Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Crater Lake Monster’

Written by Scott Edwards

​Small towns do have a certain appeal to people, but when they are tucked away in the wilderness and isolated from the rest of the world, well, that might be a problem. Not knowing what is hiding in the forest or the lake could cause some big issues for some folks as there is really no help to be had. While this might be the ideal living situation for some people, others want to be around masses of other people, mainly because there is safety in numbers. It just might be something to think about when you are looking to make your way off the grid, as not everything that you plan for always works out.
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Digging in the local mine, paleontologists Dan and Susan have uncovered something that could change the history books. Bringing their local Doc down to take a look for himself, he sees a cave painting of a dinosaur and knows that this is the find of a lifetime. But this event is short lived as a meteor falls from the sky and hits the lake causing a rumble and the mine collapses. Needing to be able to find something to bring to the local college to keep his funding up, Dan is forced to turn his attention to the meteor and gets the local sheriff to help him out on a recovery effort.

Making their way out to the middle of the lake to find the space rock, Dan and Susan find out that it is still burning extra hot and the recovery efforts will need to be put on hold for a little while. But what they don’t know is that the hot water on the bottom of the lake is helping to hatch an old dinosaur egg that has been frozen for a millennium. Weeks go by and everyone seems to have forgotten about the hunt for the space rock, but when a rental fishing boat is brought back to dock filled with blood, Sheriff Steve Hanson is starting to wonder if there is something in the lake. Not able to locate the body of the tourist, Steve keeps his eyes and ears open, but when he starts getting calls about something strange in the lake, he does not want to believe it.

Heading down to see what his friends Arnie and Mitch are up to, Steve watches as they battle it out for dominance when it comes to this evening’s hoedown, before spotting the head of the first missing tourist. Not being able to pinpoint what could have done this to the man, Steve calls in Doc for his expertise, leaving the old man scratching his head as well. Not knowing what the town is up against, Steve tries to keep the water free and clear of any visitors, but that only lasts so long as the creature is starting to make its presence known. Seeing the sea beast for himself after a chase and shootout, Steve gives all of the information that he has to Dan and finds out that it is indeed a dinosaur that is starting to terrorize the town, but the Sheriff needs to find out a way to stop it before there is no more town left.

If you like movies that are just thrown together and have very little editing done, this is the one for you. It made me laugh so much when you can tell that the scenes are supposed to be done at night and there is sun high in the sky. Besides that, it is not that rough, even the monster looks good for the time it was put out and I was going for it, because it is a monster movie, why not cheer for the monster. Mitch and Arnie are really the characters that help to move this movie along, even when the debate takes place of what to do with their new lake monster. With a full-grown monster in a month, a boat rental service, plenty of facial hair, a small-town sheriff, proof that man walked with dinosaurs, some snow moving equipment and a plan to make all of the money in the world, it is just a tale about greed taking over common sense. I must admit that if I find a dinosaur that is newly born and not in a cage that can handle it, I am running for the hills, just not the hills that have lakes though. Stay Scared.

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