Fever Lake has a solid 2.6/10 on IMDB and 22% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It stars Mario Lopez, Corey Haim, and Bo Hopkins.
It was released straight to DVD in 1997. No theatrical release.
And it was filmed right here in Wisconsin.
Here’s the synopsis:
A group of teenagers drives to "Fever Lake" to spend the weekend in a cursed house near the lake despite warnings from the locals.
Sounds like an average weekend in Wisconsin.
The titular lake is Lake Mary. Other scenes were filmed in Kenosha.
A few years ago, my friend and fellow bad film buff J. Nathan Couch (purveyor of spooky ghost walks and author of Goatman: Flesh or Folklore?) told me about this one.
His exact recommendation was:
“Don’t watch it. But if you do, watch the RiffTrax version.”
Fever Lake and two more bad Wisconsin-filmed horror movies are featured here:
I found this insightful review, which was posted to IMDB in 2005:
Was on set when filming this horrible horror flick
This film, in addition to being filmed in Lake Mary, Wisconsin was also filmed at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI. At the time they filmed this I was the student center manager there and basically acted as property manager.
In the credits near the end are two names "special thanks to" and I'm one of them.
I think the funniest thing about this film was that it came out shortly after ShowGirl did...and when I asked Mario Lopez what he thought about the her in that film he just alluded to her looks and that she's as dumb as a box of rocks...but hot! Scenes were filmed all around the campus, including in the gymnasium, locker room, track and cafeteria. One specific scene is outdoors from the cafeteria on a deck that, in reality, is never used for anything by the students in general. I suggested they use that with a nice view over Lake Michigan and they took me up on it since they needed a scene where Corey walks up on it.
The track scene filming was hilarious in that everybody there was faster than Corey was in running. They yelled at anyone who even came close to keeping up with him to fall back and make it look like that little guy could actually keep up and win. Interesting angles they take on that to make him look taller than he is....he's really short. I was in the background also in the stands as they ran buy...I can only see my legs in the shot as they run by them. It took all day just to film that short segment and the one leading up to it with people walking down a hill toward a fence near the track.
There was supposed to be a nude shower scene, but that must have ended up on the cutting room floor. They were pretty tight as far as letting anyone in to the locker room when filming that one...other than that you could walk up anywhere they were shooting it very easily. The director was a decent guy too...really down-to-earth.
Also, I've never realized Corey was such a "yes man", always seeming to really kiss up to the director like if he didn't, he'd get fired or something. "Yes, sir", "right away, sir"...really formal and brown-noser like. Maybe that's why he is mostly in straight-to-video flicks like this...which is was the intent was. This was to be released only in Europe where he has a bigger fan base, and was straight to video (if you can even find that) in the US.
I've seen a lot worse movies than this one, and do wish sometime that Corey would start to act his age and get into another real movie. Even when this one was just released, it was next to impossible to find it. I watched it once...that was enough.
I still haven’t actually mustered the courage to watch Fever Lake. But if you do, let me know what you think.
Wisconsin Horror Film Festivals
If you like indie horror, here are some great upcoming events you should check out:
Wisconsin Thrillers at the Highway 18 drive-in in Jefferson
Twisted Dreams Film Festival - Milwaukee (Including the premiere of I’m Your Host, about Kenosha’s weird horror host scene)
Sawdust City Fright Fest at the TIME theater in Oshkosh
Find more spooky fun in our 2023 Wisconsin Halloween Guide.