Hey folks, Valkor here. Back again with another MediaView treat. But I think using the word "treat" is an understatement because this next film, "Creature", it started out as something special. But then it goes into an entirely new direction about midway, which makes this one tough pill to swallow. Is it worth your time? Let's find out! Oh and prepare for some spoilers.
Creature centers on a group of six friends who set out for a bit of adventure into the "who knows where" parts of Louisiana on their way to New Orleans; In the group we have Niles (Mehcad Brooks), Oscar (Dillon Casey), Randy (Aaron Hill), Karen (Lauren Schneider), Emily (Serinda Swan), and Beth (Amanda Fuller). Along the way they stop at a rusty gas station/convenience store/souvenir shop run by the local hicks Chopper (Sid Haig), Bud (Wayne Pere), and Jimmy (David Jensen). The guys enter the shop and discover the place is swarming with memorabilia about an urban legend of a Gatorman named LockJaw (half man/half gator) who terrorizes the swamps. Legend has it that this swamp creature's name is Grimley (Daniel Bernhardt); he's a part of the Bouteen clan whose bloodline is starting to thin. So to keep the name flowing they kept their lovin in the family (incest ftw). However the line thinned due to sterility and only two Bouteens were left - Grimley and his sister Caroline (Rebekah Kennedy). And just as the two were about to be wed, an albino gator shows up and eats Caroline. Well Grimley is pissed! So he follows the gator to its home, kills it and then proceeds to eat it and every carcass in its lair. And it is within those caverns that his transformation begins into the gator man known as LockJaw. Or so the legend has it.
Shopkeeper Chopper tells the guys that Grimley still lurks about and his century old house isn't that far away - he even draws them up a map on how to get there. So what's a little sidetrack right? The group agrees to the outing and they head off towards the house. Of course all sorts of bad things start to happen right... such as people getting killed.
And there's a bit of a twist to the tale – it would appear that group member Oscar was in on the whole thing with the shopkeepers - hell they're part of the legend... the same damn family, which really isn't a legend, but some kind of incestuous cult where they lure young women to the swamps to appease the croc man, to which he will either eat or have sex with the women to bear the clan a child so that the line continues (at that point, I stopped caring). There's a lot of chasing, there's a lot of killing, there's a bunch of gore, and tons of stupid scenarios that will either crack you up because it's that bad or you'll shake your head in disappointment.
Before I get into the breakdown I need to point out two things; 1) All of the women in this film get all kinds of naked – full frontal, full breast, brief lesbian scene, I'm talkin totally-worth-sittin-through-this-film kinda naked! And 2) Wait... what the fuck, after that there's a two?? Oh ya, Jelly from Flypaper aka Pruitt Taylor Vince has an appearance pretty much playing the same role, only dumbed down. Oh there's a third that I have to mention – the black guy doesn't die in this one! I KNOW RIGHT!!? No more wasting time, I'm itchin to get into the TOV Breakdown!
The Good:
For starters the first half of the film, just before they get into the twist works for me. It reminded me of Swamp Shark where it looks cheesy, the storyline appears solid, and you kinda have this nice build up where you think you're getting a decent slasher/monster flick with the added bonus of gratuitous sex and nudity. But when Oscar is revealed as being part of the plot, then you start to shake your head and wonder "just what the hell is going on?". The action, for the most part, is pretty decent; it's not quick edited (and you get full view of the monster man creature), plus the level of gore isn't extreme but enough to satiate anyone's thirst for onscreen blood. The acting is ok, but if I had to choose a standout then it would be Sid Haig who is no slouch when it comes to cheesy horror films (House of 1000 corpses, House of the Dead 2), here he plays a backwater hick to creepy perfection. Finally all the women deserve PerfectView nods and might I say, mmmm… such a wonderful selection of bevy babes whose nakedness knows no bounds. Seriously, the first minute of the film you get a full-frontal naked chick. Now how hot is that??
The Bad:
Oh I was waitin to get to this section. Oh man! First off, what the fuck is up with that twist! It totally takes you out of the story! I would have settled for a simple monster gore flick, not some tale of incest and woes. Did Oscar really need to be a part of it? No! He should have been a part of the hunted and died like the rest of them! And Niles… oh Niles, what the hell man? At one point the dude gets shot in the knee and he goes on running as if he wasn't shot. And though he didn't die, I'm sure by the end of the film he wish he had. Are you ready for this? So the film reaches its climatic end with Niles duking it out with LockJaw, who is pounding Niles into the dirt causing a sinkhole to appear. Niles is able to beat the creature into the hole and you think the story is over right? WRONG! The creature makes its way out of the hole, grabs Nile's girl and drags her into the hole. And of course Niles follows. End of story yet? NOT EVEN!!! Why? Niles is able to POP OUT OF THE HOLE with his girl in his arms and holding what's left of LockJaw's... jaw. HOLY SHIT!! I lost it! My thoughts? A) That was funny as hell and b) what the fuck? The sinkhole filled with water and dirt and they made it out alive? I'm not buyin it! Next Karen is captured and Chopper… well he chops her foot off. I'm still not even sure why he did that. So that she wouldn't run away? She was pretty much tied-up, so I don't think she was going anywhere.
The Aaawwwww:
Watching Karen and Beth get all lezzied up only to have Beth pass out before the action starts. That's not even the disappointing part because I think Karen is freakish enough to continue with or without Beth's participation except Randy shows up, gets all pissed off and chases Karen away. He couldn't watch like Oscar? Speaking of which...
The Twisted:
So Karen walks away and finds Oscar who's jackin it to Niles and Emily's make out session, all while snappin pictures (Mind you Karen and Oscar are supposedly brother/sister). So Karen proceeds to "lend a helping hand" and finish off Oscar while he continues to snap photos of the love making. And at the end of it all Karen asks "What about me?" Karen gets no action from either side of the fence *sigh*.
The Ugly:
Not a negative because I actually liked the makeup job on LockJaw – that crocodile smile is pretty freaky. But, yeah... he's pretty gruesome
In the end Creature is just a so-so cheesy horror flick with some nice action and lots of naked women – sadly that mid-twist takes what could have been fun, scary ride of a film into something not worth sitting through. Creature is currently making its theatrical run but I'd say wait for the home release as this film is definitely a "rental only" or late night cable TV kinda flick. So out of TOV 5 stars, I'm giving Creature a 2.