Cheap Creature From Black Lake (DVD) (Joy N. Houck Jr.) Price

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Customer Reviews of Creature From Black Lake

B-Movie about Bigfoot's cousin down in the Louisiana bayou
"Creature From Black Lake" (a.k.a. "Demon of the Lake") is one of a string of "Bigfoot" inspired low-budget horror flicks made in the Seventies. This when is set down in the Louisiana bayou country where a couple of anthropology students from Chicago named Rives (Dennis Fimple) and Pahoo (John David Carson) show up to search for the local creature (their professor thought this would be a good idea). The boys immediately get on the bad side of the local Sheriff (Billy Thurman) whose name is, I swear, Billy Carter (the film came out in 1976, which is the year Jimmy Carter was elected but still before the "Billy Beer" period of his time in the White House). Things get worse when the young students find a couple of local gals to have some fun with; of course, one of them turns out to be the sheriff's daughter. Meanwhile, all the older folks in town keep muttering things about the creature. This explains why the "stars" of this film are the veteran character actors Jack Elam as Joe Canton and Dub Taylor as Grandpa Bridges. Eventually the guys wander off into the wood and darn if they do not meet up with a creature out in the Black Lake area.

As you might suspect, this a film where the chills come from strange noises in the woods, because once the creature actually shows up there is going to come a point where we get a good look at it and the bubble is going to burst. Fortunately it is a brief look and does not do too much harm to the climax. "Creature From Black Lake" does get points for capturing local color, since it was filmed in Louisiana, which just means the locals playing the locals add some authenticity to the film. The hand-held camera approach works in the film's favor as well. Elam and Taylor have fun playing those crazy old coots that kept them employed for several decades (Elam wants to get his shotgun and turn the creature into a rug), always threatening to take the film over the top, but that is to be expected. In terms of Bigfoot movies "Creature From Black Lake" is not as good as "Legend of Boggy Creek," but maybe a bit better than "Sasquatch." Depends on how much you like movies where the creature is out there, just beyond the light of your campfire. Overall, not a bad little Seventies B-movie for this genre. Note: director Joy N. Houck Jr. plays Professor Burch.

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Classic Drive In Flick
I first reviewed this great drive in flick over in the VHS section (review titled "Late Show Movie Classic"). Since that time I was very surprised to see it come to the DVD format. Unfortunately the quality is substandard to say the least. Horrible streaking & scratches, a pinhole of light on the righthand side of the print, pitiful color saturation...just like my old beat up VHS copy. My only concession is that being on DVD, it should last indefinitely unlike my old VHS tape. As for the movie, my old review still stands. Lots of fun, uniformly good acting (for this type of picture), great music & sound effects add to the chills, excellent cinematography by the great Dean Cundey (of "Halloween I, II, III", "The Fog", "Escape From New York", "Romancing The Stone", "Back To The Future II, III", "Jurassic Park", "Apollo 13", "Big Trouble In Little China" fame), tons of back water swamp atmosphere, genuine scares, a clever twist ending, and of course...the old "guy in a chintzy bigfoot costume". There's no high tech effects or gore & it's fairly slow paced, but it has a genuine charm & it outshines 95% of the other horror dreck that is out now-a-days. Old timers Jack Elam & Dub Taylor chew up the scenery while John David Carson & Dennis Fimple yuck it up as the two college guys who track the beast. The DVD back boxcover mistakenly identifies John David Carson as "Pahoo" (one of moviedom's all time classic character names) & Dennis Fimple as "Reeves" while in fact, it is the other way around. So that shows you the poor care Sterling Entertainment exhibited in making this DVD. They tout "Guaranteed Superior Quality" on the boxcover... I know it's just a low budget horror flick that they figure nobody will care about so they just throw something against the wall to see what sticks & sell a few copies. But come on, you can't even get the facts correct on the boxcover, let alone getting a better print to master from? I'm sure the original film makers have a decent print but I'm sure Sterling doesn't want to have to pay them their due but using their materials. As for the extras...they are worthless as well. So unfortunately, a shoddy piece of junk quality wise, but it's no worse than my VHS copy. So, enjoy the flick & try to excuse the poor quality. Make sure you watch for Pahoo's 70's-style jersey that sports his name on the back! Classic. I love this movie but I wish they'd have taken a bit more care in the quality department. I docked the film one star for this unfortunate sorry print they used to master. It kind of adds to the 70's drive in feel none the less. Thanks to the creators Joy Houck & Jim McCullough for all the years of enjoyment I've gotten from this scary, campy & funny flick! The DVD is a welcome addition to my "Creature" poster & lobby card set despite the poor hackjob Sterling did in mastering the DVD. Thanks to Amazon for offering yet another great "lost find" to their growing list of offbeat films & stuff you'd never find at your local stores. Bravo!

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A worthy entry in the Cinema du Sasquatch
This is a film about Bigfoot, in my opinion. I felt they were too much emphasis on sex in this movie, and it is not suitable for small children under three or so. This definitely is not one of Joy Houck's better efforts as a filmmaker, Brain Machine and Gray Matter were much more cool, although kind of similar to each other. Anyway on the plus side though, this film has excellent special effects and make up, with a very realistic looking Bigfoot. I would like to see this movie gets remade one-day, preferably by Disney or Tarantino.