Le monstre du lac noir

I know, I know. This is an extremely dated, average, run of the mill, low budget, cheesy seventies B class horror movie. However, I saw this film in the theater when I was ten years old and it scared the hell out of me. The creature depicted in the movie kept my brother and I out of the woods for an entire summer. We were convinced that the existence of Sasquatch type creatures was entirely possible and that sudden violent death awaited anyone unfortunate enough to have a close encounter with one of these bad tempered beasts. For nostalgic reasons alone this is still one of my favorite B class horror movies, but don't go out of your way to find it.

It's nice to see that "Creature from Black Lake" has quite a few loyal fans around this website. Nice because, even though it's not exactly a good film, it's undoubtedly a charming and spirited piece of 70's low budget film-making. The creators of this film UNOBTRUSIVELY cash in on the contemporary trend of Bigfoot-horror movies, and that's probably what makes it so likable. It's a sober and atmospheric film, practically shot in documentary-style, and it never wants to be overly spectacular or gross. Okay, maybe there weren't enough financial means to show a more impressive creature or to shoot virulent battle scenes, but then still you got to admire director Joy N. Houck Jr. for effectively using the impenetrably dark Louisiana swamplands and their population's restraint attitude. Two students from the university of Chicago head for a remote village in Louisiana to write their thesis about the legendary creature that supposedly dwells the swamps there. Long before they even come face to face with the monster, Pahoo & Rives have to deal with inhospitable rednecks that deny its existence. Just when they consider giving up, a giant ominous figure approaches their tent… I have a soft spot for horror stories that take place in quiet outback areas, but too often these films exaggerate in portraying the locals as perverted and totally brainless imbeciles. The people in "Creature from Black Lake" are genuine rednecks; still they don't come across like retarded stereotypes but more like members of an aloof community that wishes to protect what's theirs. The two leads are very amiable too, since they're common guys with an open spirit towards each other and towards the people they encounter, even when those aren't helpful to them. Equally praiseworthy is the feeling of constant menace lurking from behind the trees. You always expect the creature (or something else that is scary) to jump out from somewhere. This creepy effect is made even more intense with sober music and eerie natural sounds. A slightly higher number of casualties would have been welcome, but I sure ain't complaining. Recommended to fans of atmosphere-driven horror

This movie was to be the last respectful BIGFOOT movie to come out for along time. Hollywood had already begun turning the topic into a pop culture joke starting with the SIX MILLION DOLLER MAN/BIGFOOT travesty. This would eventually lead to the E.T.-ing of our favorite bipedal primate with films like HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS. Hairy hominids just didn't seem very scary following this film. This movie stars one ticked off sasquatch. Even more so than his cousin in the previous film, LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK. The story is about two anthropology students on a trip to investigate a supposed swamp creature in OIL CITY LA. The chills and suspense are plenty, there is a lot of comic relief, especially from veteran actors Jack Elam and Dub Taylor and the acting is miles above The acting in BOGGY CREEK. There is however one major flaw in the script. So much so that I even noticed it when I first saw the movie at age fourteen. You see, in real life most bigfoot investigators spend their entire lives searching for the beast and end up at best finding a few hairs or maybe a foot print or two. I know this is only a Fictional movie but our two main characters seem to be running into this creature constantly from the moment they hit town. This seems even more glaring when you add the fact that most of locals, who presumably have lived there all their lives, have never seen the monster. These two (lucky?) guys have three encounters with the creature, on three consecutive nights, in three different locations, presumably miles apart. You begin to wonder who's searching for who. The movie's continuity would seem smoother if one or two of these three particular encounters were with different characters, and the two main characters show up later to investigate. These issues shouldn't take away from the overall entertainment value of the film, they just seemed obvious to me. If your into all things crypto-, see this movie. Its the last really scary bigfoot flick.

Two college students go down South looking for bigfoot. The locals try to warn them off. They get into some mild trouble with local girls, one of whom is naturally the sheriff's daughter. But the real fun begins when bigfoot shows up.

Many of us who were children in the 70's harbor a certain misbegotten affection for bigfoot movies. Many of these were actually "documentaries" or "docudramas" that are pretty hard to find these days. Another one, "Snowbeast", is a pretty decent TV movie. This may be the best, certainly one of the better at least, of the purely fictional, cinematic movies. It's pretty tame like most of these movies were (with the exception of the wonderfully gory "Night of the Demon" and the short-lived "bigfoot-rape" movies), but it has some pretty good suspense and likable characters (including the guy who played "Ponce de Leon in the 70's cult classic "Pretty Maids All in a Row"). It was a local production made in the South by a director with a great affection for the region, who for once doesn't treat small-town Southerners like a bunch of dumb hicks (OK, maybe they really ARE a bunch of dumb hicks, but its still refreshing).

This movie kind of fell into the shadow of the similar but more successful "Legend of Boggy Creek", but I personally liked this one a lot better. Tragically it's not available in widescreen yet, but I'd still recommend it.

I remember seeing this movie in the now defunct 'Jerry Lewis Cinemas' chain when I was a teenager. Living in a rural, and I mean rural area, the movie affected my brother and I that summer. My little brother wouldn't go near the woods at our house (all we had around were woods, LOL), and would check all the door locks before going to bed for almost a month because of this movie.

Myself, well, I'd get some goosebumps when I was riding my motorcycle through the woods. But back to the movie. You either love it or hate it. Black Lake does have some slow scenes, but does deliver a punch, especially with Dub Taylor's flashback scenes. Jack Elam made the movie for me, I just wished they had given him more screen-time. I loved the way he chewed up his lines!

The creature is never really seen in detail, just in shadows or blurry footage, but that adds to the suspense. It's available on VHS or VCD from Bijou Flix. Watched it the other day with my wife and teen daughters....and it did scare them.

For its time and budget, a good Bigfoot film IMHP.