The Monster of Phantom Lake

"The Monster of Phantom Lake" is a modern parody of 1950s schlock horror films. Because of this, it's filmed in black & white and features many familiar elements from many of the movies...including the know-it-all professor, a group of dopey teens and a monster that looks about as scary as a taco! So why did I give this one only a 3? Well, because to parody genre which is already like a parody isn't really funny...and this film really could have used an infusion of funny. In fact, I had a hard time even paying attention to it.

The same folks appear for a sequel, "It Came From Another World" (2007). Perhaps with this one they found the right balance and it's more enjoyable. As it is, I would much rather just see a cheesy 50s horror film instead of this.

A professor, his grad student/love interest, and a group of partying teens are terrorized by a soldier that was mutated by atomic waste in a local lake. Made for next to nothing, this is done in the style of a 50s B&W B-movie. The acting is intentionally hammy (which wears off its cuteness in, oh, about 3 minutes) and the monster design is intentionally silly. The movie is way overlong--the titular monster doesn't even show up until after an hour! Up until that point, the audience is subjected to endless "Will they/won't they" situations among main characters, goofy scientific speculations, and endless campfire dance sequences. While not a terrible movie, the "old B-movie imitation" thing has been done already (and with significantly more entertaining results) in movies like The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, Psycho Beach Party, and The Day It Came to Earth. The Monster of Phantom Lake, while obviously a labor of love, brings nothing new to the table and is hardly fun to watch. Definitely skippable.

Right on the money! Captures all the iconic greatness of 1950's "horror movies" including stilted acting, men in charge while women are perceived as hysterical, tacky costumes, leafy monster & scary location. However the ending is still a little bit of a surprise. One didn't expect the effort so one did not anticipate it!! Great fun. Enjoy!!

Not a loving homage to monster movies of the 50's. Rather a poorly acted, cheap rip-off of same. Not an original idea either. I know you can view the wooden acting as intentionally camp, but I would have to see any of these players do ANYTHING with skill before I would venture that opinion. Camp is not an excuse for really stilted dialogue delivered stupidly.

The only regret is that this web site requires me to give it one star. It doesn't deserve even that.

This is an independent movie filmed in Minnesota. It's a fun take-off of 1950's B-grade monster movies and was deliberately campy fun. Filmed on a budget of probably about $8.00 (and most of that was likely gas money), it satirizes the stilted dialog, cheesy special effects, and hokey plots that have made 1950's era monster movies timeless guilty pleasures. It even has some appropriately corny music added. Shot in black and white, the entire film takes place in the woods near a lake, and starts with some workers illegally dumping "atomic waste". Predictably, some highly implausible biological responses result. Equally predictable, are the set of teenage victims who first discover the "monster". Fortunately, the unflappable Professor Jackson is on the spot with his not-so-secretly adoring graduate student assistant. Needless to say, it was a hoot. After the movie, some of the cast was in the lounge to mingle with the audience and to sell the DVD and posters. (The poster was free with the purchase of a $10 DVD and yes I bought it.)

Almost as much fun, were the 1950's newsreel clips shown before the movie, as was the custom then. They showed, in order, newsreel footage of violence in the Middle East, a grim old couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary, and a knife-throwing Mom using her kids in her hobby. All-in-all, it was a fun movie that I highly recommend.