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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.

Two college students from Chicago decide to investigate the stories of a Bigfoot-like creature in the area around Black Lake Louisiana. Once there they find that no one wants to talk to them about the creature. However they begin to make friends who open up with tales of the creature. They end up in a battle for their lives when the creature comes after them.

Drive-in fare from the 1970's is much better than its reputation would suggest. While certainly not the scariest movie ever made it does have its share of chills as the little seen monster causes mayhem to those who stray with in its grasp. I don't know what my reaction would have been had I seen this is a drive-in back in '76 and then driven home in the rural south. My guess is I would be dreading hearing the creepy cry of the creature (a cry I know my brothers would have loved to imitate to scare anyone who saw the film).

Definitely worth a look for those who don't need their horror films to be slick modern productions. (And recommended for a dark and stormy night with the lights out) 6.5 out of 10 (6 for IMDb purposes)

Pretty good for a low budget B movie in the Bigfoot genre. It is funny, serious, suspenseful-what more can you ask for? Acting is not painfully bad as in some low budget 70's movies, and is actually pretty good, though it was a little gory and violent in several scenes. I would not let children watch it, especially if you are planning a camping or hiking trip in the near future ! I thought that compared to Legend of Boggy Creek for instance, it was a lot more entertaining. And one hundred percent better than Boggy Creek II. Mystery Science Theater's Boggy Creek II is pretty funny and worth watching. All I can say is, watch it!

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.

Pahoo (Dennis Fimple) and Rives (John David Carson), students at the University of Chicago, travel to the small town of Oil City, Louisiana to try and find the bigfoot-type creature rumoured to inhabit the local swamps.

Eschewing the pseudo-documentary style of fellow bigfoot flicks The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) and Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot (1976), Creature From Black Lake is routine drive-in fare with no pretensions: it's aim is to entertain, its pair of affable students providing an hour of lukewarm levity before the film gets down to delivering the sasquatch scares, which it does with varying degrees of success, depending on how much of the manky monkey suit is shown.

Grizzled character actor Jack Elam adds fun to proceedings as drunken trapper Joe Canton, and the film benefits immensely from great cinematography by Dean Cundey.

5/10. By no means a 'classic', but worth hunting down if you're a fan of bigfoot features.

After a hunter is killed by the mysterious swamp monster, two students from Chicago head down to investigate.

There's nothing about this film that is particularly surprising and it proceeds as a fairly standard monster movie. The two main characters (bizarrely named Pahoo and Rives) are genial and the attempts at humour are well done - the chicken joke in particular. When they interview the locals, their stories are told in flashback, which breaks the film up and makes it more effective.

The main fault of the film is that the tone is inconsistent. After the opening scene, there is a huge delay before anything else happens with the monster. This prevents any build up of fear or suspense. The two main characters get on well, until an argument about Vietnam which comes out of the blue and is resolved too quickly to make it anything substantial.

The monster is clearly a man in a suit, though the photography keeps it mostly partially seen - which is a good choice. The final scenes are standard - though it's nice to see characters actually calling for help.

Overall, it won't win any Oscars, but if you've got a spare couple of hours, it's not bad company.!

1976's "Creature from Black Lake" emerged as a latter entry from regional filmmaker Joy N. Houck Jr., Gerald McRaney's "Night of Bloody Horror" and Micky Dolenz's "The Night of the Strangler" among his previous items. Plotwise, it basically treads the same ground as 1972's "The Legend of Boggy Creek" (another Howco International release), wisely refraining from an unfocused 'true life documentary' approach, and benefiting from the presence of Hollywood veterans Jack Elam and Dub Taylor (filmed as "The Living Legend" in Sept.-Oct. 1975 in and around Shreveport, Louisiana). The opening reel leaves no doubt of the monster's hungry presence, Elam's trapper Joe Canton barely escaping with his life but losing his partner in the process. Dennis Fimple and John David Carson play anthropology students eager to find traces of the titular creature in Oil City, running afoul of the local sheriff (Bill Thurman) but meeting up with Joe in the slammer after a night of partying with the lawman's daughter (Dub Taylor's Grandpaw Bridges earlier accepted a $25 reward for information about the beast, but kicked out his guests for scaring his wife). The pair get more than they bargained for on a trek deeper into the swamp, an angry creature out to add more humans to its varied diet of boars and wild game, yet in the end they learn nothing from their injuries and plan to continue. These rather dim leads prove far less interesting than the locals, and Larry Buchanan regular Bill Thurman sinks his teeth into the role of sheriff, starting out a tad unfriendly but soon changing his tune to become a staunch ally (if Catherine McClenny looks familiar as the pretty waitress, she's the younger sister of Dallas-born Morgan Fairchild). Elam provides solid blustery support but isn't seen as often as we would like, an early credit for longtime cinematographer Dean Cundey, just two years before John Carpenter's "Halloween" allowed him to graduate from low budget projects to more elite features like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Back to the Future." The natural characterizations make this a marginal improvement over "The Legend of Boggy Creek," but both films suffer from a decided lack of tension; it must be said that the 70s Bigfoot craze fizzled out much like The Abominable Snowman did two decades before, not much bang and more of a whimper.

