Creature from Black Lake

Summary

”Sure enjoy doing business with you yankee boys.”

Synapse Films has recently released the 1976 Bigfoot-inspired horror film Creature from Black Lake on Blu-ray. I look forward to viewing the releases from Synapse Films because of their tendency to expose me to something new. Synapse has had a great year with standout releases such as Massacre at Central High and The Kindred, which were both very enjoyable. With Creature from Black Lake, Synapse turns their attention towards low-budget regional filmmaking. Directed by small time director/actor Joy N. Houck Jr. and written by small time writer Jim McCullough Jr., the film is probably more interesting to cinephiles because of who was behind the camera. The film looks better than it should because cinematographer Dean Cundey was behind the camera. Cundey went on to lens numerous films for John Carpenter (including Halloween) and Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park,) but Creature From Black Lake finds the cinematographer capably shooting a low budget creature feature in Shreveport, Louisiana. The film itself is of questionable merit, but the Synapse release improves the video quality by leagues over any prior release.

In the swamps of Louisiana, on a fishing boat, Joe Canton (Jack Elam) and his friend look through their traps. The traps have inexplicably disappeared. When they pull along the banks of a small wooded area, they hear the noises of a creature nearby. The men begin to flee the scene in their boat, but their boat is suddenly stopped. The creature reaches into the boat and pulls a man into the water. He drowns him as Joe manages to drive his boat away. Two anthropology students from the University of Chicago – Reves (John David Carson) and Pahoo (Dennis Fimple) – drive to the area to try to investigate the supposed Bigfoot attack. While looking for Joe, in a barber shop, Reves comes across Sheriff Billy Carter (Bill Thurman.) The sheriff does not want the town to get riled up over any talk of a monster, so he warns off Reves. In a diner, Pahoo stumbles upon Joe as Joe overhears someone making jokes about the creature. Joe leaves angry. Not quite realizing that the upset man was Joe Canton, the two anthropologists miss their chance to speak with him. A man named Orville (Jim McCullough Jr.) approaches them. He had overheard their talk at the barbershop. On a drive out to his home in the country, Orville shares a story of how he had seen the creature with his family as a young boy. Startled by the creature, his family had been in a car crash which killed Orville’s parents. The students meet Orville’s grandfather (Dub Taylor) who tells a tale of seeing the creature kill a dog. After a series of events, the investigation soon enough leads the students into the swamps with Joe to track down the creature.

Creature from Black Lake is an interesting film, even though I didn’t consider it extremely effective. I would like to talk about the positives first. First off, I appreciate that Synapse dedicated their time to presenting the film the best it has ever looked or sounded. Fans of the film will definitely appreciate the incredible job that they have done on the video transfer, even if the audio is still pretty weak in comparison to most releases. I enjoyed seeing the early cinematography work of  Dean Cundey. As a curio, I enjoyed checking out the film. There are aspects of the film that work, especially in the final moments.

On the negative side, Creature from Black Lake is written with very little attention  paid towards building suspense. The final sequences are pretty surprising and enjoyable, but the film’s somewhat meandering nature makes it feel like a bit of a slog at times to watch. Because the film is PG, I tried to watch it with my kids but they lost interest quickly. The overall narrative of the picture was just somewhat lacking.

Overall – I thought the movie was okay, but it didn’t do as much for me as the other recent Synapse releases.

Video

Synapse presents Creature from Black Lake in 2.35:1 aspect ratio in 1080p. The transfer was sourced from the original 35mm negative. Synapse has done an exception job on their presentation of the film. Fine detail is excellent. Clarity is very solid. There is a fine grain over the proceedings that looks filmic and does not exhibit any distracting compression issues. This is really impressive work. I can guarantee that this film has never looked better.

Audio

Synapse Video have provided a restored DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track. I guarantee that Synapse did their usual due diligence to provide the best version possible of the audio track, but age has taken its toll on the original audio recordings. The mono track sometimes can come across as muffled. It is probably the best the film has ever sounded, but measure your expectations accordingly.

Supplements:

• Commentary features film historians Michael Gingold and Chris Poggiali.
• “Swamp Stories” – cinematographer Dean Cundey discusses working on the film and his enjoyment of working in Shreveport where their low budget filmmaking team were warmly greeted by locals.
• Radio Spot
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 3/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 3.25/5

Creature from Black Lake is probably more of a curio for collectors than a masterpiece of regional filmmaking that demands to be rediscovered. The film will draw the interest of collectors due to the collaboration of legendary cinematographer Dean Cundey with small timers Joy N. Houck Jr. and Jim McCullough Jr. The film’s meandering nature and lack of suspense hampered my ability to stay fully engaged. That said, if you are a fan of the film, Synapse has brought the film to Blu-ray with a great looking transfer. Fans of the picture are going to be extremely pleased by the new restoration. The interview with Dean Cundey is also extremely enjoyable.