"The Appearance" versus "The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead"

Lots of horror movies have been getting put out lately from remakes of Stephen King to the anticipated book of urban legends and horror stories "Tales To Tell In The Dark" that is said to be riveting and heart-pounding and its not due to be in theaters until this summer. Yet some films that have a lot of the creepy element get overshadowed by the large publicity of the theater films that we miss out on those that go straight to dvd, a.k.a. the movies you may have missed which is where I come in. Today we have a "Movie Versus" in which two films with "killer ladies" with a supernatural edge are the main focus.

First up we have "The Appearance". Taking place in the Medieval era when superstition and plague have a village living in fear with only the monks to look to as a stronghold, but when a monk is found savagely killed and his death is called into question Mateho (Jake Stormoen) is sent by the church as an Inquisitor to investigate. Being a man of rational thinking, he's out to disprove that it was simply an act of suicide and not a death by unnatural means, but the monks there are convinced it is the act of an imprisoned witch Isabel (Baylee Self) that is the source of their torment and misfortune. Mateho doesn't buy that Isabel is a witch and is set to disprove this claim and the events related, but the longer Mateho stays, the more he finds that rational thinking cannot explain everything and that there is something at work that is set on making Mateho a believer at any cost.

In "The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead" is set in Russia where a young engaged man Roma Kitaev (Efim Petrunin) celebrating his bachelor party wanders to the lake of his family's old cabin and by chance encounters the spirit of a drowned jilted woman that has become an evil being better known as the mermaid (Sofia Shidlovskaya) who lures him in to get him to profess his love for her. When he doesn't do it, he finds himself being haunted by the mermaid and growing weaker and weaker. His fiancé Marina (Viktoriya Agalakova) can see the change in him and is desperate to free him from the mermaid's spell before the mermaid lures Roma to join her in her watery grave or risk becoming like the mermaid herself.

Two frightening ladies, but only one can take the crown of stars and be on top. "The Appearance" while frightening and a perfect exhibit for the corruption and paranoia brought on by fear of the unknown and absolute power intertwined it's lighting was less than desirable and hard to see much of went on in the dark dungeons in many of the scenes. I get its in the dark ages, but does it have to be too dark to see? It would have made seeing the great make up effects used on the character of Isabel and some of the few special effects used not lost in the shadows. While suspenseful and a great interpretation of similar events that might have taken place in such a time and place, it left me in the dark and only got two and a half G.M.Stars to light its way out.
⭐⭐½
Green Mountain Stars

 "The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead" on the other hand had only one thing going against it. The mermaid wasn't much of a mermaid in the sense of a tail and scales, rather more like a siren of doom. Yet despite not looking like Ariel's evil cousin, the plot had a good backstory, made you look one way and not see what's going on in the other direction until it was too late and paced its suspense out so that it shocked you throughout the film making you question if it was over or just evil lying in wait. A good watch for the horror fans out there, but don't expect it to be a cult classic. Still it will get to swim off with three G.M.Stars making the mermaid the winner.
⭐⭐⭐
Green Mountain Stars

"The Appearance" and "The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead" are both available at Redbox and where movies are sold/streamed.