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.

Firstly, I watched Creature From Black Lake on YouTube and it was unfortunately a bit blurry. I wish I could have seen a cleaner cut because even fuzzy the cinematography and lighting were outstanding for a "B" movie. Our two leading men (Rives) John David Carson and (Pahoo) Dennis Fimple are out to find Big Foot so they can get an "A+" from their University of Chicago Zoology Professor. They head down to Redneckville and question the locals about the Bipedal Animal which gets them on the wrong side of (Sheriff Billy Carter) Bill Thurman. They finally track down (Joe Canton) Jack Elam who has had an unfortunate encounter with Big Foot who pulled Joe's fellow trapper (Woody) out of their boat and munched hm. The film moves along with many fun characters and does build up a good amount of suspense leading to the inevitable confrontation with the hairy beast who we never clearly see unfortunately.

I was not familiar with actor John David Carson but the handsome youngster was pitch perfect in his role as Rives. Unfortunately, Dennis Fimple was so over the top with his exaggerated facial expressions and his idiot stick persona it just about ruined the movie for me. Denis's character was supposed to be a Vietnam veteran but he came off more like the naive aggravating kid from the Culpepper Cattle Company. In totality the film is worth watching however with a very fine performance by sweet thing Becky Smiser who played Sheriff Billy Carters daughter (Becky) in apparently her only film credit. I really like Dennis Fimple as a character actor in other roles, but the late John David Carson is the reason to see Creature From Black Lake.

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

Boring, obvious "horror" film about 2 idiots who go to search for the title creature. Obviously this is just another ripoff of the legend of Bigfoot.

I saw this back in 1976 at a local theatre when I was 14. I went because the local paper gave it a positive write up. I also dragged along my 9 year old brother and his friends. Basically they LOVED it. They said it was scary and "cool". I did not agree at all. I was bored and extremely angry--I expected them to SHOW the creature but (except for one half-way clear shot) they don't. You hear it's roar and you might see a hand or a foot but that's about it. In retrospect this was probably a good idea--the unseen is much more scary than what we CAN see. But when you're a young kid you could care less about subtlety--you want to SEE the monster.

This movie came (and went) without a trace. It hasn't popped up on VHS or DVD yet (and hopefully won't). I give it a 4 because it IS an OK monster movie for kids--YOUNG kids. All others--stay away.

This was one of the many low-budget Bigfoot movies made in the 70s, all of which were probably attempts to cash in on the success of "The Legend of Boggy Creek," which somehow took in $20 million. Despite being unoriginal, I think this is a MUCH better movie than "Creek" and possibly the best Bigfoot movie ever made, take that as you will.

Whereas "Creek" suffered from having no plot, no main characters, and insane musical numbers, "Lake" has a tense, engaging story with a great cast. The last 15 minutes are unexpectedly suspenseful and had me hooked. It also has some very funny scenes, especially during the second half when we are introduced to Trapper Joe (played by fantastic character actor Jack Elam). Joe is hilarious, although I'm still slightly creeped out by the fact that he had a large doll hanging by a string in his bedroom.

Besides the characters, I also just like the look and feel of this movie, with the brown, dusty backgrounds and eerie forests. The settings are great and create an unforgettable atmosphere. If you're looking for a low-budget thriller that, while not exactly scary, is at least fun and exciting, this one is hard to beat.

Being a "Bigfoot" fan and watching and liking 70's cult films this 1976 simple and sweet made flick "Creature from Black Lake" was a fun little treat to watch. Set in the rural country backwoods swamps of Louisiana where strange sightings have occurred of a big hairy beast which has made the locals quite. Now enter two city slicker Chicago college students and they journey and adventure to explore and hunt for the strange creature! The film was made low budget as you can see the shots are cheap. Still the images are effective as the scenes of attacks are violent chases! Plus the audio and sound recordings are haunting! The feel and atmosphere is spooky with wooded forests and the creature is scary looking and the film moves along just right. Overall for a mid 70's camp like film it worked just fine.

