User Reviews

They should have named this "What's the Matter with Lily?," as a nod to 60s and 70s horror films that ask such rhetorical questions about their female pro/antagonists. Clive, a young photographer, stays at a secluded Canadian bed & breakfast in the dead of winter. The hotel is run by a very off-kilter woman who talks non-stop about her bed-ridden daughter, Lily. Clive finds the girl's diary and becomes obsessed with her. Lily's story unravels and Clive discovers what horrifying events led to the girl's current predicament. This is a creepy little movie with a wintry atmosphere that works in its favor, but it moves at a snails pace and is rather predictable. The lead actor (and his character, for that matter) is annoying, though Dorothee Berryman is delightfully wacky as the innkeeper.

Well, this sure was an odd one; like another reviewer said it had a LOT of potential and I do not know who the director was, but it was like rather than getting a good hold on you, the director just kind of let's you run through his fingers like sand (OOH, how's that for a metaphor : ) Anyway... I give a LOT of weight to Slasherpool's reviews (Anrthro Fred) Sadly, he discontinued his site a couple of years ago. I've scrounged around and found their old site which only goes up to about 2002 (where I saw a review of this film and why I rented it and watched it) And on Rotten Tomatoes Slasherpool's page is still there but all the review pages are gone; all there is, is a single, tantalizing sentence that goes with each film.

So, I got exactly 38 minutes through this thing and it was moving SO damn slowly and NOT very much was happening; so I turned it off. Then I went back and read his review again and he REALLY liked it and compared it to 'THE SHINING' Well, I don't know quite exactly WHAT it was he was smoking right at that moment, but I sure would love some! And the sad thing is is that there is a REALLY good premise that COULD have been super duper creepy if the damn director had any clue at all. I mean this film had the potential to be a true CULT film if it had been done properly, but alas, no... And, if you have read my comments and reviews before, you KNOW that it is not that I don't like really slow or subtle films, so save the 'Oh, why don't you go and watch 'TRANSFORMERS' comment, okay... No, I frigg'n LOVE slow building and even very simple films; an excellent example of a director who actually DOES know how to do that quite well in a bloody awesome Old School kind of way is Ti West from Glass Eye Pix. Now HIS films are super slow, intense suspense builders; and the premises are usually pretty simple. But unfortunately this one misses the mark in just about every way. I'm not saying it is HORRIBLE or anything, it just falls WAY short in all departments where it really, REALLY could have been awesome... I mean, even if the atmosphere and mood could have been WAY, WAY tighter and stronger and everything else remained the same, even THAT may have carried it. But just gazing out at the barren, snowy landscape without much else is NOT exactly my idea of building suspense or creating even CLOSE to a creepy enough mood to fit this story. A REAL missed opportunity...

Even though I felt that it was a VERY weak film, I gave it a 5 because it's not that it had that many negative elements that brought it down; it's just that it simply did not actually HAVE enough strength or substance to carry the potentially excellent premise and elements that were there to work with.

If you really do not like slow films at all, absolutely skip this one...

Even though I've never actually been to Canada, I first started watching horror movies in the early 80's "slash-for-cash" era when a lot of horror films were made in Canada, thanks to government tax breaks there, and distributed in the US. Of course, a lot of these films tried to LOOK as American as possible, but being low-budget efforts, they often didn't succeed. Now, of course, Canada is pretty much "Hollywood north", but Hollywood movies filmed in Canada today are completely indistinguishable from Hollywood movies filmed in Los Angeles, so the essential "Canadian-ness" of movies like "Black Christmas", "Funeral Home" or "Curtains" has really been lost. What really made a lot of these low-budget films is the wintry Canadian settings and the ATMOSPHERE. These films aren't slick and bombastic and hyper-edited like bigger-budgeted Hollywood films. They let the tension build up slowly (too slowly perhaps for many people today) instead of bludgeoning you with loud music, countless "jump-scares", and expensive CGI effects. They're spartan, but often strangely effective.

As far as things like acting and dialogue, low-budget Canuck indies are definitely inferior and at times even incompetent. The plot of this movie is pretty weak and the ending is really weak. But this movie has a great setting of a wintry, isolated B-and-B where SOMETHING creepy is going on with the sick daughter of the innkeeper, who a young male guest becomes infatuated with after finding her diary. Strangely, the mother of the sick girl seems to be sexually pushing the guest towards her daughter (in a plot reminiscent of another obscure Canadian film called "Cold Comfort"). The resolution of the mystery is very dissatisfying, but this doesn't add up to the entire movie being worthless. It's actually quite effective in places.

Mention should also be made of actress Kimberly LaFerriere. Yes, she's probably not a great actress based on this and the only other thing I've seen her in (the TV series "1,000 Ways to die" where she plays a nympho who has a fatal encounter with a cucumber). She has a very good LOOK though, a very interesting combination of creepy and sexy (particularly memorable is her flashback ice-skating scene which graces the film poster). Except for the flashback scenes, she spends most of this movie literally in bed, but she still has more nude scenes than the ridiculously "hot" actresses that headline most Hollywood horror movies. (I also find it annoying that the obscure Canuck actresses of the "slash-for-cash" era have been replaced by Hollywood actresses like Meagan Fox, Alexandra Daddario, and Odette Yustman, who really aren't any more talented, but are just so "hot" they don't have to actually do nude scenes in lowly horror movies).

None of this makes this movie any kind of low-budget masterpiece (far from it, really), but it has some refreshing, kind of old-fashioned virtues of a truly Canadian horror indie. I definitely didn't hate it.

Was very disappointed with this movie. I appreciate that its small budget but it really had no plot and the story had so many holes you could drain your pasta through it.

Nothing much else to say except don't bother...

This movie is pretty good throughout, but it's the ending that's really cool; it's how a thriller should end. The setting and cast are also great assets to the film, especially Danny Gilmore, NICE! I did find a few lame parts to the film though, such as Clive's "connection" to Lily, I'm not exactly sure where that came from. As an interesting film I give it a 6 out of 10, but add a great ending and I give it a 7. I'm not sure why it's considered a horror film though. It does have an eerie feel to it, but if you're looking for gore, there's not much here. Not that that's a bad thing, I think the coldness and eeriness do it justice. A twisted thriller? Yes. Horror? Not really.

When i saw Winter Lily at the 1999 Fantasy Film Fest in Hamburg i was not sure what to expect from this movie. But only a few minutes after it has started i was captured by the disturbing atmosphere. The snowy landscapes, the strange Bed&Breakfast hotel, located in the middle of nothing. The excellent cast helps this film to be one very very good thriller. and watch Kimberly Laferriere. This young actress looks great - can´t wait to see her in another movie. i give this films a 9 out of 10!

Not since Rabid have I had to fast forward through a movie so much. The only redeeming quality of this movie is the leading man who does have a nice figure (Agatha's shining moment). I warn you, stay away from this monstrosity.