In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The first king of the Silla kingdom united the various Korean tribes under his iron fist through the use of superior technology and tactics. One of those tribes was led by a sorcerous chief, who was imprisoned within a lake by the Silla king after he had sworn vengeance against him for the destruction wreaked upon the tribe. A thousand years pass and stories become legends, legends become myths, yada yada. Now the Silla kingdom has stood for almost a millennia, but once again it's threatened both from within and by outsiders.The biggest problem with this film is the fact that it doesn't invest its viewers. None of the characters are given proper personalities beyond their general archetypes, for one. The main character is a skilled general, and that's about it. His intended is the intended, and that's about it. The lovelorn empress is the lovelorn empress. There are some additional touches, like the fact that the main character is apparently of lower birth, but they don't really add all that much to the story.The story is riddled with clichés and is also baffling in details. For example, the title of the movie is The Legend of the Evil Lake. Emphasis on the word 'evil'. Yet, the very first scene shows us the chief imprisoned within the lake simply because he had issues with his tribe being taken over by the Silla king. Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm with the chief on this one. Down with the Silla kingdom! Which makes watching the movie a touch aggravating when it so clearly assumes we're on the Silla side of the conflict.Aside from all that, it's not really a bad movie. The fight scenes are nice, the locations are gorgeous, the clothing, make-up and all that stuff works really well, and as a whole it's simply an okay Asian fantasy/horror film. If only the story had been even halfway decent this might have amounted to something.

When I saw this movie, I couldn't help but see some parallels with the Arthurian legend. Both visually and in the plot. Visually, we've got this misty lake, and some "sword shots" as I might call them, that are quite obviously inspired from there. As for the plot, the relation between the three main characters echoes somewhat the Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot threesome.Before going any further, I might do a brief plot summary with MILD SPOILERS, as it's basically just the beginning of the story, not the outcome, but you are warned :---------------------------------------The movie opens on a bloody moon, at the end of the era of magic. The Emperor of the newly formed Shilla kingdom seals the power of an evil sorcerer in a lake by thrusting a magical sword into the ground. As long as the swords remain there, the evil spirit shall be contained.A thousand years later, as the Shilla kingdom is under great turmoil, General Biharang is a great warrior that fights to protect the throne, which is occupied by Queen Chinsong. She is deeply in love with him, but he refuses her advances, because he loves another woman, a beautiful peasant girl named Jahunbie. At the palace, nobody approves of this relationship, thinking it might eventually turn the General against his Queen.So, as Biharang is sent on a mission, Jahunbie is attacked by assassins, and while trying to escape, she stumbles on the sword that was protecting the kingdom. And as she draws it from the ground to defend herself, little does she know she just sealed her fate and is about to bring many things to their end. As she end up falling in the evil lake, the spirit of the sorcerer takes control of her.Now, Biharang having learned of her death, is bent on finding who ordered to kill her, and he has little doubt about who that person might be... But he comes face to face with Jahunbie, the girl he thought dead, who is now possessed. He then struggles to free her and save her, but all odds are against him.--------------------- END SPOILERS ----So the story is really about this impossible love triangle, set on a medieval fantasy background story. The acting is quite good, especially Jun-ho Jeong who plays General Biharang.While the movie packs a good deal of action, the focus really isn't on that. Visually the action compares to what we saw in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. If you can accept a person empowered with magic can fly, you'll have no problem with the action here.As for the lighting, it's sometimes a bit cheesy, but we've seen the same kind of lighting in the Lord of the Rings, and apparently it hasn't bothered many people, so I guess it won't be the case either here. It succeeds in creating this great moody fantastic atmosphere that inhabits the movie.Cinematographically, it is not revolutionary, but quite good in my opinion. There are some really beautiful shots in that movie.So in the end would I recommend it ? Definitely. 8 out of 10.

The movie starts with the evil sorcerer from one of many clans in China at the time captured and bound by the current emperor. Fast forward circa 800 years and general Biharang is fighting the rebels while his love waits for him at home. At the same time the queen is in love with Biharang, he only has eyes for his love though.The queen and her advisors do not approve of this and plots against Biharangs girlfriend, sending her into a series of events that unleashes the evil that was trapped almost a thousand years ago, taking over her own body. Will Biharang be able to fight this evil without killing his loved one? Will he be able to battle the scheming advisors and a love struck queen?This might not be such an epic movie as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but it's still quite enjoyable. The story contains love, drama and suspense, the acting is more than ok, the effects, while not up to ILM standards, gets the job done.Don't try and cram this movie into the standard Hollywood formula since most asian movies that are worth watching doesn't fit into this formula. Try to concentrate less on the evolution of the plot and more on the feeling of the movie and the, in my opinion, very well done camera work.Well worth watching if you can find it.

Hmm... where do I start? Fighting scenes were horribly choreographed, acting was mediocre at best, not much character development, plot was really weak ... and given the low expectations of typical action movies, it still did not meet my LOW expectations. I recommend _Musa_ instead of this one -- for obvious reasons.