As a longtime fan of creature features, I dig cryptid stories. While most of those creepypasta tales are so wealthy in content possibilities, many miss their mark when it makes it to film, usually due to economic constraints of low budget film making. Brad Rego and 221 Films’ “Cryptid”, however, nailed the target dead center.
Set in a small town, people are being killed by an animal of some sort. The Mayor is pushing the narrative of “bear attacks,” but journalist Max (Nicholas Baroudi), who is starving, literally, for a big story, thinks otherwise when his ex-brother-in-law sheriff acts perplexed by the killings, not recognizing them as bear attacks. His friend, photojournalist Harriet (Ellen Adair), who seems to have a past with Max that remains a mystery, joins him in his “investigation” and chase for this story. Skeptical at first about his suspicions about the killings not being normal animal attacks, she comes around to not only believe him, but dives in with her own investigation skills to uncover pieces to a puzzle that begins to lend credibility to Max’s suspicions.
The movie is well written and a super urban legend type of story. The cast is small and the scenes are dialogue driven to support the story. From a cinematography standpoint, the film is dark and sometimes difficult to make out the scenes but that also ads to the dark mood. When the creature is finally revealed, it is not disappointing in terms of the type of monster it is. With no CGI, the practical effects of the creature were a little underwhelming but that is to be expected in lower budget films. Sometimes, it’s best to show only some of the creature in those cases and let the viewer’s imagination construct it. Overall, this is a win for Brad Rego and his cast and crew. They captured Best of the Fest/Best Narrative Feature at the Adirondack Film Festival in New York, and Best Director at Shockfest. I recommend this flick for anyone who loves creature features and enjoys small town horror.
James Baxter 