Tubi Thursday: Creature from Black Lake (1976)

 No, it is not the Lagoon.
Yes, I do still wonder why we haven't had a real Sequel or Remake of that in Decades.

This is actually a Bigfoot Film from the '70s...

We get all 'artsy' in the Intro as we cross cut between these two guys out in the Swamp and a Lecturer at a College Campus.

One ends in a missing person...

...while the other ends with two likely to soon be missing people.

They are College Students who plan to investigate the titular Creature.

Why does their Professor agree?  He's the Director- duh!

They go to Town and want to learn about the creature.

The Townspeople- most notably the Sheriff- don't want to talk about it and want the folks to leave.

Others think that it is funny.

This man- from the beginning- does not find it funny, as his friend is dead.

We'll see him in the Third Act.

Throughout the first two Acts, we see random flashbacks involving the Creature told by people.

Cool.
Can this just be part of the actual Story and not just filler though?

Thanks.

Our Heroes find evidence of the creature and keep looking for more proof.

Of course, someone is looking for them too.

Will they survive?

To find out, stream the Film now.  It only took me 5 years to actually get around to Reviewing this, so don't take that long yourself.

A decent piece of southern fried Horror from the Drive-In Era.  It is silly.  It is dopey.  It has moments of Horror, but also Comedy and oddity.

There's allot of these, aren't there?  Yes.

This is a Bigfoot version of the formula, and it has some good moments in it.  The Bigfoot stuff is honestly not bad.

It is not amazing, but it is pretty good.

Too bad there's so little of it in the Film. 

In lieu of that, we get random Drama, random Comedy and lots of Actors that add little to things.  One poor lady is Credited in the Film...but then listed as Sheriff's Daughter instead.  Mind you, her friend is named 'Michelle' and the Actresses' name is...Michelle.

In summary, there's about 20 minutes or so of really good to decent stuff in the Film and lots of filler.  It is the same as getting your Beef on the cheap and it is actually about 60% bread filler.  

Now wash your hands, Steve!

Fans of this kind of Film will look past the silliness of the filler (and actually enjoy it).  Straight Horror Fans will probably lose interest by the 2nd Act though.

Tubi Thursday: Yeti- The Giant of the 20th Century (1977)

 After skipping it last week for time issues, I'm ready for a giant monster.

It's a King Kong rip-offs from the King of Rip-Offs from the '70s and '80s- Italy.  Continuare a leggere...

As some Icebergs melt- sure glad that stopped, right?!?-, a Yeti is found in the Ice.

A rich guy melts the ice- in laughably-fake effects- and they discover just how big he is.

Well, in this Scene.  He varies in height throughout the Film.

In some silly bit of Science, they put him in a big old cage, fly up to mountain level and then thaw him out in mid-air.

Shockingly, this only gives us the tease of a disaster- it's averted.

Now they decide to show it to the World.

It's Not King Kong, so you know how this goes.

The chaos ends when the Yeti falls for the Daughter and Grandson of the Rich Guy.

To this lady's credit, I thought she was a teenager (which made me creeped out by a romance with her and Tony Kendall- who was in his 40s), but she was an Adult.

The Yeti think that she's his Wife and the kid is their kid...and I'm back to being creeped out.

The Yeti is calmed out and we get brief bits joking about the Marketing of a creature like this.  Meta...maybe?

They bring the Yeti to ANOTHER big, public event and he freaks out again.

In order to make you think that this is NOT a King Kong rip-off, this big Ape (Man) climbs DOWN a skyscraper instead of up one.  Totally different!!!!

His rampage goes on for a bit, until the woman finds him again.  

They somehow HIDE in Toronto (why not?) and it all takes a weird turn.

Off-screen, the Yeti gets sick (it's not explained) and we learn that Tony Kendal (aka the guy from Return of the Evil Dead) is scheming to blame the Yeti for the death of the Lead Scientist (which his men did) and then let him die.

