Truly Dreadful Film

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Great Film overall

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Bob Mitchum's kid (who looks just like the old man) and horror star John Carradine lead a group of the worst actors in this mess. It's about a concrete company that has set up shop somewhere in Columbia. There are several stupid subplots, but the principle one is that in a local lake, people are being eaten by a serpent of some kind. I'm not going to waste much time but to say that there is virtually no relationship among the characters. There is a conflict with a reporter who wants to get the story out, and concrete guy, Mitchum, who wants to stop her, but doesn't try very hard. For some reason, there is some poor unbalanced woman who is suspected of being a witch and the villagers throw rocks at her. Stupid people get eaten by the monster who is finally observed by a couple teenagers. Oh well, there's an hour and a half I'll never see again.

"Monster" is a terrible film that sat uncompleted for nearly a decade. Eventually, the movie was slapped together and released--which would explain why some of the actors look so young for 1979-80 when it finally hit theaters. The story is about a village in Columbia that really sucks. On one hand, they have a cement factory that has provided jobs BUT which poisons the water. And, on the other, they've now got a monster in the lake and it likes killing folks. Naturally, the evil corporate types only care about profits and wait an awful long time to try to take on the monster. As for the monster, it's one of the cheapest and lousiest looking ones I've ever seen--and every bit as bad as ones you'd see in schlock films like "The Curse of the Swamp Creature", "The Horror of Party Beach" or "The Creeping Terror". The film isn't particularly interesting, though catching occasional glimpses of the ludicrous monster is good for a few laughs.

A Mr Fix-It (Mitchum) is sent to Colombia to rectify publicity issues with a US-run chemical plant that is the source of both environmental contamination speculation and monster superstition after a series of mysterious happenings by the lake. Shortly after arriving, big Jim finds more than he bargained for when the local company secretary is shockingly bisected. Initial speculation is that a shark is responsible, then an elephant-like specimen is touted, but the real culprit has more sinister origins. Sectarian distrust prevails fuelled by allegations of witchery, the widow whose husband mysteriously disappeared years before, being held responsible for summoning a monster from the lake, a folklore that gathers traction when two drunken fishermen disappear. With the aid of the local plant manager (a tired-looking Eisley) and a tenacious TV reporter (Hartford), Mitchum has to try and save the town from the scourge of the lake monster, and salvage the company's reputation in the bargain.Based on a true story (or so it says, twice, in the opening credits), "It Came From the Lake" is a low budget amalgam of the mythical "Loch Ness Monster", and chemical mutation themes, spun with a faithful 50's sci-fi appreciation. The sensational concoction "from the lake" is something of an amphibian of diplodocus proportions, mutated by chemical waste, with metre-long tendrils hanging from the jowls, googly eyes, and the mobility of a sock puppet. A clumsy attempt to show pretty victim Laura Manly (Martin) cleft in twain, is achieved by burying her lower torso in the sand, and having onlookers feign nausea at the ghastly vivisection.Mitchum is dependable, Carey barks expletives down a phone line in an otherwise unconnected two scenes, and Eisley is both protagonist and hero, as he hatches a hair-brained scheme to destroy the nuisance monster. Horror film veteran, Carradine is cast in a frivolous supporting role as a local priest, whose incantations feed hope to the masses while the devil-sent beast plunders their livelihood. It's very honest treatment, no gratuitous sex or violence a cinematic nonsense of childish antics and generally good natured, uncomplicated fun – a definite for the cult collection (there's even a key supporting character called "Sanchez", and yes, he is dirty).

Tough guys, sexy women, lots of swearing, and a most unconvincing monster that rises from the depths of a polluted lake. You'd think "Monster" would be fun...but it isn't, really. It does star Tony Eisley and John Carradine, however, and in my book that makes it worth viewing at least once. In an interview with "Fangoria" in 1987, Eisley recalled that Herbert Strock had directed the bulk of the film, but somehow Kenneth Hartford--who only directed the footage featuring his children Andrea and Glenn (portraying characters named Andrea and Glenn, in a particularly inventive turn)--received full credit. Considering how awful the end result was, Strock was probably glad that he hadn't been credited! "Monster" has the look and feel of a mid-to-late-'70s TV movie, which is why I like to leave it on in the background every so often. As entertainment it falls flat on its face, but as a reminder of another age and a vanished type of film-making, it's very effective. The only thing that's missing is a car chase.