Creature

No Comfort Here

Director: Fred Andrews
Writers: Tracy Morse, Fred Andrews
Cast: Mehcad Brooks, Dillon Casey, Amanda Fuller, Sid Haig, Aaron Hill, David Jensen, Rebekah Kennedy, Wayne Pere, Lauren Schneider, Serinda Swan, Pruitt Taylor Vince

SYNOPSIS: Six friends on the way to New Orleans take a side trip to the back country of Louisiana to an abandoned cabin in the woods, intrigued by a local boogeyman story involving a monstrous man-gator.

REVIEW: Former production designer turned writer and director Fred Andrews, along with fellow writer Tracy Morse, takes a stab at bringing to life a fresh tale of local mythic boogeyman monsters. Filled with shifty-eyed back country french bayou-billies, college-age friends on a road-trip, and an all-too-real swamp creature looking to devour anyone who it comes in contact with, Creature follows in a recent string of Louisiana-based horror films. From Hatchet to The Last Exorcism, from The Skeleton Key to The Reaping, the swamplands of Louisiana and the folklore of religion and magic seems to have a exotic appeal for the genre.

The classic horror film formula of six friends on a roadtrip dominates Creature. As Niles (Mehcad Brooks from Necessary Roughness), his girlfriend Emily (Serinda Swan from Breakout Kings), ex-marine Randy (Aaron Hill), Randy's girlfriend toward New Orleans Beth (Amanda Fuller), and brother and sister Oscar (Dillon Casey) and Caroline (Rebekah Kennedy) trek toward New Orleans, they take a short-cut through the back country of southern Louisiana, stopping at a recession-ravaged roadside gas station and market. The inside of the shack is filled with alligator-themed totems and displays of 'The House that Grimley Built', a local attraction dedicated to a local legendary alligator-man monster. The owner of the station, Chopper (Sid Haig from The Devil's Rejects) and his bayou cohorts Bud (Wayne Pere) and Jimmy (David Jensen) are more than happy to fill in the college buddies about Grimley and how to find the real cabin homestead that tourists don't know about. Once the friends set up camp around the cabin, an unseen monster starts attacking them.

As seen from any of the trailers, it is painfully obvious that the creature is as realistic as any B-movie menace that we have seen in any number of 70s or 80s horror flicks. The fact that we do not see a zipper running up the back is testament to the advances of creature creations in this new millennium. The high points of the film are the always sinister Sid Haig, giving goosebumps with every sharp smile, his bayou-billy store clerks played with gumption by Wayne Pere and David Jensen, and, surprisingly, some decent cinematography. The low points are numerous, including the silly design of the alligator-man Grimley, the formulaic plot points, and the attempts of the filmmakers to cover up the standard formula by adding in twists and turns to the story, but without much of a payoff.

I certainly did not expect greatness from this film, resting much of my expectations on Captain Spaulding himself. Mr. Haig certainly does not disappoint, and the acting is good enough for the genre. Very uneven and lacking many redeeming qualities, Creature is proof that anything can make its way to the theaters - not unlike a flushed baby alligator that grows to monstrous proportions in the New York City sewer systems.

WORTH: none