Even allowing for its mid-1970's vintage, this movie is absolutely wretched.
An idea obviously filched from past flunkies like 'Creature From The Black Lagoon', This effort doesn't even come close to some of the corniest creature features of 20 years earlier. The classic 'Them' can kick it into a dirty puddle. It stars Jack Elam. He's the stalwart who's been providing B-list comedy/baddie characters for westerns since as long as I can remember. And given a movie worth watching, and a director who knows how to direct it, he can give a very good turn. But he's certainly no lead.
The movie begins with a deliverance-style take on the gloomy, isolated Louisiana swamplands, reminiscent of 'Southern Comfort', but without a fraction of the emotional or psychological impact. Two men are punting about and finding their traps tampered with. Before long one of them is leaning over the side of the vessel and reaching into the water as such a patently obviously prelude to being dragged overboard that you wonder if the monster has forgotten to come on set. We glimpse one of those big, hairy, rubber hands that can be bought as a Halloween gag for £10. From there on, it's downstream all the way.
Its vintage is simply no excuse. Just the following year, George Lucas brought us 'Star Wars' with a similar, but much more plausible Wookie. And there were any number of lesser - but far more worthy movies - doing the rounds both then and before. In every technical aspect, from filming to editing to script, this is a complete bummer. I've given it 2 stars because it's nearly Christmas & I'me feeling festive; but really, it doesn't deserve any. Check out 'Southern Comfort' to find out how it should have been done. Run 'em back-to-back if you have the patience. I sure haven't.
It came from the charity shop, but I threw it away instead of taking it back because nobody should pay for garbage, not even in the name of cancer research.
An idea obviously filched from past flunkies like 'Creature From The Black Lagoon', This effort doesn't even come close to some of the corniest creature features of 20 years earlier. The classic 'Them' can kick it into a dirty puddle. It stars Jack Elam. He's the stalwart who's been providing B-list comedy/baddie characters for westerns since as long as I can remember. And given a movie worth watching, and a director who knows how to direct it, he can give a very good turn. But he's certainly no lead.
The movie begins with a deliverance-style take on the gloomy, isolated Louisiana swamplands, reminiscent of 'Southern Comfort', but without a fraction of the emotional or psychological impact. Two men are punting about and finding their traps tampered with. Before long one of them is leaning over the side of the vessel and reaching into the water as such a patently obviously prelude to being dragged overboard that you wonder if the monster has forgotten to come on set. We glimpse one of those big, hairy, rubber hands that can be bought as a Halloween gag for £10. From there on, it's downstream all the way.
Its vintage is simply no excuse. Just the following year, George Lucas brought us 'Star Wars' with a similar, but much more plausible Wookie. And there were any number of lesser - but far more worthy movies - doing the rounds both then and before. In every technical aspect, from filming to editing to script, this is a complete bummer. I've given it 2 stars because it's nearly Christmas & I'me feeling festive; but really, it doesn't deserve any. Check out 'Southern Comfort' to find out how it should have been done. Run 'em back-to-back if you have the patience. I sure haven't.
It came from the charity shop, but I threw it away instead of taking it back because nobody should pay for garbage, not even in the name of cancer research.