Why So Blu?

‘Creature’ No Great Feature

There does need to be a little bit of a disclaimer to the title of this article. There are some redeeming qualities and I commend Director Fred Andrews for bringing a touch of uniqueness to this picture. However, there are more sour moments than redeeming ones in Creature.

If it wasn’t for a Fandango email I received a few days ago, this film would’ve slipped under my radar undetected.  I gave the trailer a watch and pretty much understood what kind of horror film it would be.  In short, think of it as Deliverance meets Swamp Thing with a little bayou hocus-pocus.  The film begins with an attention-getting shot of a woman going skinny dipping in an unknown Louisiana swamp.  Hey, thanks for the attractive female, but who in their right mind goes swimming in gator-infested waters?  Am I analyzing too much right away?  Come on.  The movie might as well have thrown chum in the Gulf with somebody diving into the middle of it.  Anyway, I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to what happens in this sequence.

The story focuses around three couples on their way to the Big Easy for a weekend of drunken fun when a backwoods stop along the way introduces them to the local folklore of Grimley.  From the miscellaneous sightings in and around town, Grimley looks to be reptilian in appearance, hunting those who stray too far into the mysterious swamps of this bayou.  Unfortunately for these six fun-seekers, they won’t have to venture far for the cold hands of death to find them.  The main couple in the group is Emily and Niles, who are very much young and in love, though the pair has no idea of the scarring path that lies ahead.  Emily, played by the wow-you’re-super-hot Serinda Swan (Tron: Legacy), accompanies boyfriend and Air Force veteran Niles, played by Mehcad Brooks (True Blood: Season 2).  The two actors share a little chemistry, and I really do like both of them, but outside of Sid Haig (Devil’s Rejects, House of 1,000 Corpses), I really wasn’t feeling this cast.

Things felt so unbelievably slow at times that I considered walking out of the theater…an action I’ve yet to follow through on and rarely think of.  Creature was lagging more than enough to conjure such thoughts in my mind.  Here and there, however, the movie would pick up the pace and lead me to believe something was going to get rock star real quick.  Never happened.  Cajun accents faded in and out and the acting was spotty, but it is a low budget scare fest so I guess some of these drawbacks are to be expected.  As for the beauty on the movie poster (no, not Serinda), I don’t want to give a lot away here, but you can bet Grimley is the real deal and does stalk his prey with an unrelenting fervor.  The deaths are a little gruesome, so points are won there in the horror category.  The actual Grimley suit looks fairly cool and you can liken it to one of Batman’s nemesis, Killer Croc.  Actually now that I say that, that’s pretty much a straight translation of the character with the exception that Grimley’s pretty freakin’ slow.

So how does this compare with another low cost horror film?  Referring to last week’s Shark Night 3D, that film got to the point a lot quicker and kept the pace going once it got there.  However, Creature had a little more substance and better acting.  Still, I really don’t care to revisit either.  If I want an aquatic-related thin budget horror film, Piranha is the winner for me.  To Creature‘s director, I say cheers for doing a lot with a little.  Other than that, my bad movie streak at the cinema continues.  Contagion, please be good.