Directed by Kenneth Hartford (with uncredited co-direction from producer and writer Herbert L. Strock, who also directed The Crawling Hand, Gog, and so many more), this was filmed as Monster before also being known as Monstroid: It Came from the Lake and The Toxic Horror. 

Years ago, a woman in Colombia watched as a monster ate her husband. Now, Durado Cement has sent troubleshooter Bill Travis (James Mitchum, who we can debate is better or worse than his brother Chris) to their plant because anti-corporate people like Victor Sanchez (Aldo Sambrell) have been using fear of the monster to get workers to quit. After all, the lake and the fish have been poisoned. 

How do you solve a problem like Maria? I ask that because the villagers think she’s a witch. And oh yeah, there’s also a pesky reporter, Patty (Connie Moore), snooping around. Somewhere in all this drama, plant boss Pete Anderson (Anthony Eisley, I should have known) ignores his kids and their warning that there’s a monster in the water, which leads to his secretary Laura (Coral Kassel) getting eaten, just in time for him to make time with another woman, Juanita (Maria Rubio). I mean, Laura was even skinny dipping, at which point he just ghosted her before she got snuck on.

Glen and Andrea, Pete’s children, get photos of the monster, just as the villagers decide to burn Maria. Yes, she somehow survives being burned at the stake, just in time for Travis to fill a goat’s dead body with explosives and blow up this plesiosaur real good. And then the Andersons are having a picnic when their dog finds an egg that hatches, unleashing a new monster. 

Production began in 1971, but personnel, logistical, and financial problems — Keenan Wynn’s name was even on some press pieces, even though he had long ago dropped out — led to its shutdown. It was finally completed and released in 1979. And man, I nearly forgot that John Carradine shows up as a priest! There are so many people, so many unnecessary plot points and yet, I have a soft spot for this.

This is also based on a true story. Sure.

Check out what Bill Van Ryn had to say about this movie.

You can download this from the Internet Archive.