Review of The Crater Lake Monster (1977) by Allan C — 12 Nov 2018

Boring monster movie is only redeemed by infrequent stop-motion special effects and occasional appearances by a giant rubber monster head. The story involves a meteor crashing into Crater Lake (Crater Lake in Northern California, near Susanville, not the more famous National Park in Oregon), which then causes a dinosaur egg to hatch, unleashing a Loch Ness Monster-like creature upon the lakeside residents.

Produced, written, and directed by William R. Stromberg, who's only other credit is special effects on "Night Train to Terror," and featuring a cast of non-actors, "The Crater Lake Monster" is strictly amateur hour.

Sometimes, these sort of films are charming in their amateurishness, such as "The Milpitas Monster" or films by Ed Wood, but "The Crater Lake Monster" was just boring. It's too bad the enjoyable stop-motion and giant rubber monster head couldn't have been part of a better overall movie (you know, something like "Lake Placid").

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I preferred the giant mutated rabbits of "Night of the Lepus.".