Woodpecker

There's an independent documentary-style movie out, Woodpecker, on the ivorybill.

Beyond Loch Ness

Yep, it's another SciFi Saturday night flick, this one on the Loch Ness Monster. (Emphasis on Monster, of course.) Airs Saturday, January 5, 2008. Website. Only a brief plot note is mentioned, so hard to say if it'll be better than average. (And, apparently, "beyond" means the hunt is now on Lake Superior.)

Another BF Horror Flick

The Wild Man of Navidad is seeking distribution. Appears to be based on those stories from Texas in the 1800s. Which, actually, had little if anything to do with Bigfoot, but I guess the name sounded cool. (News source.)

Blood Monkey

Ran across this trailer for a Sci Fi Channel movie that is more cryptozoological (it appears) than most of its Saturday evening monster flicks. Don't know when it will be out; wouldn't start watching it with high expectations, but you never know...

Cryptofic Remake

A remake of the cryptofiction classic film, Creature from the Black Lagoon, is currently in pre-production, with a planned release date in 2008. What does this mean? For starters, be a little more wary than usual of alleged photographs from South America showing bipedal aquatic creatures with scaly skin...

Alligator / Crocodile Films

Cycles happen, weather, nature and industry.

In movies we move through cycles of similarity, including nature run amok movies.

This year we see at least three (3) crocodile movies gearing towards the mainstream theatrical distribution:

Rogue is being released in late 2007 and was filmed for approx. $20 million
Blackwater is pending release and was just shown at Cannes
Primeval grossed over $10 million after a January 2007 release, and is now available on DVD

Some years we have alien invasions and super heroes, others just nature gone wild. While the spirit is not in the area of exotic wildlife, it does go hand in hand with more reports of escaped pets in the waterways (or 8 foot alligators being removed from basements in New York!)

Blackwater should be noted however for featuring real crocs over CGI or models. In line with how Open Water used real sharks for their filming.

Bigfoot Comedy

Paramount has acquired rights to distribute a comedy, Strange Wilderness, starring Steve Zahn and others. The plot: "The story follows the hosts (Zahn and Covert) of fictional wildlife TV show 'Strange Wilderness,' which is headed toward extinction because of bad ratings; they hatch a scheme to find the one animal that can save the show — Bigfoot." (News source.)

A Thylacine Movie - With A Twist

Movies are a staple of culture, and are a favorite pastime for many.

In cryptozoology good films are not the norm, they tend to be B-Movie features or "monster of the week" style, while rare ones capture the attention. Harry and the Hendersons, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, these are some of the better ones.

B-movies are fine, they are fun and "cheesy". An entire sub-culture exists around these, and they can become cult classics (the Rocky Horror Picture Show or Basket Case anyone?).

The Film Finance Corporation of Australia (FFC) has recently financed a new film entitled Dying Breed. An intriguing title, and this is a cryptid movie with a twist. While the story starts as the search for the living Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine) it is in actuality a film in which the heroes encounter cannibals..... Yes, cannibals.....Descendants of one Alexander Pearce. Pearce was a real life person from the early 19th century who did indeed cannibalize people.

Dying Breed will start filming shortly in Tasmania and is directed by Jody Dwyer based on a script by Michael Boughen and Rod Morris.

Lost and the Chupacabra

Popular culture crosses into the realm of cryptozoology and the paranormal from time to time. Even on prime time television.

The April 18th episode of the ABC show LOST entitled Catch-22 included one such reference.

In the background of one scene some of the characters are sitting around a campfire. Hurley, the big guy on the show cursed by the cryptic numbers, can be heard faintly in the back telling a tale of the Chupacabra.

Not the main portion of the show of course, but just to show you that a reference can pop up anywhere. We saw this before with the animated Open Season reference to Bigfoot, as well as the past show Surface.

While on the subject, if you like out-of-place animals and remember the movie Lake Placid, well it is back. The Sci-Fi channel will be airing Lake Placid 2 on April 28, 2007. This time there is more than one crocodile in the lake.....

3-Men Seeking Monsters Picked up By Universal

Over at the Internet site "CHUD", there has been an interesting piece of news.

CHUD is not the Douglas Cheek 1984 horror movie (which I like), unfortunately that movie was followed by a poor 1989 sequal (Chud II: Bud the Chud). Those movies where about Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers (CHUD). This CHUD stands for Cinematic Happenings Under Development.

The cryptozoology / fortean book Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monster, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs, and Ape-Men has picked up by Universal Studies for a potential forthcoming movie. Interesting development, would be interesting as well to see how it plays out.

Cryptids, et al in Popular Culture

Bigfoot, Yeti and the like have appeared for over a century in popular media. From movies, to television, they appear in the most unexpected locations.

Recently, while watching Open Season this became very evident. Within this film are two characters, and a wiener dog, who are seeking Homo saquatchensis. While they play a pivotal role in the film, it has nothing to do with their expedition in search of Bigfoot. But, it does bring up the pop-culture aspect of cryptozoology.

