The Crater Lake Monster (1977)

RELEASED IN 1977 and written & directed by William R. Stromberg, “The Crater Lake Monster” details events in the high country of central California after a meteor strikes the eponymous (fictitious) lake and incubates a prehistoric egg, which hatches a plesiosaur-like creature that terrorizes the locals.

Despite the title, the story does not take place in Crater Lake, Oregon, and the filmmakers don’t hide this fact in light of (1.) the California plates of the vehicles and (2.) the lake is clearly snake-like in shape and not round like Crater Lake in Oregon. Speaking of the lake they used for establishing shots, it’s located roughly 425 miles southeast of Crater Lake in central California.

The movie is akin to modern Syfy flicks, but shot on a low-budget in the mid-70s. It lacks the production quality of 70’s creature features like “Jaws” (1975) and “Prophecy” (1979), but isn’t even up to the production level of TV flicks like “Snowbeast” (1977) and “Kingdom of the Spiders” (1977). The second-rate acting of the principles in particular distinguishes “The Crater Lake Monster” from these movies. But the Ray Harryhausen-like stop-motion effects are effective, although whenever the creature is shown emerging from the lake the contrast between the two (the monster and the lake) looks decidedly fake.

Kacey Cobb shines on the female front and looks great in tight jeans, but her role is too small. There’s some goofy slapstick provided by Arnie and Mitch, which is only a notch or so above the antics of Skipper and Gilligan. Other than that, the tone is serious and there are some highlights, like the excellent locations, the 70’s atmosphere (styles/décor/etc.) and the surprisingly moving close. I should add that I never perceived the plesiosaur as a particularly scary or formidable dinosaur, but this flick gave me a different perspective.

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 25 minutes and was shot in Huntington Lake and Palomar Mountain, California. ADDITIONAL WRITER: Richard Cardella.

GRADE: C

Now then - where to start. It would be easy to just rip it to shreds. It's rubbish - on just about every level. For reasons that are not immediately clear, it was digitally remastered (if, indeed, it was ever "mastered" in the first place) in 2011 which, if anything, seems to have merely exacerbated the already dreadful production standards. A meteor lands in the remote "Crater Lake" and before we know it, "Nessie" arrives for a summer vacation from Loch Ness and - getting peckish on the way - decides to feast on the residents of the local town. The story is routine, but fine, it is the manufacture that is abysmal. The stilted acting might not have seemed quite so bad were it not for the staccato assemble-editing done in such an amateur fashion that really draws attention to the silly script, a soundtrack straight from the basement of a 1960s ad agency and to the risible visual effects that owe a lot more to plasticine than to Ray Harryhausen. There are far too many characters to distract from the dodgy narrative, the attempts at humour are cringingly contrived and at 85 minutes, it is far, far too long! It is worth a watch just to calibrate your senses, and put true dross in proper perspective!