The cryptozoological horror film has been a sub-genre staple for decades. Below are some that I see often (unlike “actual” cryptids) — films that most certainly qualify as guilty pleasures. From stop-motion effects to rubber masks, there’s something here for everyone!
Have a favorite crypto flick? Share it in our comments section!
Creature From Black Lake (1976)
John David Carson (Empire of the Ants) and Dennis Fimple (“Petticoat Junction”) play two students tracking in the Louisiana backwoods in search of a mysterious, legendary creature. Ignoring warnings by the local sheriff, they team up with Dub Taylor and his grandson, whose parents were killed in an auto wreck after witnessing the beast. Suddenly one of the students disappears, and a deadly confrontation ensues…
Snowbeast (TV Movie 1977)
A killer beast on the rampage terrorizes a ski resort during a winter carnival. Based on the Bigfoot creature that was seen for over 100 years in Colorado and the Pacific Northwest. How can you stop this monstrous, Yeti-like beast? First get Bo Svenson (Walking Tall Part II) and turn him loose against the scary, hairy Snowbeast… before it’s too late! Yvette Mimieux, Robert Logan, and Clint Walker co-star in this made-for-TV creature feature. Joseph Stefano (Psycho, “The Outer Limits”) wrote the script, taking much of the information from real-life expert Roger Patterson, who had an encounter with a Bigfoot in 1967.
The Loch Ness Horror (1981)
An increasing number of people are dying mysterious deaths in the dark waters of Loch Ness, victims of the famous monster. But what other mysteries does the Loch hold? What about the monster’s egg and the insane scientist who’ll do anything to exploit it? What secrets does the sunken Nazi plane near the monster’s lair hold, and why will the military do anything to cover it up?
Demonwarp (1988)
A man and his daughter are attacked in the woods by what they believe is a Bigfoot-type creature. However, they soon begin to suspect that they may have stumbled onto a nest of aliens in a hidden spacecraft.
Frostbiter, aka Wendigo (1995)
A duo of gun-happy redneck hunters stupidly break a sacred circle in a hunting spree, which releases the deadly wendigo. The wendigo kills many of the hunters gruesomely, leaving the chosen woman and a gun-toting idiot to destroy the deadly beast.
Chupacabra Terror (Video 2005)
For centuries, the legend of the flesh-eating Chupacabra lived on, but real evidence, other than small mammals torn to pieces, had been absent until now. A brilliant, cunning zoologist (Giancarlo Esposito, Ali) manages to capture the creature and sneak it aboard a cruise ship. But the murderous thirst of his prize catch cannot be quenched, and as the cruise becomes a ship of death, the captain (John Rhys-Davies, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) summons an heroic U.S. Marshal (Dylan Neal, 40 Days and 40 Nights) to save them. But weapons will not be enough to destroy Chupacabra. They won’t even come close.
Abominable (2006)
It has been sighted 42,000 times in 68 countries, a vicious creature of myth and legend called Sasquatch, Yeti, and perhaps most infamously, Bigfoot. We’ve hunted it for years. But what happens when it decides to hunt us? For newly paraplegic mountain climber Preston Rogers (Matt McCoy), the horror hits home when this ravenous beast attacks a remote forest community. Will its next hot meal be a group of knucklehead hunters (including Lance Henriksen of ALIENS & Jeffrey Combs of RE-ANIMATOR), a skeptical police chief (Paul Gleason of DIE HARD), a cabin full of nubile co-eds (including Ashley Hartman of “THE O.C.”), or a trapped Preston himself? Rex Linn (“CSI: MIAMI”) and Dee Wallace-Stone (CUJO) co-star in this wild and gruesome horror shocker.
The Wild Man of Navidad (2008)
In 1975, the small town of Sublime, Texas, had an encounter with a creature so horrifying that it remains legend today: Deep in the woods along the Navidad River, someone or something has left its lair to rip a trail of ferocious carnage through the local population. Is it man, monster, or Lone Star myth? And in a rural community commanded by the Bible, corrupted by moonshine, and ruled by rifles, can anything stop the vengeance of a beast unleashed? Pass the popcorn and hook that speaker to the driver s side window, raves Film Threat. THE WILD MAN OF THE NAVIDAD has a lot of heart and captures the essence of 60s and 70s grindhouse/drive-in horror!
Trollhunter (2010)
The government says there’s nothing to worry about… it’s just a problem with bears making trouble in the mountains and forests of Norway. But local hunters don’t believe it, and neither do a trio of college students who want to find out the truth. Armed with a video camera, they trail a mysterious poacher, who wants nothing to do with them. However, their persistence lands them straight in the path of the objects of his pursuits: trolls. They soon find themselves documenting every move of this grizzled, unlikely hero, the trollhunter, risking their lives to uncover the secrets of creatures only thought to exist in fairy tales.
Willow Creek (2013)
Looking to make a splash with his research videos into the existence of Bigfoot, Jim (Bryce Johnson, “Pretty Little Liars”) and his girlfriend, Kelly, take a camping trip to the mountains surrounding Willow Creek, California, a small town where infamous footage of the supposed Sasquatch was filmed. Before long the headstrong couple are lost in the woods and discover that someone – or something – is stalking them. With each passing night bringing unknowable danger, the two must use all of their cunning to try to make it out of the forest alive.