I remember seeing this movie in the now defunct 'Jerry Lewis Cinemas' chain when I was a teenager. Living in a rural, and I mean rural area, the movie affected my brother and I that summer. My little brother wouldn't go near the woods at our house (all we had around were woods, LOL),and would check all the door locks before going to bed for almost a month because of this movie.

Myself, well, I'd get some goosebumps when I was riding my motorcycle through the woods. But back to the movie. You either love it or hate it. Black Lake does have some slow scenes, but does deliver a punch, especially with Dub Taylor's flashback scenes. Jack Elam made the movie for me, I just wished they had given him more screen-time. I loved the way he chewed up his lines!

The creature is never really seen in detail, just in shadows or blurry footage, but that adds to the suspense. It's available on VHS or VCD from Bijou Flix. Watched it the other day with my wife and teen daughters....and it did scare them.

For its time and budget, a good Bigfoot film IMHP.

"Creature from Black Lake" gets my vote as the single most amiable and entertaining Bigfoot fright film to ever amble onto the big screen. John David Carson and the ever-daffy Dennis ("Truck Stop Women," "House of 1,000 Corpses") Fimple display a breezy, relaxed, wholly personable chemistry as two eager beaver college anthropology students who visit a Louisiana stick burg to find out if stories concerning Mr. Size 25 Shoes have any basis in fact.

Zestfully directed by Do-It-Yourself regional indie filmmaker Joy Houck, Jr. and cleverly written by Jim McCollough, Jr. (who co-stars as a wily country boy who befriends our heroes),this fine feature boasts an endearingly playful sense of good-natured humor, likable characters, a strong spooky atmosphere, and a tasty, picturesque evocation of the Creole State's lush, marshy bayou. Furthermore, the stellar, spot-on, spirited tearin'-apart-the-scenery performances by dependable seasoned hambones Jack Elam and Dub Taylor add a substantial energy boost to the proceedings. Taylor essays his standard role of a crusty, hot-tempered hillbilly grandpappy with his trademark testy aplomb ("Dadgum it!"),but Elam steals the the entire show with his growly, eye-rolling portrayal of ornery ol' swamp cuss trapper Joe Canton (Elam's "nothin'" story in particular is an absolute corker). Stocky, stony-faced cracker character actor Bill Thurman brings his usual low-key charm and unaffected acting style to the role of a sheriff named after then First Brother Billy Carter. Morgan Fairchild's comely sister Catherine McClenny has a sassy small part as a feisty greasy spoon waitress.

In a nifty homage to "The Legend of Boggy Creek" Fimple has the holy living hell scared out of him when a guy catches him off guard while he's urinating behind a bush. The unusually adroit and sporadically expansive widescreen cinematography was done by a fledging Dean Cundey, who eventually established himself as a top director of photography with his groundbreaking gliding camera-work for "Halloween." Jamie Mendoza-Nava's score deftly alternates between moody, menacing scareshow music and sprightly, s**t-kickin' country bluegrass. The film concludes with a genuinely harrowing sequence in which Sasquatch (Roy Tatum in an up-to-snuff excess body hair outfit) stalks and attacks our protagonists. All in all, this dandy's a complete winner.

Two college students from Chicago decide to investigate the stories of a Bigfoot-like creature in the area around Black Lake Louisiana. Once there they find that no one wants to talk to them about the creature. However they begin to make friends who open up with tales of the creature. They end up in a battle for their lives when the creature comes after them.

Drive-in fare from the 1970's is much better than its reputation would suggest. While certainly not the scariest movie ever made it does have its share of chills as the little seen monster causes mayhem to those who stray with in its grasp. I don't know what my reaction would have been had I seen this is a drive-in back in '76 and then driven home in the rural south. My guess is I would be dreading hearing the creepy cry of the creature (a cry I know my brothers would have loved to imitate to scare anyone who saw the film).

Definitely worth a look for those who don't need their horror films to be slick modern productions. (And recommended for a dark and stormy night with the lights out) 6.5 out of 10 (6 for IMDb purposes)