Inspired by a murder-mystery-turned-legend surrounding a massacre near "Sam's Lake," the film follows Sam, a young woman who, every summer, returns home to the secluded lakeside cottage she grew up in, to reconnect with her traditions and memories of the past deep within an isolated forest. This year's guests are a group of hip, young urbanites, who join Sam on her annual trip. But when Sam and her childhood friend and local to the area, Jesse, take the group on an adventure to revisit the site of the murder they all come face to face with the terrifying legend of "Sam's Lake."

This film has taken a long time making it to DVD but in the end I think it was worth the wait. The story from the start is pretty simple, Sam and some friends make the trip back to the cottage she grew up in to spend a weekend but things turn a turn for the worse after one of her friends finds a journal that reveals some horrible things. To tell more regarding the story would mean giving too much away so I will stop there but I can say as the film movies along there is some very nice plot twists that takes this low-budget Independent film up another level. The characters in the film are all interesting enough which is rare in a film like this and you get to know some of them a little more then you would in another film like this. The cast were all very good with Fay Masterson, Sandrine Holt and William Gregory Lee being the stand-outs but the rest of the cast also did a very good job playing their roles. This is a horror film that succeeds without having to be all blood and guts, it is a movie that builds slowly and then all of a sudden the violence and thrills begin along with some nice twists that keeps you interested. Sam's Lake is a low-budget film with an unknown cast that benefits from a well-written script and very good direction which is something rare today with all the bad horror films being released to theaters now. If your a horror fan I recommend picking this up, I think you will find it to be as entertaining as I did. Released by Lions Gate Entertainment. *** 1/2 Out Of *****