Eager to escape the grief and nightmares of the city, Louis Olsen travels to Southwest Minnesota, seeking the peace of the rural countryside. When he accidentally disturbs the grave of a supposed local ‘witch’ Mary Jane Terlinden, what began as a peaceful reprieve unravels into a haunting nightmare from which Louis cannot escape – but is it all just in his head?
Beginning in 1880 somewhere in Minnesota, a group of Christians drag a screaming woman to a freshly-made tree stump. The woman speaks in some half-baked British accent threatening the group with witchcraft before being decapitated by an ax. Cut to the present, Louis (Nathan Wilson) drives an overcompensating pickup truck to a farmhouse where he’s staying to get away from the city for the weekend (who can’t relate). Louis stops by a local dive where some of the bar’s regulars warn him about the witch Mary Jane who’s buried in the yard of his rental. The scene is laden with heavy exposition by some rural locals that sound much more Southern than Midwestern. They should be saying “you betcha,” not “hey partner,” this is Minnesota, not El Paso, Texas.
The lighting guy must have been intoxicated or inexperienced because the movie is way too bright, natural light still needs to be harnessed otherwise it’s awful to look at. The night shots don’t fare too well either, characters’ faces are lit up like a flashlight campfire story. Louis meets Gracie (Brittany Benjamin) who offers him a ride home from the bar and lays down even more backstory on the doomed fate of Mary Jane. The screenplay flashes back multiple times throughout the film to further unfold what transpired in 1880. “Loon Lake” constantly shoots itself in the foot with clumsy dialogue. For example, Louis has a creepy nightmare and hears something outside and the tension is immediately evaporated when he puts his fists up to the darkness proclaiming, “I got Tito and Pepe right here,” just terrible.
The filmmakers do their darnedest to transcend the trappings of their mundane horror story with Louis’ memories of his deceased wife and child. Unfortunately, the whole thing backfires, exacerbating its flaws instead of reaching some profound emotional response. If you’re into actual scary stories involving pagans, I highly recommend Robert Eggers’ “The Witch.” As a matter of fact, I think I’ll put it on right away to cast a spell and make me forget this film.
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