Creature from Black Lake (1976)

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

I am quite the fan of older horror movies, especially grainy and plain strange ones. I wasn't sure what The Creature From Black Lake was going to be like when I read the review on Bleeding Skull. Well I am here to tell you now, I rather enjoyed it, in all it's grainy and terrible sound quality goodness. The score put you on edge and the extreme darkness of the night scenes works out very well in this movie's favor. Yes, I laughed when I saw the name Roger Pancake in the beginning credits. I also laughed at Dub Taylor and Dennis Fimple. Yes I'm a grown woman. Anyways, if you can take grainy quality and not always 100% sound quality then I would recommend it. It's a very good Bigfoot movie, something you don't see many of. Being a Washington resident, Bigfoot movies and "documentaries" quite fascinate me.

"Creature from Black Lake" gets my vote as the single most amiable and entertaining Bigfoot fright film to ever amble onto the big screen. John David Carson and the ever-daffy Dennis ("Truck Stop Women," "House of 1,000 Corpses") Fimple display a breezy, relaxed, wholly personable chemistry as two eager beaver college anthropology students who visit a Louisiana stick burg to find out if stories concerning Mr. Size 25 Shoes have any basis in fact.Zestfully directed by Do-It-Yourself regional indie filmmaker Joy Houck, Jr. and cleverly written by Jim McCollough, Jr. (who co-stars as a wily country boy who befriends our heroes), this fine feature boasts an endearingly playful sense of good-natured humor, likable characters, a strong spooky atmosphere, and a tasty, picturesque evocation of the Creole State's lush, marshy bayou. Furthermore, the stellar, spot-on, spirited tearin'-apart-the-scenery performances by dependable seasoned hambones Jack Elam and Dub Taylor add a substantial energy boost to the proceedings. Taylor essays his standard role of a crusty, hot-tempered hillbilly grandpappy with his trademark testy aplomb ("Dadgum it!"), but Elam steals the the entire show with his growly, eye-rolling portrayal of ornery ol' swamp cuss trapper Joe Canton (Elam's "nothin'" story in particular is an absolute corker). Stocky, stony-faced cracker character actor Bill Thurman brings his usual low-key charm and unaffected acting style to the role of a sheriff named after then First Brother Billy Carter. Morgan Fairchild's comely sister Catherine McClenny has a sassy small part as a feisty greasy spoon waitress.In a nifty homage to "The Legend of Boggy Creek" Fimple has the holy living hell scared out of him when a guy catches him off guard while he's urinating behind a bush. The unusually adroit and sporadically expansive widescreen cinematography was done by a fledging Dean Cundey, who eventually established himself as a top director of photography with his groundbreaking gliding camera-work for "Halloween." Jamie Mendoza-Nava's score deftly alternates between moody, menacing scareshow music and sprightly, s**t-kickin' country bluegrass. The film concludes with a genuinely harrowing sequence in which Sasquatch (Roy Tatum in an up-to-snuff excess body hair outfit) stalks and attacks our protagonists. All in all, this dandy's a complete winner.

Even though I may not have enjoyed the movie so far as Braveheart enjoyment goes, I loved this movie. The reason? My grandfather was the executive producer, and two of the actors are my uncle and my cousin, so watching this movie growing up with the rest of my cousins and family was more fun than scary and more laughing at our relatives bad acting. This movie is great if you're going to watch this with friends and family, it will create a lot of laughs in this day and age because we have big time scary movies now, but Creatue of Black Lake isn't one of them. It's just a Louisiana good time.

This is one case where a low budget turns to be an advantage than a liability. The less-polished look and direction give an effective documentary feeling to what's happening. Increasing this feeling are the well-developed characters. The two friends act like real friends, and the locals are believable and not Southern stereotypes. (Even the sheriff turns out to be a decent fellow.) The scenes with the Bridges family are unbelievably good, and you really feel like you are there and enjoying their company. (And I LOVE that catchy song they sing!)The "stalking" scenes are pretty good as well. The creature is wisely kept hidden, and the emphasis is on atmosphere and potential danger. The climatic scene is the creepiest; a part of it make me wonder if the makers of RITUALS were inspired by it for their own climax. Hopefully this movie will get a DVD release eventually, and add to its cult.