Zombie Lake (French: Le lac des morts vivants; Spanish: El lago de los muertos vivientes) is a 1981 French–Spanish horror film directed by Jean Rollin and starring Howard Vernon, Pierre-Marie Escourrou, Anouchka Lesoeur and Nadine Pascal.
[1][2] It received marginal praise for an unusual angle involving a little girl and her zombie father, but was otherwise lambasted for its production values, and became emblematic of exploitation house Eurociné's output.
Although it has been compared to Shock Waves, company heir Daniel Lesoeur stated that the lake setting was chosen because it evoked the holidays and contrasted with the film's horror themes.
[7] Franco had set his sights on a majestic valley in Switzerland, but as the shoot grew nearer, Eurociné boss Marius Lesoeur balked at the expenses incurred by such a location and started trimming the budget.
The World War II shootout was staged at a public square called Place de la Libération, a name that celebrated the end of the conflict.
[18] An oft repeated anecdote has it that a camera became stuck in undercrank mode and Marius Lesoeur ordered the actors to move slower until it could be fixed, so that their speed would look right at a normal framerate.
[20] According to Rollin, veteran makeup artist Christiane Sauvage did a decent job on the zombies in early scenes, but she lost motivation after witnessing the production's overall shoddiness and thereafter stuck to applying a basic coat of body paint.
[5][12] In Spain, government archives only credit the film with a belated 17 December 1987 release visa (possibly a typo for 1981), which resulted in a paltry 35,130 admissions.
[25] The film was sold as part of the Shock Around the Clock syndication package offered by Cinema Shares International, alongside two more Eurociné products, Oasis of the Zombies and Orloff Against the Invisible Man.
[33][34] In a contemporary review, French magazine L'Écran fantastique mocked various goofs, basic makeup, and acts of flesh eating that looked more like vampire bites.
"[22] Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog called it "an undeniably sloppy film", criticizing the poor make-up, score and acting from Anoushka Lesoeur.
[35] Glenn Kay, author of Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide, also criticized the acting and make-up, adding that "the sound mix is one of the worst recorded for a feature film.
In French magazine Vendredi 13, Norbert Moutier—himself known for his thrifty horror films—wrote that while it was obvious that Rollin was "working on someone's orders" and with a "paltry budget", the film remained "endearing.
"[3] Gordon Sullivan of DVD Verdict wrote that it had "that strange Jean Rollin touch to recommend it," but in a standard zombie vehicle, "the slowness of the narrative feels like it's fighting the tension generated by the walking dead.
"[40] Bloody Disgusting acknowledged that the film possessed a "distinctive vibe [that] could’ve originated from Rollin’s own style, but it feels more like he just had no clue how to make a zombie movie.
[43] Franco reconciled with the Lesoeurs shortly after the making of this film, and was convinced to direct a new version of the same story, this time set in a desert and called Oasis of the Zombies.
The producers also commissioned Rollin to shoot inserts for Franco's A Virgin Among the Living Dead, in order to repackage it as a zombie movie rather than the gothic horror film it actually was.