One thing that is clear from the moment you see the poster for Bone Lake is that this movie is not for the feint of heart. The horny horror movie that turns a romantic retreat into a dark nightmare of violence delivered some strong reviews from critics ahead of its release on October 3, but audiences have not been quite as impressed. However, for director Mercedes Bryce Morgan, making a horror movie where people cared for the characters was the most important reason for her jumping on board the movie…and the horniness, naturally.
Speaking with Collider, Morgan explained what drew her into the movie from the start, saying:
“I think just the horny quality of it. But I think also it was just the fact that it had these characters where I go, “Wow, I look at their dynamic, and I care about it.” Because there are so many slashers where I don’t care about them because I don’t know what they’re going through, and that can be f-cking fun, but I wanted something that we kind of, like, seep into the horror so that when it explodes at the end, we care. So, that meant a lot to me.”
Bone Lake is not shy in laying out exactly what audiences can expect, from its titillating poster to its loaded synopsis, which reads:
“A couple’s romantic vacation at a secluded lakeside estate is upended when they are forced to share the mansion with a mysterious and attractive couple. In this darkly hilarious and seductive horror story, a dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, bringing terrifying secrets to light and triggering a bloody battle for survival.”
‘Bone Lake’s Director Was Allowed to Watch Movies Dealing with Sex Before Horror
During the same interview, Morgan was asked which horror movie from her youth made her fall in love with the genre and want to make others feel like that with her own movies. As it turns out, it was a Stephen King classic, but she also grew up in a “very sex positive household,” which seems to have also impacted her filmmaking journey.
“So, funny enough, I grew up in a very sex positive household, and so I wasn’t allowed to watch horror, but I was allowed to watch sexual movies before I was allowed to watch horror movies. So then I got to be a teenager, and all of a sudden I was like, “All these horror movies! This is so fucking amazing!” So I think for my teen self, one of the first ones I remember was Carrie, because the scene where she gets her period, I’m like, “This hurts and it’s personal.” So that sticks with me a lot.”
While Bone Lake received plenty of love from critics with an 82% Rotten Tomatoes score, audiences only gave it a 59% rating, saying that underneath it all, the film delivers the same kind of story that has been seen dozens of times before. However, for horror fans, sometimes that familiar feeling is all it takes to get people interested. Bone Lake failed to break $1 million on its domestic debut, but it is the kind of movie that will likely find a lot of support when it releases later in the year on streaming.
- Release Date
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October 3, 2025
- Runtime
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94 minutes
- Director
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Mercedes Bryce Morgan
- Writers
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Joshua Friedlander
- Producers
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Jason Blumenfeld, Mickey Liddell, Jacob Yakob