User Reviews

While the Russian folklore angle is interesting and refreshing, the pacing and the action are kinda caotic and there are too many plot twists that don't really help the cause.

The first thing my buddy said when I borrowed his DVD-copy of "Mermaid: Lake of the Dead" was that, technically, the girl in the film isn't a mermaid. True that! She doesn't have shells to cover her boobs, or doesn't use a fork to comb her hair like Ariel does in Disney's "The Little Mermaid". Heck, she doesn't ever have a tail, which I think is the bare minimum to qualify as a mermaid. However, this doesn't mean the film isn't worth seeking out. Quite the contrary, the girl - Lisa Grigorieva - is an aquatic creature from the Russian folklore, so her background story and particularities are probably more original than any other horror movie about mermaids and sea sirens (with the exception of "The Lorlei's Grasp", that is a brilliant film).

The plot is intriguing, for sure. Shortly before their wedding, a young couple threatens to be torn apart by the interference of a mysterious water nymph who lures the boy - Roma Kitaev - to his family's lakeside vacationing house and seduces him with her gentle whispers and supernatural powers. The nymph's slowly unraveling backstory is great, and while the lead characters are amiable. So far for the strong points. Unfortunately, the makers of "Mermaid: Lake of the Dead" still believe the best way to make a horror film is to stuff it with jump scare moments and hideous digital effects. What they have here is a potentially atmospheric and petrifying concept, but they choose to throw in a sudden scare or a nasty face every couple of minutes. None of the BOO-moments have an effect, resulting in a chaotic and infantile second half and climax that easily could have been much better.

Poor script, poor acting, poor end. No logic in the story. Story doesn't fit reality in a logical way. Too many predictable scare jumps, many if them too obvious.

If you see a title about a Rusalka, you expect something mythic and very Russian; and not a Hollywood copycat, with jump scares and a "monster" that not frighten anyone; maybe in the original language the movie don't feel so bad, but the dubbed was not only plain and dull, but very simple translated. What a shame.

So we in the western world see mermaids as beautiful sea women who have the tail of a fish. Keep in mind that this is a foreign film, and the mermaids of Russian and Ukrainian lore are not the same as what we know. The film has a decent plot but there isn't exactly a lot of logic behind it. The "mermaid" is more like a ghost, because the woman died centuries ago (so now it's a spirit I guess?). Being a Russian film, the dubbing is pretty atrocious. It's almost laughable that they don't even attempt to try and match the mouths with the words. In all its a decent late night flick, but not one you wanna watch more than once.

There is not an awful lot to add to what has already been said very well. Really loved the concept to 'The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead' and that it was loosely based on 'Rusalka'. Absolutely love Russian film, both live action and animation of which there are classics in both of all decades and genres/styles. Likewise with Russian folk tales, and there are many timeless ones out there. It also looked and sounded good.

Part of me was a little disappointed watching 'The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead'. Not because of it being awful, actually don't it is that at all, but because there was room for it to be so much more than it turned out to be. It is nowhere near close to being a waste of time but it had potential to be great and it just wasn't. Instead of falling into either extreme of loving or hating 'The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead', for me it was one of those films that left me mixed and where there was a lot of pondering needed to sum up my thoughts on it.

Will start with the good with 'The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead'. Much of the film looks quite good, with locations being a mix of beautifully dark and charming and the photography has a good deal of atmosphere. As does the audio which unsettled without being obvious and fitted tonally and in placement. There is an eerie tension and the mermaid is both ethereal and creepy.

Viktoriya Agalakova is a heartfelt Marina and Sofia Shidlovskaya enchants and chills. The visual acting is better than average.

It is such a shame however 'The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead' has too many short-comings too on top of those major strengths. While the visual acting was not an issue, the same cannot be said for the dubbing which had nowhere near the same amount of emotion seen on screen, didn't fit (Ilya came over as an irritating character as a result) and it sounds awkward. It actually would have been better just having it said entirely in Russian and having subtitles. There was an eerie, dark eerie tension and heart in much of the film but towards the end the logic becomes sloppy to the point of ridiculousness and the finale was impossible to take seriously, pure nonsense. Parts are repetitive too and in a predictable way too.

Do agree too about the jump scares. Excessive in number and use, added absolutely nothing, none of them were surprising, none of them were scary, they were just cheap and predictable and just cheapened an atmosphere that was already quite effective without them. The special effects looked as though they were made in a rush and as an afterthought, didn't see the need for them here (am seeing a pattern here, one of pointlessness regarding a few components).

A mixed bag overall. A fair bit impressed but there were frustrations too that could easily have been avoided. 5/10

The movie had a mythology that could be more explored, but moves on without explications, hide too much the "mermaid" and she don't scare as well, although, had some technics that works pretty great, the characters aren't explored and some times stay boring, the twist in end is ok, and the song of the credits is amazing!

I don't know if it's the scares themselves or because i watched it dubbed and not in Russian ,, but it kinda felt overdone ,, A lot of scares ,, i mean the graphics and cinematography are good but there were so many jumpy moments by the end of the movie the scares felt like just any other normal scene.

