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A writer's deadly secret is about to rise to the surface in this made-for-TV suspense thriller. Stanley Caldwell (Judd Nelson) is a screenwriter working on a story for a suspense film about a lunatic who kidnaps and murders young women. However, Stanley's research methods are more than a bit unusual -- he actually does kidnap women, and once he's learned as much as he thinks he can from them, he disposes of their bodies by drowning them in a nearby lake. Stanley's buddies who work at a special effects company don't suspect anything could be wrong, nor does the local sheriff Boone Preston (Michael Weatherly), but when Stanley snatches Mallory (Hedy Burress), a pretty but iron-willed teenager, he may have finally found a victim who can outwit him and put a stop to his twisted game. Cabin by the Lake was produced and first aired by the USA cable network.