StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

MartinHafer "Monster" is a terrible film that sat uncompleted for nearly a decade. Eventually, the movie was slapped together and released--which would explain why some of the actors look so young for 1979-80 when it finally hit theaters. The story is about a village in Columbia that really sucks. On one hand, they have a cement factory that has provided jobs BUT which poisons the water. And, on the other, they've now got a monster in the lake and it likes killing folks. Naturally, the evil corporate types only care about profits and wait an awful long time to try to take on the monster. As for the monster, it's one of the cheapest and lousiest looking ones I've ever seen--and every bit as bad as ones you'd see in schlock films like "The Curse of the Swamp Creature", "The Horror of Party Beach" or "The Creeping Terror". The film isn't particularly interesting, though catching occasional glimpses of the ludicrous monster is good for a few laughs.

Chase_Witherspoon A Mr Fix-It (Mitchum) is sent to Colombia to rectify publicity issues with a US-run chemical plant that is the source of both environmental contamination speculation and monster superstition after a series of mysterious happenings by the lake. Shortly after arriving, big Jim finds more than he bargained for when the local company secretary is shockingly bisected. Initial speculation is that a shark is responsible, then an elephant-like specimen is touted, but the real culprit has more sinister origins. Sectarian distrust prevails fuelled by allegations of witchery, the widow whose husband mysteriously disappeared years before, being held responsible for summoning a monster from the lake, a folklore that gathers traction when two drunken fishermen disappear. With the aid of the local plant manager (a tired-looking Eisley) and a tenacious TV reporter (Hartford), Mitchum has to try and save the town from the scourge of the lake monster, and salvage the company's reputation in the bargain.Based on a true story (or so it says, twice, in the opening credits), "It Came From the Lake" is a low budget amalgam of the mythical "Loch Ness Monster", and chemical mutation themes, spun with a faithful 50's sci-fi appreciation. The sensational concoction "from the lake" is something of an amphibian of diplodocus proportions, mutated by chemical waste, with metre-long tendrils hanging from the jowls, googly eyes, and the mobility of a sock puppet. A clumsy attempt to show pretty victim Laura Manly (Martin) cleft in twain, is achieved by burying her lower torso in the sand, and having onlookers feign nausea at the ghastly vivisection.Mitchum is dependable, Carey barks expletives down a phone line in an otherwise unconnected two scenes, and Eisley is both protagonist and hero, as he hatches a hair-brained scheme to destroy the nuisance monster. Horror film veteran, Carradine is cast in a frivolous supporting role as a local priest, whose incantations feed hope to the masses while the devil-sent beast plunders their livelihood. It's very honest treatment, no gratuitous sex or violence a cinematic nonsense of childish antics and generally good natured, uncomplicated fun – a definite for the cult collection (there's even a key supporting character called "Sanchez", and yes, he is dirty).

kempever Hey HULU.com is playing the Elvira late night horror show on their site and this movie is their under the Name Monsteroid, good fun to watch Elvira comment on this Crappy movie ....Have Fun with bad movies. Anyways this movie really has very little value other than to see how bad the 70's were for horror flicks Bad Effects, Bad Dialog, just bad movie making. Avoid this unless you want to laugh at it. While you are at HULU check out the other movies that are their right now there is 10 episodes and some are pretty decent movies with good plots and production and you can watch a lot of them in 480p as long as you have a decent speed connection.

PhilosophicZombi Where can we begin... This film starts off in Colombia with a young couple dancing to festive music in the night. As is natural in this situation, their frolicking is interrupted as the man is attacked and killed by a shadowy fish/lizard creature. Que loud scream and..."MONSTER". While the begining is far from unique, the camera work gave me some nostalgic vibes from similar 70's films and I thought that maybe, just maybe there was hope for this diamond in the rough. Alas...I suppose when you buy a 30 year old video tape for a dollar at an antique store, you get what you pay for. After a brief intro telling us how this is all based on a "true" story, we are introduced to a group of business men discussing the state of their mine in Colombia. Apparently talk of lake monsters and witchcraft have disrupted the flow of cash and the board 'ain't' happy about it. SO add in some environmental issues, religious views and an annoying nerdy kid who believes in the lake monster and you've got yourself...well... a mess. "The monster manages to "get in touch" with three or four individuals. These scenes aren't too bad, but they are few and far between the hour of talking. Even a witch burning doesn't do much to speed this film up. First problem. If you're going to have a movie called "monster", please make said monster not laughable. It's early scenes were brief, actually managing to keep the tension up, but believe me, the big reveal is sort of a let down. Imagine the Lock Ness monster mixed with a lizard and a catfish and you'll have some idea. Now once the creature is revealed, certainly our "hero's" will face off with it personally right...RIGHT!!! Nope, the best way is to pump a lamb full of dynamite and go fishing. I do have a slight problem with this. Obviously, if a creature has been surviving for thousands of years without having been discovered, and it is capable of going for a little stroll on land, it must be somewhat intelligent. So why does the creature decide to go out for a bite to eat and reveal itself when it is surrounded and being followed by a helicopter? Perhaps he was a media whore... Of course our hero manages to accidentally drop detonator in the water, causing him to brave a swim. Personally this was just stupidity on his part, and I was rooting for the Monster. Alas this occasionally clever beast decides to play around with a guy in a boat rather than take care of the real threat. SO the beast goes Kaboom. There is much rejoicing...unfortunately they don't realize that Monsters like to lay hundreds of eggs in a clearly visible and poorly protected area which can hatch spontaneously releasing offspring which are actually too large to fit in the supposed eggs they came from. Everybody up to speed? Don't worry about it. Personally I didn't hate this film as much as I have others. In this case the makers were simply over enthusiastic with their budget constraints. The plot could have worked and the film could have been a little scary with more money and better casting. One little factoid I noticed, is that women have progressed considerably since the 70's. In this movie, secretaries are called darlin' and honey, and have their posteriors fondled in ways that would see a modern man carried off for a chat with a grand jury.