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.

I would say, the film is not so noteworthy. The story lacks an enticing build-up. It has that weird 70s storytelling that ends the action on a weird full stop of action towards the end. Then the acting is fine. Not really noteworthy.

The cinematography though is glorious AND shockingly above and beyond for a independent film of the time. Apparently the same guy that Spielberg uses at some of his films. This was one of his earlier work apparently. He ultimately won the Oscar for Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

PS: I also got into a weird rabbit hole of researching for John David Carson, who suddenly went dunzo from the film business by 1990. No news or even articles was written about him after that. This is given that he had some big early roles to boot. Apparently, after getting smaller and smaller roles, he went out and became a drunk gambler in Vegas who ultimately turned into destitution. His death was only known when his ex-wife commented about it on her youtube channel and was discovered by a random celeb death boards poster. What sad life.

Nostalgic / Retro value with this one. There we quite a few of these "Bigfoot" films that came out during the 1970s "Bigfoot" craze! This is one of the better one's that was produced during that decade - maybe not the best one made, but it is a fun watch.

A couple of college kids from Chicago are interested in the bigfoot stories coming out of the south. They pack up and head down to Oil City, Louisiana hopped up to find the truth. They end up meeting a few rednecks that refuse to speak of the creature... but a couple of them opened up. I won't give away the ending but I will say - they do encounter the bigfoot.

6/10

One of those B movies that rode the Bigfoot craze in the 1970s. A couple of university students from Chicago travel to Louisiana to find evidence of the Fouke Monster. On arrival they're treated with suspicion by the locals and soon upset the town sheriff. However, hard-drinking trapper Joe (played by the great Jack Elam) saw the creature kill a good friend of his and decides to help the boys out. Eventually they find the monster... Or has it found them?

The tone of this is weird, veering from horror to comedy to 'road trip buddy-movie. Jack Elam is terrific as always. John David Carson and Dennis Fimple (who play the university students) are fine (sadly neither actor made it into old age). The rest of the cast are so-so. Special shout-outs to the lovely Becky Smiser and Michelle Willingham (in their only film roles) as a couple of local girls, and the gorgeous Cathryn Hartt (LEGS!!) as the waitress in the diner (thankfully, she did do more). The monster is at least partially obscured most of the time. Cinematography is good (by Dean Cundey, who went on to work a lot with John Carpenter), and the genuine Louisiana locations are pretty atmospheric, but there's no real sense of tension. 5.5/10.

I saw this movie for the first time in the theaters when I was 11. It replaced Jaws as the scariest movie I'd ever seen. Jaws has since replaced it again, but having just watched it 25 years later, it still spooked me. It's shot in a sort of documentary-style graininess, with a menacing score, and an effective use of shadow, which almost always obscures glimpses of the creature. I'd say the performances were exceptional for such a low-budget pic. As lush and gracefully beautiful as the swamp looks, you're always apprehensive seeing it as a constant backdrop because of what lurks within it -- much like the graceful ocean always made you uneasy in Jaws. There are hokey moments of course, but let's face it, you don't want to see this movie before you go camping in Louisana. Thumbs up.

I was expecting, for some reason, a dreary, tame Bigfoot film in the vein of 'Legend of Boggy Creek 2', and while Creature from Black Lake is similar to that film (students heading into the wilds to research the Big fella), this film is infinitely more enjoyable, thanks to some tense scenes, great acting, goofy seventies charm, and some full on Bigfoot action. Bigfoot ain't hiding here - he's full on mental and all up in people's faces!

Rive and Pahoo head to Oil City to find a trapper by the name of Joe (Jack Elam) who claims Bigfoot killed his mate. After being warned off by the local sheriff, our students track down various locals who relate anecdotes about the Bigfoot. Soon, they have their own encounter with the creature (it's got quite a scream on it)and before you know it, Bigfoot everywhere they want to be.

The acting in this film is way above par, with loads of likable characters (you care about these two guys), some Deep South charm and a nice dose of humour thrown in. When Bigfoot goes completely mental at the end, there's a good battle between our students and the creature, and kind of an upbeat ending which isn't the usual for a seventies film.

They'd never make a film like this these days. No way. Highly recommended, although I'd like to point out that Night of the Demon is still the craziest, most outrageous and daft Bigfoot film out there.

I know this "movie" (term used lightly) was made in the 70's and is low budget, but it has got to be the worse attempt at a "Bigfoot" rendition I have ever watched. Being a BF movie fan, I can honestly say that. I have seen practically every BF made, watched every BF documentary on YouTube... so I have a plethora of databto base my opinion on.