Monster (1979)

User Rating:

2.0/10   

Director:

Kenneth Hartford

Writers:

Kenneth Hartford (writer)
Walter Roeber Schmidt (writer)

Release Date:

18 September 1980 (Australia)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Buried in the mud of countless centuries - something has begun to grow....

Plot:

A rural Colombian village is attacked by a horrible sea serpent, aroused by industrial pollution of a nearby lake...

Plot Keywords:

Pollution | Monster | Lake | Serpent | Rampage

Cast

James Mitchum	...	Travis (as Jim Mitchum)
John Carradine	...	Priest
Philip Carey	...	Barnes (as Phil Carey)
Anthony Eisley	...	Pete (as Tony Eisley)
Andrea Hartford	...	Andrea
Glen Hartford	...	Glen
Coral Kassel	...	Girl in lake
Aldo Sambrell

Also Known As:

It Came from the Lake
Monster, the Legend That Became a Terror
Monstroid
Monstroid: It Came from the Lake (USA) (DVD box title)
The Toxic Horror (USA)
Toxic Monster

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chimayo, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Academy International

Trivia:

Production began in 1971, but personnel, logistical and financial problems resulted in it being shut down. After several stops and starts over the years, it was finally completed and released in 1979.

Thar she BLOWS!!!

Where can we begin... This film starts off in Colombia with a young couple dancing to festive music in the night. As is natural in this situation, their frolicking is interrupted as the man is attacked and killed by a shadowy fish/lizard creature. Que loud scream and..."MONSTER". While the begining is far from unique, the camera work gave me some nostalgic vibes from similar 70's films and I thought that maybe, just maybe there was hope for this diamond in the rough. Alas...I suppose when you buy a 30 year old video tape for a dollar at an antique store, you get what you pay for. After a brief intro telling us how this is all based on a "true" story, we are introduced to a group of business men discussing the state of their mine in Colombia. Apparently talk of lake monsters and witchcraft have disrupted the flow of cash and the board 'ain't' happy about it. SO add in some environmental issues, religious views and an annoying nerdy kid who believes in the lake monster and you've got yourself...well... a mess. "The monster manages to "get in touch" with three or four individuals. These scenes aren't too bad, but they are few and far between the hour of talking. Even a witch burning doesn't do much to speed this film up. First problem. If you're going to have a movie called "monster", please make said monster not laughable. It's early scenes were brief, actually managing to keep the tension up, but believe me, the big reveal is sort of a let down. Imagine the Lock Ness monster mixed with a lizard and a catfish and you'll have some idea. Now once the creature is revealed, certainly our "hero's" will face off with it personally right...RIGHT!!! Nope, the best way is to pump a lamb full of dynamite and go fishing. I do have a slight problem with this. Obviously, if a creature has been surviving for thousands of years without having been discovered, and it is capable of going for a little stroll on land, it must be somewhat intelligent. So why does the creature decide to go out for a bite to eat and reveal itself when it is surrounded and being followed by a helicopter? Perhaps he was a media whore... Of course our hero manages to accidentally drop detonator in the water, causing him to brave a swim. Personally this was just stupidity on his part, and I was rooting for the Monster. Alas this occasionally clever beast decides to play around with a guy in a boat rather than take care of the real threat. SO the beast goes Kaboom. There is much rejoicing...unfortunately they don't realize that Monsters like to lay hundreds of eggs in a clearly visible and poorly protected area which can hatch spontaneously releasing offspring which are actually too large to fit in the supposed eggs they came from. Everybody up to speed? Don't worry about it. Personally I didn't hate this film as much as I have others. In this case the makers were simply over enthusiastic with their budget constraints. The plot could have worked and the film could have been a little scary with more money and better casting. One little factoid I noticed, is that women have progressed considerably since the 70's. In this movie, secretaries are called darlin' and honey, and have their posteriors fondled in ways that would see a modern man carried off for a chat with a grand jury.