The B-monster movie is a standard of the horror genre. It’s kind of required that a chunk of these get made and released each year. Creature happens to be one of them.
Doing a sort of Bigfoot meets Creature from the Black Lagoon with a bayou twist, Creature gives us a half man/half alligator named Lockjaw who is local legend to a small Louisiana backwoods town that happens to be real.
A group of mostly generic horror type twentysomethings are on a road trip to New Orleans for one last hurray before a couple of them are shipped off to Afghanistan. When they stop for a potty break they learn of Lockjaw the local legend. One of the guys happens to be a huge fan of Lockjaw knowing the whole legend since childhood. So instead of continuing on their way they decide to visit the cabin where Lockjaw grew up. The geniuses that they are decide to camp there for the night where Lockjaw conveniently shows up and starts killing them.
With as many times as I said Lockjaw above you’d think the film should have been called Lockjaw instead of the generic Creature which also confuses it with the ’80s film of the same name.
But there is more going on in this twisted horror tale. It turns out Lockjaw is a looked at as some sort of god or something to the locals and they feel the must pay tribute to him with sacrifice. Also some of the generic horro type twenty-somethings aren’t who we think they are.
There’s a bunch of blood, a good chunk of nudity, a short lived drunken lesbian scene and even a little incest going on in this film. However all of that does not add up to an interesting movie.
The dialog and acting are as bad as you’d expect them to be with two exceptions on the acting front. Mehcad Brooks plays Niles, one of the twentysomethings and the only one who seems to have any sense. Also in the film is B-movie constant Sig Haig who is great as the sort of cult type leader of this backwoods town. He delivers lines just as lame as everyone else but he gets behind them 100% and makes them slightly more acceptable.
SPOILER ALERT: So in a horror film rarity it comes down to Niles, the bad ass black dude and Lockjaw. Lockjaw starts beating the living crap out of the closest thing this film has as it’s hero. It beats him so bad you know his ribs must be broken and his lungs punctured at this point. As they fight a hole opens in the mud. Niles somehow gets his second wind and starts fighting back (with the assumed broken ribs) and knocks Lockjaw into the mud hole where he falls in. If that isn’t the lamest ending ever, I’m not sure what is. Well, there is something lamer, but I can’t ruin the whole ending.
The film is presented in a widescreen format and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround. The look of the film is thoroughly acceptable as is the sound.
Creature: Making the Monster: (6 min.) Typical making of. On the Bayou: (8 min.) You get more of how Lockjaw was created. The Filmmakers: (7 min) Here is where everyone talks about how great everyone else in the film was.
Creature wasn’t a terrible film, but it wasn’t all that interesting either. I give the film props for having a guy in a costume as the monster and not a CGI monster, but it really doesn’t bring anything new to the B Monster game. I can’t tell you to not watch it, but I can’t really recommend it either.
Arcentertainment presents Creature. Written by Fred M. Andrews and Tracy Morse. Directed by: Fred M. Andrews. Starring: Mehcad Brooks, Sid Haig, Serinda Swan Dillon Casey, Lauren Schneider and Aaron Hill. Running time: 93 min. Rating: R for bloody violence and grisly images, some sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug use. Released: March, 20 2012. Available at Amazon.com.
