Ok, let’s not mince words. This film ain’t great. Indeed, it’s borderline awful. But there’s just enough about it that’s good enough to have kept me watching.
The two main characters, Pahoo (Dennis Fimple) and Rives (John Carson) – supposedly Chicago University students, searching for ‘Sasquatch’ – are up to the job.
And then there’s Jack Elam, as crazy ol’ Joe Canton, a boozy hillbilly trapper, and the lone survivor of an attack that sets up the film, and Bill Thurman, as ornery Sheriff Billy Carter.
Mostly the film is just silly mid-‘70s fun. But it does get better, and even a bit scary, at points. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Creature from Black Lake. But I did, I must confess, enjoy it.
One intriguing thing about it is that it ends in such a way as to suggest the film-makers might’ve been angling for a sequel.