Computer animated movies are around every year, and they run the gamut from the kid friendly to borderline family fare. The best ones seem to have a bit for kids and adults, Toy Story is one of these due to its blend. Others have abounded that are entertaining, from Madagascar to Monster House, even Ice Age to the recent Happy Feet. Even the people behind the movies are characters in, and of themselves. For example George Miller the director of Happy Feet is the same director of the violent Mad Max films, quite a varied spread (but then again look at Sam Raimi who directed the recent Spiderman films and his origins in low-budget but affective horror films in the Evil Dead franchise).

But, I digress a bit here. Back to animated cryptozoology in films.

Two films stand out from recent time for their depiction of cryptozoology, even in passing. Open Season is one, and the other is Monsters Inc.

Open Season, came out in 2006 and was directed by a trio of people: Roger Allers, Jill Culton and Anthony Stacchi. While not be spectacular in the box-office, perhaps in part due to its more mature usage of animation aimed at older children and adults, it still went on to gross over 100 million dollars worldwide. If you watch close, aside from the reference to BIGFOOT being sought, you'll also see a classic "grey" alien on the Bigfoot hunters RV wheel cover.

It was Monsters Inc that really used a cryptid well, although cartoony. In Monsters Inc, a clever creation called the Abominable Snowman is shown. Voiced by John Ratzenberger, the Abominable Snowman has a memorial part of the main characters journey in the film. Directed by Pete Doctor, this Pixar Animation film grossed over 300 million dollars worldwide.

Now these creatures pop up at regular intervals. We saw a classic Patterson Bigfoot stance in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, even a series of Sasquatch appear during the recent Jack Black film, Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny. These are mainstream movies, not independent horror of fantasy flicks, but show how cryptozoology, especially Bigfoot, creeps into our everyday lives. Even Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest featured an aquatic beastie.

It was only a year or so ago that prime time television has a show about sea monsters. While short lived, Surface did show a side of mystery investigation. Other shows have featured such mystery beasts as well, including the classic X-Files (there were those non-mythology shows with Jersey Devil, lake monsters and so forth), Special Unit 2 that featured at lest one episode with merfolk, even the original and remade Night Stalk shows. This is but, of course, a sparse listing of popular media representations.

Cryptozoology is present, and much like its contents, the spot sightings in movies are as elusive as the creatures themselves.

Perhaps one day, a cryptozoology cartoon in and of itself. Can you image the adventures of Ogopogo and Bigfoot together as they partner up with a Chupacabra and Cadborosaurus to rescue the Yeti and the Mongolian Death Worm from the clutches of the evil king Thunderbird and his Mokele-mbembe hordes?

Gwoemul - The Host

We have seen many movies over the years with cryptozoology or some unknown animal as a piece of it. Typically these are Horror or Science-Fiction films. The list includes well done to poorly done entries, and continues every year.

In 2006 Gwoemul (The Host) was released in Asia by director Bong Joon-Ho, its premise is complex, but features a multi-generation family group who rescues one of its own from an aquatic creature that rises from the Han River. Full of political commentary and some humor, the movie has been well received since being releases in 2006. While the creature itself is "birthed" due to a chemical pollutant in the river, it is not presented as being a gigantic snarling beast. Rather a "truck" sized fish-like animal, granted that can run on land and dangle from bridges.

In March 2007 the film will be released in limited distribution here in the USA. While the FX may not be what American audiences are used to , it does show how they can be done to propel the story along and not control the story.

It does give one the perception of a "what if scenario". What if a "sea serpent" were to suddenly appear near a major city, would the reaction cause a behavior change? So if you get a chance to see it in the theatre during its release, see if it grabs your fancy. Otherwise sit-back and wait for the DVD release.

DVD: Harry and the Hendersons

If nothing else, it was a significant cultural milestone in public perception of cryptozoology. Harry and the Hendersons is soon to be released on a special edition DVD here in North America. From SpielbergFilms.com:

"If you've never seen 'Harry,' the premise is simple: The Henderson family has an unfortunate vehicular accident in which they think they've made road kill of a fabled Bigfoot. When the Hendersons take the creature home, they discover he's far from dead, and far from from the fierce beast that legend has made sasquatches out to be. From there on out, it's Bigfoot — or Harry, rather — in suburbia. Good natured comedy and thrills obviously follow.
"2007 marks the 20th anniversary for 'Harry and the Hendersons,' and the 10th year of the DVD format. And believe it or not, 'Harry' and DVD have never met in the United States. Until now.
"Universal Studios Home Entertainment will be releasing a Special Edition of 'Harry on the Hendersons' to DVD this April 24. For fans who have been waiting a decade to add this title to their Amblin collections, you'll be pleased to hear that the release will feature a number of previously unavailable special features.
"First, the film will be available in an anamorphic 1.85:1 picture, with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack to compliment (the film will also include subtitles in English SDH, French and Spanish). Bonus features will include an audio commentary by director William Dear" ...
"Also included are deleted scenes, a 'Harry...Finding the Missing Link' featurette, a 'Making of Harry and the Hendersons' documentary, plus a behind-the-scenes newswrap featurette and the film's theatrical trailer.
"If that's not enough, you can pre-order "Harry and the Hendersons" on DVD for a low $10.49 through Amazon.com."