Title: Creature
Directed by: Fred Andrews
Starring: Mehcad Brooks, Serinda Swan, Daniel Bernhardt, Lauren Schneider, Aaron Hill, Amanda Fuller, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Sid Haig
Running time: 93/minutes, Rated R
A group of friends traveling through the back country of Louisiana find an almost desolate tourist stop which boasts the legend of Grimley, a murderous Gator-man monster.
Within the first two minutes, there’s full frontal nudity, so of course that reeled me in for a bit. Then it gets a little boring with the group of friends who are taking one last trip together before one of them gets shipped off to Afghanistan. They meet creepy (per usual) Sid Haig on the side of the road at the tourist trap with a small bunch of Deliverance rejects with minimally adequate Cajun accents. The couples decide to check out the Grimley house where they learn the story of a man and his sister who are trying to keep up the family bloodline, decide to get married and before they can consummate, the sister is killed by the murderous gator Lockjaw. Grimley, in his rage destroys the monstrous gator and somehow becomes mutated into a gator-man. Then the couples agree to camp out in the swamp when it’s still daylight. Even if I was the loser in the vote, I would’ve locked myself in the damn car; screw that noise. Some couples start having sex (yeah I’d be totally into it with all the bugs and dirt), then out of left field, some freaky Taboo 2-style incest starts going on.
The positive points I can give are to the cinematography, the acting was decent (all of the women were gorgeous and weren’t the annoying shrieking damsels) and the plot twist kept me watching. The negative will have to go to the dialect coach and the creature makeup. Daniel Bernhardt in the creature costume was good, but the close-up face effects was comparable to a slime covered Muppet. At least the only black actor in the film doesn’t die (Mehcad Brooks of True Blood, season 2), and that was a refreshing twist as well.
The special features include three featurettes: Making the Monster, On the Bayou and The Filmmakers.
Creature wasn’t as gory or scary as I thought it could be, but it held some of the nostalgia of 80’s monster films which I find many modern horror films lack. I would warn parents about letting young kids view this film because of the sexual elements, but I feel it’s safe enough for 15+ aged kids and adults who like schlock cinema.
Total rating: C-
Reviewed by: JM Willis