The Yeti recovers- quite easily- and kills the bad guys.  This gets the Police on his case...as opposed to the TWO PREVIOUS RAMPAGES.

Will he kill Kendal?
Will he survive?

To find out, stream this silly Film.  It's pretty enjoyable.

A dumb, pretty derivative Film.  It's Dino De Laurentiis' King Kong.  It's nothing but a fairly-cheap copy.  It's why I find it funny when they parody the Marketing of that Film.  I mean...you exist because it exists.

Dicks.

The Film is full of dumb, silly moments.  It's got a good suit, but it relies on close-ups.  If you needed 827 close-ups of this guy in a furry wig (which is fabulous!), you get them.  The rear projection effects are...bad.  They do very few Kaiju shots of him smashing up cars or buildings.  

They also give you those 'big hands' shots with the Cast, which continues to look silly.  2005's King Kong managed to do this right.  I guess they learned after 40 years.

Yeti is a bit too long.  It's a bit repetitive.  It makes a weird tonal choice to make Kendal evil, especially to the degree that he's like that.  It's weird to randomly kill the dog...and then undo it.

That said, it is a pretty funny Film for all of the wrong reasons.  Just don't look at his, well, Giant of the 20th Century in this pose.

A silly and dumb Film for so many reasons.  It's a rip-off of a bad Remake.  What more could you ask for in a Bad Movie?

Forgotten TV: The Six Million Dollar Man vs. Bigfoot- Round 2

It's a bit of a niche thing to remember the first time that Bigfoot and The Six Million Dollar Man crossed paths.  

It is even *more* of a niche thing then to remember the second time it happened.

This time, it was a TV Event, as it encompassed the Premiere Episodes of both his Show and The Bionic Woman!

What will this battle of three super-strong people be like?  To find out, read on...

A mysterious person breaks into a Gold Repository and steals it, leaving behind big tracks.

What a mystery...if this wasn't called 'The Return of Bigfoot!'

Our Hero can't remember how he knows the giant tracks, on account of the aliens behind that Episode erasing his memory.  Just stick with me now!

His memories are restored by one of the aliens, who is played by Sandy Duncan- the Actress most famous for her glass eye.  

She's closer to being a cyborg than he is!

She explains that there was a schism in the group and an evil one- John Saxon!- is controlling Bigfoot for his own gain.

Also Bigfoot is now Lurch, since Andre the Giant was busy or something.

The pair finally do battle!  

It's all sorts of fun with slow-motion and falling things!

Steve is hurt, exposed to radiation during the fight.  He tells Jaime to go find the aliens, leading into her part of this crossover.

This would also be their last Crossover EPISODE (they had 3 Films), as the Shows were on different Networks after this.

She eludes Bigfoot and meets the good aliens.  

The potion to cure Steve gets to him, but...

Jaime is captured by Saxon.  

Will she prove able to make Bigfoot fall for her and let her go?

Yes.  Steve is better and the pair fight out of the lab to meet up with the former.

One problem- super-erupting volcano!

So, brace yourselves for this one: the aliens have TLC Devices that allow them to affect time (the T) around their bodies.  This leads to the only logical solution...

Throwing a TLC device into the lava to speed up its time and make it cooled.  Science!

The day is saved and the aliens let them keep their memories.  Yea?  The End.

The '70s were weird.  

It was one thing for them to do a 2-Part Bigfoot Episode once.  It was a timely thing and Sci-Fi was big around this time.  It is weird to connect Bigfoot to Aliens though.  

Mind you, I've seen it TWICE now, but it still not the norm.  

Seeing them double-dip here shows this for what it truly is though- a silly Ratings Stunt.  Both Shows had a slight drop in Viewership and wanted something big to perk them back up.  

The Shows went on, so, I guess, good work. 

As far as the actual Story goes, it is chock full of crazy.  Aliens are hiding on Earth.  Bigfoot is a creature that they control.  They can manipulate time!  They also fill the whole thing full of melodrama, be it Steve's wondering about his missing memories, a forbidden romance tale or Bigfoot's angst over working for the bad guy.  

