Sams Lake

Synopsis

Near an isolated lake, an escaped psychiatric patient makes his way through the forest to his childhood home where he kills his family in their sleep before disappearing into the woods never to be found. Many years later the massacre has become legend as disappearances haunt the surrounding towns.

Sam (Fay Masterson), a young woman who comes back home every summer to the secluded lakeside cottage where she grew up, returns after the death of her father to reconnect with her traditions, old friends and memories of the past. This year, a group of hip, young urbanites, Kate (Sandrine Holt), Franklin (Stephen Bishop), Melanie (Megan Fahlenbock) and Dominik (Salvatore Antonio) join Sam on her annual trip. But when Sam and her friend Jesse (William Gregory Lee), a local to the area, take the group on an adventure to revisit the site of the murders they all come face to face with the terrifying legend of Sam's Lake.

Full summary

"In writer/director Andrew C. Erin's frightening feature debut, a brutal murder from the past haunts the small towns surrounding Lake Sam. After a disturbed teenage boy slaughtered his entire family, he disappeared into the woods and authorities never found him. Forty years later, Sam, a nature-loving city girl who grew up in the area and was named after the lake, has returned to her parents' lake house in the wake of her father's death. At the last minute, she decides to bring with her a group of friends for some relaxation and fun. The friends immediately notice the strange corn husk dolls that hang from houses nearby; eventually, they convince Sam and her local friend Jesse to tell them the story of the murder and the yearly disappearances that have terrorized the area towns. Sam agrees on the condition that they visit the house where the murder occurred. It is in this decrepit home that the group discovers an old diary containing secrets of the legend of Sam's Lake. Set against the backdrop of a beautiful yet foreboding lake, this haunting film offers a spine-tingling story of twisted familial relations and the horrifying consequences of trying to purge oneself of the past." – Kellen Quinn

Director's statement

"Sam's Lake is, believe it or not, a very personal story. Having spent many summers next to an isolated lake in the mountains, I was very motivated to tell this story. At the age of 12, my father shared with me a similar story the about an abandoned old house just minutes from our family's cabin. The story plays out almost word for word as it does around the campfire scene in the film. A story which I have then used over the years to frighten and thrill many unsuspecting guests."

Cast