The Lake on Clinton Road – Based on an Urban Legend, Kind Of

Runtime: 80 minutes

Release Date: July 17, 2015

Rating: NR?

Director: DeShon Hardy

What happens when you take one of the most famous urban legends/haunted tales in the country and base a horror movie kind of/sort of around that legend? You get The Lake on Clinton Road.

Rather than basing the film on any of the stories told about Clinton Road, the screenwriter decided to do a story about six “friends” who take a trip together to a house somewhere on that road that is next to a possibly haunted lake. The one name I managed to remember from the movie was Stacey, but only because Stacey was a major bitch. She gave up the chance to go to the beach with her friends to go on a trip with her boyfriend and his friends. Stacey makes it clear from the very beginning that she doesn't want to be there and that a lake doesn't count as a body of water or some crap.

We also learn that a woman was arrested early on for drowning her son in the lake. That story eventually catches up to the rest of the movie.

After having a little too much to drink, our crew of six head to the lake. One of the group decides that she wants to actually get in the water, and I can't blame her. Her oh so macho and oh so strong-going to be a professional football player boyfriend immediately flips out and demands she get out of the water. After practically dragging her out by her hair, he screams at her about how they're all drunk and it's dangerous. She then starts acting weird and eventually people start dying.

You can blame my renting of The House on Clinton Road of wanting to watch a few horror movies and waiting until Saturday night to hit Redbox. Though it actually started out fairly interesting, it didn't take long before things fell apart. I have no idea why they set up the movie the way they did, but there were so many continuity errors that it started ticking me off.

When they first arrive, no one can find the lake. They later go walking around and find the lake but no beach. Even later, they go out to stand on the deck and have a clear view of the lake, which is literally right behind the house. There are also a few scenes that show them walking around the house to the lake. They then see someone on the opposite side of the lake and somehow get there in seconds, even though shots of the lake show that it wraps around the entire house and that there's no way to get across it. It got to the point where my and the BF just started laughing every time someone mentioned how far away the lake was or how they would get there.

Does The House on Clinton Road have any real scares? Eh. Honestly, I did jump out of my seat when the little dead boy would pop up, especially when he made an appearance in a closet followed by his mother jumping out and grabbing him. It also had a decent jump scene at the end, though you expect it's coming. And, if you love hearing teens be whiny and bitchy, make sure you watch through the credits for a “true encounter” on Clinton Road.