A mysterious animal is destroying the people of a small town in Maine, yet the officials seem to quickly write it off as a bear attack. Freelance journalist Max Frome (Nicholas Baroudi) suspects it might be something more. This could be his ticket back to the big time and big city — instead of writing about high school sports — or it could be the last story he ever writes.

Director and writer Brad Rego does it right: rainy and foggy darkness, small town mystery, a cop named Sheriff Murdoch (Chopper Bernet) who seems to be on Max’s side, Max’s photojournalist coworker Harriet (Ellen Adair) who comes into the heart of cryptid darkness and — most importantly —  practical effects and knowing how to showcase the monster for maximum effectiveness.

Also: any movie that has a lizard man that walks on two legs and eats humans — and animals — before hibernating instead of going with something easy like Bigfoot wins my heart. It’s a little talky in places and could be trimmed somewhat, but for a low budget shot in Massachutesettes horror movie, it’s pretty darn good.

These guys are going for a 70s or 80s monster movie and that makes me super happy.

Learn more at the official site.

This movie was part of the Another Hole in the Head film festival, which provides a unique vehicle for independent cinema. This year’s festival takes place from December 1st – December 18th, 2022. Screenings and performances will take place at the historic Roxie Cinema, 4 Star Theatre and Stage Werks in San Francisco, CA. It will also take place On Demand on Eventive and live on Zoom for those who can not attend the live screenings. You can learn more about how to attend or watch the festival live on their Eventlive site. You can also keep up with all of my AHITH film watches with this Letterboxd list.