Saxon is great here, but he's always great- no surprise.  

The big draw is the Bigfoot- pun intended- and he still delivers, even if he isn't Andre anymore.  They try to give him depth, even though he has no name and no lines.  

It's a nice attempt, at least.  

The original battle between man and skunk-ape is legendary in internet lore.  The follow-up is far less famous, but maybe it should be.  

Unfortunately, as mentioned, this was a Ratings Stunt and both Shows only got one more Season.  Sorry to break it to you two...

A bit of silly fun as they mix Bigfoot, aliens and cyborgs together.  It's super-silly though!

Impossibly-Cool Cover Art: Creature from Black Lake

Another chance to look at a 1970s Poster for a Film I've not seen.  I can't get enough of this exact thing, apparently.

In this case, it is yet another Bigfoot Film- albeit one that I may or may not check out.  It sure is dark there...

Spooky.  I like how they almost vanish into the creature.  It looms over them and everything they do.

I mean, I'm giving thing a lot of credit, to be fair.  I'm told that I can be 'snobbish,' so let me give the devil...er, skunk ape, their due.

As always, the original Poster...

Aside from the obvious retouches, you have to agree that there should be more black on a Poster for a Film with that Title, right?  Exactly.

As a bonus, let's see what Google tells me about the Film...

...so yeah, kudos for the work on the Poster.  You did a lot with not so much.

Poor Bastards of Cinema: Demonwarp (1987)

Demonwarp is a weird and dumb Film.

Even so, it got me some laughs and another one of these...

In the Film, a Bigfoot is killing people in the Woods (for silly reasons).  This guy is just hiking.

He sees the creature attack two women- more Poor Bastards?- and runs for his life.

The creature catches him and tortures him with a bear trap before slowly killing him with a spike through the abdomen!

So here's the thing: this Creature's goal is to create Slaves for his Alien Overlord and/or sacrifice them for body parts.

He just kills this guy.  For no reason.  At all.

The lesson: don't go Hiking.  You'll either be killed by a Bigfoot or lose an arm.

'80s Trash: Demonwarp

Wow, this one is weird!!!  

Today's Film is Demonwarp, a Film whose Title alone raises many questions.  

Are Demons traveling through space?  

Are Demons just another name for Aliens like one Film I did?  

How did they master FTL Travel?!?  

Getting past that, the actual Film is just about as crazy as you could imagine, taking an especially strange turn in the latter third.  

The Film tells the tale of a monster in the Woods with a strange origin.  If you guess what it is ahead of the Film then...you probably read the Plot.  

This movie features George Kennedy in that awkward post-Airport, pre-Naked Gun phase of his career.  The whole thing was shot over 12 days, although he only was in it for 3.  

On top of that, he got them to hire his Daughter to play, well, his Daughter.  Nepotism!  

Will this crazy Film live up to its Poster?  Yes, yes and yes.  

To find out, read on...

In the Cold Open, a religious man wanders through the Woods until he ships a UFO crash.

After that, we meet George Kennedy and his Daughter at their Cabin the Woods.  

After some time filler, a Bigfoot attacks and takes his Daughter!

After THAT, a group of friends go to the same Cabin some time later (about a month, they say later).

It isn't just for fun- the lead guy (below) is actually after the beast that took his Father!

Said beast shows up again after some Cinemax-style whoopee and kills two of the guys, pausing when seeing our Hero.  

He also freezes, not shooting the Monster for some reason.

They try to trap the creature with Kennedy's help, but that goes awry!  

They get separated after some cannon fodder is shown in the Woods and our Hero meets up with his girl...only to find this!

That's the last straw!  

He tracks the beast to Bronson Canyon and kills it in anti-climactic fashion.  Upon dying, it...turns into his Father!  

What in the what?!?

So, here's the Story...

That bit at the beginning led to the religious guy becoming a Zealot for the alien inside.  

