Creature from Black Lake

Having lived through the Bigfoot-craze of the ‘70s I can tell you that no movie ever quite got it right (although the Bionic Bigfoot in The Six Million Dollar Man ranks pretty high up there!)  Ironically, the search for everyone’s favorite bipedal primate was perfect for the found footage format which was more or less how 1972’s The Legend of Boggy Creek kicked things off.  Four years later, Creature from Black Lake drove back to the swamps for another go, this time using a Jaws-like approach, keeping the legendary antagonist in the shadows for most of the running time. 

Rives and Pahoo (names so ridiculous they have to be spelled out on the back of their shirts) are a couple of Yankee college students making a spectacle of themselves in a small Arkansas town.  Their search for Bigfoot revolves around information from a trapper (Jack Elam) whose partner was a killed by the monster deep in the bayou.  Ignoring local advice – and pressure from law – our boys try to bring-em-back-alive but wind up overmatched by this hairy throwback from the swamps!

 

Creature from Black Lake is overly casual in that way only ‘70s films can pull off.  A sort of Hee Haw-horror combo, it gets by on low expectations and a few familiar faces (the aforementioned Jack Elam and Dub Taylor) while the plot meanders through a few underwhelming Bigfoot encounters.  PG rated to get a boost from the burgeoning TV market, it slips comfortably into a niche between regional releases and Roger Corman quickies.  Likely the most notable thing about it now is the cinematography by Dean Cundey, who was still seven jobs away from his big breakthrough on John Carpenter’s Halloween.  His camerawork here shows flashes of things to come but doesn’t include the cool blues we’ve all come to expect.  Some nice uncredited make-up work, though!

 

Synapse Films new 4K restoration makes for one heck of a Blu-ray, cleaning up what was always a dismal-looking film, but also presenting it in the original widescreen aspect ratio for the first time.  That in itself is a real difference-maker.  Extras include an audio commentary, trailers, slipcover and brief interview with Cundey who shares a few anecdotes about the production.

 

 

 

 

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