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If you're wanting a slasher-horror flick that delivers mindless entertainment while eliciting cringes, odds are Bone Lake has caught your curiosity. A recent scary film from filmmaker Mercedes Bryce Morgan debuted in theaters on Oct. 3 with an outlandish setup and a suggestive title to complement.

Note: Spoilers ahead for the finale of Bone Lake.

A Mix of Humor and Darkness

Given the title like Bone Lake and an introductory scene featuring people sprinting butt naked through the forest—only to be targeted with a hunting weapon in private parts—one can guess there's ample levity in the film. Even, the final scenes, which depict the main couple battered and bruised yet giggling hysterically side by side, carry a feeling of macabre comedy.

One would have to find something to laugh about, as well, if you went through what Diego and Sage experience in Bone Lake. A couple full of romantic issues from the start—lack of communication, disappointing physical relations, an disproportionate load of financial responsibility, you name it—their relationship is challenged when additional characters, the character Will and the character Cin, interrupt their love-filled retreat.

A Sinister Change

Seemingly at the start to be a conflict of opposites between the two pairs—Sage and Diego are awkward and working-class, whereas Will and Cin have a rich, lavish way of life and are seen kissing on any handy location—takes a dark turn as the weekend progresses. Will and Cin prey upon Sage and Diego's insecurities in their partnership. They tell untruths and rumors about the opposite pair, alleging to have information on an affair and further conflicts.

All of these insecurities explode in the biggest way imaginable when Sage and Diego discover that Cin and Will are not simply here at Bone Lake accidentally: they are the owners and have been attracting pairs to the grounds in order to get them to stray on their loved ones. Why? Since Will and Cin are truly related by blood. Subsequent to their incestuous affair was found out by their family and they were pulled away by force, they chose to get back at the world (including their relatives). If the society turned against them simply for loving who they want, then they'll oppose the world. Will and Cin's goal is to show a reflection to all the duos they ultimately end up eliminating, in an attempt to show that their affection is just as valid (or invalid) as the affection of these additional duos they try to split.

Unforeseen Strengths

But, what Cin and Will fail to consider is that Diego and Sage, regardless of their poor dialogue with one another, do care for and love each other. It needed having a murderous couple try to end their relationship and take their lives to see it. While it appears dark, it is not presented that way. Bone Lake's style is more camp than true terror.

The movie ends with Sage and Diego joining forces to escape Cin and Will's deadly plans. What's interesting is that while, at the beginning of the feature, you perceive a huge gap in the bond between Diego and Sage in relation to Cin and Will, by the end, Bone Lake turns it on its head. Cin and Will split up to pursue Sage and Diego, but Diego and Sage are communicating better now. They collaborate to butcher Will with a power tool. They then attack the character Cin, who dies horribly at the depths of Bone Lake's body of water—but only after the character Diego takes back the marriage symbol destined for Sage that Will had stolen and gifted to the character Cin.

Aftereffects

After all the chaos of their two killings, drenched in blood and viscera, Sage and Diego rest side by side on the edge of a craft. Unexpectedly, this is the nearest they've been since the beginning of the film, now that all their relationship troubles have been laid out for each of them to observe, and all they have left are their beaten and wounded physiques. As though to reinforce their fresh bond and intimate understanding of one another, Diego leans over to slip the marriage symbol on the character Sage's hand and, when she turns to inspect it in the illumination, the pair start chuckling.

It's easy to understand the reason: When, the character Will asked for marriage to the character Cin, it was a idyllic, loving scene. Whereas the character Diego follows suit for Sage, they've only survived a brutal nightmare. But still, Diego's engagement question to Sage is not based on falsehoods, simply the awareness that they've come out of the most terrible experience of their existence and, despite everything, they yet desire to pass the future together with each other.

Filmmaker's Perspective

But, as director Mercedes Bryce Morgan notes, the conclusion doesn't necessarily mean a happy ever after for Diego and Sage.

"If you go through that circumstance with a partner where you face a violent killing spree, how can you come out of that? How do you act as a human being? Therefore I wanted to capture all of the moments there together where it's this joy of 'what a relief' and 'are we receiving what we've dreamed of, but what in the world just happened? What exactly do we do at this point?' Plus that set in of the situation of 'what are the implications for us {now|today|from