Blood Hook

When Peter was six, he watched his grandfather become overtaken by a supernatural force as he fished on the dock, with a reel-to-reel playing nearby. The man tumbled into the lake and disappeared, and his body was never recovered. The incident casts a haunting shadow over Peter and the lakeside lodge for years to come.

Seventeen years later, Peter inherits the lodge and brings a group of college friends to visit for the Muskie Madness festival. They are greeted with wary stares from Wayne, the reclusive neighbor, and his paranoid grandson Evelyn, who make no secret of their hostility.

During the festival’s onset, middle-aged tourist Sheila Swain is dragged into the lake by a large fishing line after being entangled on a dock. The attack signals that someone is preying on visitors near the water. Authorities try to keep the festival on track while danger lingers.

Rodney visits Leory Leudke’s fishing shop and meets Beverly Duerst. Leudke shares a tale about Peter’s grandfather and Wayne using a method to reel in trophy fish by pulling them ashore and shooting them, a tactic they abandoned after Wayne accidentally shot Peter.

Peter becomes increasingly unnerved by the lake as old memories resurface. Ann offers him comfort and suggests his fear may be post-traumatic stress, hinting at the danger looming beneath the surface.

Rodney takes a boat out solo and is attacked by an unseen assailant who castrates him with a large fishing hook before pulling him into the water. A blood-soaked empty boat drifts away, and suspicion falls on Evelyn as the killer, though the sheriff tries to keep the festival on track.

Kiersten floats on the lake to relax, but a large hook is hurled toward her. She escapes by swimming to shore, only to become lost in the surrounding woods as fear takes hold.

During the festival, fisherman Denny Dobkins' boat malfunctions and he sounds an emergency horn, only to be gored by a large fishing hook cast at his abdomen and pulled under. His disappearance adds to the lake’s growing terror.

Be Beverly goes for a swim and is dragged beneath the surface by a large hook. Later, Ann is ambushed on a dock by Leudke, captured, and locked in a refrigerator in his bait shop.

The soundscape of cicadas and music destabilizes Leudke, whose metal plate in his head seems to amplify sounds. Peter and Evelyn explore Leudke’s shack and discover jars of human organs, revealing the horror behind his actions.

Wayne, Evelyn, and Peter join forces to confront Leudke and put an end to his killings. They race toward the bait shop as Leudke attempts to protect himself and his victims.

The following morning at the fishing festival, Leudke wins the contest and Wayne publicly accuses him of murder. The sheriff does not believe the accusation, maintaining a tense sense of unresolved danger.

Peter corners Leudke at his shack, injuring him with a treble hook, but Leudke overpowers Peter and traps him and Ann inside. Peter regains strength, frees Ann, and the two attempt to escape as sirens loom.

At dawn, Peter, Ann, and Kiersten leave town. Wayne and the sheriff search the woods for Leudke but cannot locate him, and the sheriff suspects Leudke will die from his injuries.