This week ECHG writer Adam Holtzapfel takes a look back at 2011’s Creature.

by Adam Holtzapfel

Creature…where do I begin with this 93 minute mess from 2011? Director and writer Fred Andrews along with co-writer Tracy Morse thought it would be a good idea to bring horror fans a Hatchet meets swamp monster film. 

The film follows a group of college students as they take a trip to the backwoods of Louisiana. Starring Sid Haig, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Mechad Brooks, Aaron Hill, Amanda Fuller, and more, gave it potential to be a decent flick, but that didn’t last long.

The film begins with a woman skinny dipping only to have her legs mauled off (let the laughs begin). Sid Haig plays Chopper the owner of you guessed it Choppers. Think more Texas Chainsaw Massacre and less House of 1000 Corpses.

Upon seeing a model of Lockjaw, the monster of the swamp this leads to the groups of students getting a lesson of the house that Grimley built and how his bride (also his sister, because incest provides shock value) was taken by a gator on their wedding day. This leads to a hunt for Lockjaw, beacause of course it does.

Once the group arrives at the Grimley house it’s party time. That means the audience hears breathing and gets a few shots from Lockjaw’s view a la the Friday The 13th franchise.

We see a few good kills, an unexpected ending, and Sid Haig doing his best to make the film worthwhile. 

Overall this film feels like it would have been better if it were made in the 80’s and definitely feels like it’s overdone due to Hatchet and Hatchet 2 coming out a few years earlier. Using the Dead On Movie Review letter grade system this gets a C-. It’s not a film I’d watch often but might be fun to revisit every 5-10 years.