Following a massive earthquake in the area, residents of a small Southern California suburb go missing one-by-one, and when the resulting discovery of a long-dormant sea creature as the cause is revealed a couple of locals band together with the authorities to stop it.
There was a lot to like with this effort. One of the better features here is the enjoyable old-school build-up featured here which is quite enjoyable. That the earthquake to open things off is quickly followed up with several nice attacks on the unsuspecting locals, including a solid 3D attack in the surrounding hills and underbrush, makes this quite fun as the ability to sneak up on victims in the same general area is a solid start. Even some of the typical tropes featured here, from the casual blindness about the dangers of the area, the mayor not wanting to take action for fear of how it'll look to tourists and the police trying to control something beyond their control all help to enhance that tone. Once the film moves past this early setup, there's a lot of fun on display as it embraces the cheesier aspects of its storyline. The idea of everyone in town at some point coming to the park and allowing themselves to get caught by the creature allows for a steady if slightly formulaic approach as there's still a solid stream of attacks to provide a great pace to this, especially with the attacks in the final half that focus on slightly more suspenseful tactics and ambushes. As the creature is kept mostly to the shadows, there are enough glimpses to get an idea of what it looks like which showcases a charming and cheesy practical puppet that could've been shown more to add to that setup, there's enough to like here to hold this up overall. There are a few minor issues at hand that resort to essentially nitpicks at the film. The inclusion of padding out the running time at several points here with entire segments from other films or TV shows which is quite odd to keep switching over to these different formats in the middle of the scene. The randomness of the victims coming up to the same area and encountering the creature is something that might be problematic as it's a trend that is noticeable and slightly distracting. As well, the most genuine issue here is the rushed and underwhelming finale that's over so quickly it's hard to register it ended and just rushes through the motions incredibly quickly instead of letting what could've been a solid idea play itself out. This, though, is the one main flaw against the other nitpicks.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.