Over the last hundred-ish years, he turned humans into zombies (or worse) to get the parts to fix the ship.  

Also human sacrifices to feed the alien.

This in a Film that is supposedly about Bigfoot.

They eventually fight their way free, although only two of the group survive to blow it up!

...which leads to him waking up later in an obviously empty room with the girl...who becomes a monster...but then he wakes up and she's not there at all.

So...what was that, exactly?!?  The End.

What in the f#$k is this?!?  

Demonwarp is a just plain weird Film.  

It begins with an alien ship.  

It becomes about hunting Bigfoot.  

Bigfoot is actually a mutated human!  

Aliens using a Priest to sacrifice humans!  

Zombie space slaves!  

Whatever the hell that point of that ending was!  

Demonwarp is a pretty cheap and trashy Film.  Outside of the main Plot, we get two ladies who show up looking for pot, strip down and eventually get killed.  We also get a random Hiker, but more on him later.  

This is basically a mix of Don't Go Into The Woods (with the constant killing in the Woods), Night of the Demon (with a Demon title and Bigfoot) and any weird Film with Aliens.  

How do they mix?  

Well, they make a strange, silly mix that kind of works for me...even if I'm not proud of it.  Demonwarp is strange and dumb.  

For being so strange, however, I have to sort of love it.  

One more pair for the road, Film...

Next time, some more Horror stuff to celebrate Halloween.  That is, of course, after I celebrate a new Sci-Fi release with a classic inspiration.  Stay tuned...

New Crap: Bigfoot- The Lost Coast Tapes

Two things that aren't good separately remain not good together.  Today's Film is Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes, a 2012 Horror Film.  So yeah, it is a Found Footage Film about Bigfoot.  Take that in for a moment.  Done doing that heavy sigh of sad realization?  Good.  The Film tells the tale of some folks who go out to the Woods to meet a man who claims to have the body of a dead Bigfoot.  Sadly, this guy calls some schmuck in exchange for $75,000 when Dean Cain would have given him $10 million just a year or so later!  Dammit!  This is all sorts of obvious, meandering and bad.  To see just how much, read on...

This guy is going with his friend and some others to document a dead Bigfoot.  He's thrilled.

Barely 10 minutes in and the Film hits a major roadblock- this guy in green.

He explains that he won't go, since black guys die in Horror Films.  Of course, they not making a Horror Film in the Story- they're making a Reality Show.  Even if they were going out to the Woods to make a Horror Film, this would just be stupid Meta Commentary.

Also Found Footage Films aren't Racist- everyone dies in them!

Moving past that bizarre non sequitur, the group goes out into the Woods and meets the man with the body.  He won't show it to them yet, since the Movie has to be 90 minutes long.

In lieu of actual drama, the Film gives you people standing around, random scratching noises and a shadow walking past a window.  Shockingly, this is the only Found Footage Film I know of that didn't show them going back to watch said Footage.

The next Morning, the guy runs off in a hurry and leaves them to wander around and film shit.  Boredom ensues.

Here's a unique cheat: they have people wearing those body rig things with cameras on them.  When something happens (like below) we get close-ups of their face...and that's it.

They had a bigger Budget on MTV's Fear, didn't they?

Without SPOILing the whole thing, I will tell you that the Story takes an odd turn, but don't worry...

...they still steal the Cannibal Holocaust shot.  Thank goodness.  The End.

Damn, this is bad.  I get it- you have no money, but you want to make a Horror Film.  Don't be a dick about it though.  The Story isn't original.  The Characters are not that likable.  The Film is not shot that well.  Found Footage Films can be good.  They usually aren't...but they can be.  This isn't.  There is no Bigfoot to note, so it isn't even worth it for the cheesy effects.  Just avoid it like I avoid groaning every time I see this cliche caption appear...

Next up, a Horror Film that was doubly-mislabeled by Netflix.  As a bonus, it appears to be a rip-off of a dozen better Movies and one shit one.  Stay tuned...