Synapse Films Is Getting Its Squatch on with Creature from Black Lake
Since Scream Factory finally ran out of titles to announce for “Shocktober,” Synapse Films decided to uncork a treat on All Hallow’s Eve by revealing plans to bring the underrated and often overlooked 1976 Sasquatchploitation flick Creature from Black Lake to digital next year.
Creature from Black Lake, directed by Joy N. Houck, Jr., and written by Jim McCullough, Jr., chronicles what happens when two collegiate fancy pants from the North venture deep into Cajun country to research stories about a Bigfoot-like creature that considers the swamplands its stomping grounds. What they find are locals that don’t much like Yankee city slickers nosing around and, more importantly, one very pissed off swamp monster that doesn’t much care for anyone from either side of the Mason-Dixon.
Cast members include Jack Elam, Dub Taylor, and Dennis Fimple.
As Dread’s resident expert on Sasquatchploitation cinema, you’ve probably seen or heard me reference this film on multiple occasion as it is pretty much the gold standard of Seventies Bigfoot cinema, second only to The Legend of Boggy Creek, though while that film gets all the glory, I’ve always felt this drive-in circuit shocker loosely based on the tales of Louisiana’s own “Honey Island Swamp Monster” is the more eerily effective combination of hairy hominid horror and Southern slice-of-life.
Now Synapse hasn’t stated outright that the plan is to give the film a Blu-ray release, but it is safe to assume from the company’s Facebook announcement that they’ve worked out a deal with Jim McCullough Productions, the company behind the film, for this to be the definitive collector’s edition release of Creature from Black Lake:
So, we’re sitting in our office working today and we’re thinking, “It’s Halloween, shouldn’t we maybe announce something today?” We have a few “irons in the fire” as it were and, since this one is officially signed, sealed and delivered with the McCullough family, we’re going to announce that work will begin in 2015 on the first, real, authorized version of this “bigfoot” classic! No other details available at this time, as the ink is barely dry, but we’re scouring storage facilities and the McCullough family’s inventory to bring this one out as soon as humanly possible! Should be a lot of fun! All you collectors out there, take note! If you have any memorabilia or vintage trailers or TV spots for this one, let us know!
Good luck with that last part. You won’t even find a trailer on YouTube.
Categorized:News