The plot is semi-genuine, somewhat familiar,, the casting as of the Russian cast looked fine , but as i said sadly all the engagement and interaction thrill factors are lost when you watch it dubbed to English.

So i would say it's not highly recommended, especially not in English.

Let's start with the badly translated title. Where's the mermaid? There isn't one. The title character is a rusalka, not a mermaid in any western understanding of the word. Rusalki are the damned souls of girls who commited suicide by drowning, typically because they were pregnant out of wedlock and abandoned or rejected by the father. Such a girl becomes a rotting half-fish, half-woman, hideous in appearance, inhabiting ponds and rivers (not the ocean), who tries to lure young men to their death. They can shape-shift to appear beautiful or take the form of a living person. They are vengeful, evil, capable of sorcery, and dangerous. Don't think Ariel in a clamshell bra. Think carp zombies.

There. Does that help?

Marina is engaged to Roma, a competitive swimmer. Roma and his sister Olga lost their mother at an early age, supposedly to drowning. But as you see in the opening scene, she was actually killed by a rusalka at their lakeside dacha (summer house). The widowed father, who has had at best a distant relationship with his children ever since, unexpectedly gifts the dacha to Roma and Marina as a wedding gift, telling them to sell it and take the money. Instead, Marina wants to fix it up and keep it. But the rusalka has not gone away, and now casts her eye on Roma...

Visually, "The Rusalka: Lake of the Dead" (to give it its proper translation) excels. It is rich in old-fashioned atmosphere: mist on the lake, moon through clouds, candlelight in the old banya (wooden sauna), a lush Russian forest.

Contrary to what some reviewers found, the storyline is perfectly coherent. There are a handful of cultural references that Russians will understand but are not explained for the benefit of westerners (such as a shout-out to Karamzin's "Poor Liza").

But these do not pose a problem as long as you understand that a rusalka is not a mermaid.

This movie was so DUMB! This was one of the most ridiculous and useless movies that I've seen in awhile. The plot was, "Oh wait! What was the plot?"

The visual effects are interesting but the story does not unfold well, the ending is completely meaningless and the way the characters discover how to get rid of the mermaid is ridiculous. It has neither a drama nor a well-developed terror.

Because this way to make horror movies is boring and almost predictable. Psichological thriller would fit better if not because of the 3 or 4 jumpscares, wich by the way are not scary. Either way, it not fitting the conventional hollywood horror movie standards made it somehow passable and a bit interesting. Also, there are no mermaids at all, keep this in mind, Rusalka is a russian ghost or something like that.

It started with really great mythology and fantasy, but end up with just a boring fantasy with many plot holes and bad acting.

Roma! Marina! Lol this was pretty f-in stupid not scary and horror made for 12 year olds. 12 year olds with bad taste in horror movies that is.

Im rating this movie 8/10 coz it is really underrated for all the effort and great visual effects the creators have put in it. 4 out if ten?! Unfair and unappreciated !

That's right, folks! It's bad movie night with the wife and I. This pick from Play stations movie vault, The Mermaid :Lake of the dead. The acting was good, the story was a bit of a stretch, thinking that aren't Mermaid usually in the sea? Not a lake? But I digress. Moving on, during the movie, I started to notice that the words were not syncing with the lips and I'm like what the hell? I hopped on my phone and discovered...through the IMDB website...shameless plug...that the movie is in Russian. I'm not a huge fan of subtitles and you really can't hardly tell. I liked this movie, and I think you will too. Peace.

Or was it dreams? And do you love me? Wait, I didn't ask that. Someone else did - literally. But let's leave this aside which you may get once you watch the movie if you even care. Because this is a horror movie that isn't really bad, but isn't that great either.

Technically speaking this really looks good. Maybe that is something you care about, maybe not, but I had to mention it, for those interested. Characters are quite cliche and a lot of scares are too. Story is simple and straightforward, it is very likely nothing much happens that will surprise you. No twists or turns or "mirage"/dream things ... so only watch if you do like horror overall. This does take itself seriously - for better or worse

In 2018's The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead we are introduced to a young woman who has to fight over her boyfriend against a mermaid-like creature. It's actually a Rusalki from Slavic mythology and these creatures usually live in lakes or rivers and lure young man to their death.

There are some moody dark scenes at the small lake, where the Rusalki lives and the contrast colors from the poster in green and red are both present in the movie. Especially the dark green tone which is seen in most of the scenes taking place at night. The effects actually look pretty decent and I liked the design of the Rusalki. There are several scenes where her face transforms with a loud screech and a jump scare. Its a cheap way to scare the audience and is generally not welcome amongst horror fans. Another thing that is not very well liked is the trope of dumb character's. But sadly the movie also takes a slice of this and therefore makes it almost hard to root for them. On the other hand it's certainly a unique movie with a unique creature being the central antagonist. Overall it's a decent film but the final result lacked in execution in some parts. [5,2/10]