributor: BritFlicks
Official Site:
Release Date: February 27, 2024 (Theater and VOD)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: In CAMP PLEASANT LAKE, Rick and Darlene Rutherford breathe life into the eerie remnants of an old campsite, unaware of its dark past. Strange occurrences haunt the area, mirroring the tragedies of the old camp, where two decades earlier, a young girl was kidnapped and her parents brutally murdered. Amidst chilling atmospheres and long-forgotten secrets, the couple grapples with a horrifying revelation—they are entwined in the camp's history. And as the shadows of the past collide with the present, the Rutherfords must confront the haunting histories of a sinister crime.
