Lake Michigan Monster is a silly no-holds bar spoof of every sci-fi/horror B-movie that you’ve ever seen. It covers not only monster movies but ghost stories as well in a narrative that is all over the place but somehow keeps your interest with the absolutely ridiculous and sometimes crude humor.
Written and directed by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews it tells what at first seems like a very simple straightforward story. A ship captain’s father was killed by a monster out on Lake Michigan and the sea captain recruits a team of experts to help him avenge his father. But things quickly keep getting weirder and weirder until the climatic ludicrous finale. To go into much more detail would spoil the jokes and lessen the bizarre experience of watching this spectacle.
The first thirty minutes are definitely the strongest in the movie. If things like taking a machine gun with you into a lake to kill a sea monster strike you as funny you will get the humor that is on display in this flick. The humor ping pongs from one outlandish gag to another. The films second half is a little weaker as it begins wearing out its welcome but there are still laugh out loud moments and you couldn’t ask for a more out their finale. I just wish they sped things up a little more during the final act of the film.
The entire time you’re watching this you get a sense that it’s just a bunch of friends getting together to make a silly film that they came up with at a party one night. And that somehow pulls you in more. Like you yourself were at said party and saw a group laughing and decided to walk over and join them. That’s the endearing quality of this flick. This isn’t a movie to be mulled over. The narrative is all over the place and the characters are pretty one dimensional with no real arcs or development. This movie isn’t here to tell a story or make you think. It’s simply exists to have some fun.
I give credit to the filmmakers that they pretty much cover every B-movie trope. Whether it’s ancient hieroglyphics being found or the main characters sitting around at night drinking and talking about their back stories this movie touches on it. As I said my only real complaint is that it starts to drag after the first thirty to forty minutes.It delivers funny gags all the way till the end it just doesn’t do it with the same reckless abandon as it did at the beginning. That being said it is still a fun ride to enjoy with friends who like off the wall humor.
RORSCHACH RATING
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Credits: Lake Michigan Monster is property of Lake Michigan Monster. We do not own nor claim any rights. Official selection of GenreBlast Film Festival 2019.
