Cryptid

So yeah. If there's one thing i despise about hack writers and directors, it's when they have a genuinely interesting story and monster, but lack of intelligence prevents us from getting a decent film. I can go with the b level acting. I can go with a lower budget film. What I cannot abide is stupid writing. If as a novice hunter myself , I can see mistake after mistake after mistake of supposed seasoned hunters, then you really have to wonder what kind of person gets a job writing a film that deals with hunting. Nothing in a film is creepy or scary about an idiot getting him or herself eaten or put in intense situations. You spend more time yelling "WTF ARE YOU DOING!?" or shaking your head in frustration and disgust at what you are being presented with in a horror film. So. Idiot writer, idiot characters. What's worse is it sets up a sequel. God help us.

The climax of this movie is a major letdown, and makes the sequel bait ending a wet noodle. The buildup is done really well except for a few character-related points, like Max being too whiny and Harriet talking like a guy in his early 20s instead of a woman. She's unnecessarily foul-mouthed and I just found the expressions she used to be... not very woman-like. It's not much of a mystery, she was obviously supposed to out-man the man in the movie, but it didn't work for either. Interesting creature, but didn't get to see enough of it, and like I said... the ending was meh. Wasted potential.

I would've liked to see more focus on the research instead of just "I looked through 75 years of records and found exactly the thing I was looking for." Yeah, because that happens when you search old newspapers at the library. For a two-hour movie, it felt like there was more focus on the characters' unimportant backgrounds than necessary, when that time could've better been used to build up the monster, the legend, and giving us a satisfying climax.

Decent but never actually saw the creature entirely! Darkness made it difficult to see anything. We watch a creature feature to see the creature. Don't count on that! The trailer was better than the movie! It had the potential to be much more entertaining. Regretfully I actually purchased this movie. No a total loss! There was some "edge of your seat" moments. Of course the discounted price of this movie was about the same as a matinee price at the theater. I should have waited to see it for free. I also should have read all of the reviews before I purchased. I'm thinking that this should mark the end of my movie purchases.

Yeah this is certainly not going to be nominated for any awards, but it's decent enough. The creature design I have to admit I like, and from what I could tell the film wasn't overly reliant on CGI effects like everything that the Syfy channel or Asylum puts out now which was a bit refreshing.

That said it certainly has some drawbacks, mostly the pacing which as other reviewers pointed out drags considerably for a lot of the run time with most of the good stuff left for the last half hour. While the monster design is good, there are a few shots where it looks pretty goofy, though not terrible. The lackluster final fight with the creature does bring it down a few points too.

In all though, it's a decent enough movie to hold some of your interest and is worth checking out, if only once.

Not sure what some of these reviewers are complaining about. For a low budget monster movie, the acting and cinematography are excellent.

The protagonist is very believable and, unless you only like idealized characters, is indeed likeable. His character is realistic. The other main character's acting is extraordinary. I say this considering they are relatively unknown! I found there performances easy to watch and they played off each other perfectly.

The premise is solid, and great supporting actors. The CGI is not great, but if you love solid stories and acting over big screen predictable canned action, you should enjoy this movie.