Cryptid

source: Cryptid

Loved this little low budget horror flick! Such a refreshing change from the over-produced, over CGI'd same old thing that's everywhere now. Crowd funded and FUN, this pic takes me back to the Twilight Zone/Godzilla era where camp was part of the thrill. The acting is good, storyline is terrific and there are some real jump out of your seat moments. Characters are so relatable, with real chemistry on screen. Only gripe is that the editing could've been tighter, but having been produced before, during and after the pandemic and all the resulting complications, it's quite a feat. Recommend a watch, even with the uneven editing.

As a fan of all things from the world of cryptozoology, I was excited to watch this latest offering from producer/director Brad Rego. Knowing he was working with a limited budget, I wasn't expecting Jurassic Park, and was actually relieved to watch a new release with no CGI. I happen to be a fan of the older "rubber suit" monster movies, and I think that was Rego's intention with Cryptid, to bring us back to the "good old days" of low-budget, fun and enjoyable "creature features." So I got under a blanket, surrounded myself with snacks and went in open-minded. I let myself become immersed in the story, accepted the quality of the monster and the level of acting as consistent with what Rego had to work with, and as a result actually had a good time watching this flick. The ending suggested the possibility of a sequel. If it happens, I'll be in the front row with my popcorn!

There are two main things that make this movie stand out from the rest. One is the focus on character development rather than cheap jump scares and senseless gore. The other is the originality of the story and script. This is a well-crafted throwback creature feature that builds suspense artfully. It is a well done original movie and the acting was great. Kudos to director, actors and crew for delivering something that feels more grounded and realistic than the over-the-top computer generated nonsense and over-the-top gore that is now the norm in horror movies. This movie resurrects a time when the story was actually more important than the cheap thrills and ridiculous gore that many films use today to bludgeon the audience into ignoring obvious plot holes and other weaknesses.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was a good creature and the movie slowly unveils its mystery as time moves on. I usppose that is why people found it slow at first, but I like that it takes its time to explain the killings and reveal the monster. There's a decent shock halfway through that I didn't see coming. I thought the acting was decent, without any real misses among the cast. The movie has some decent scenes of tension, helped by plentiful scenes of rain, rather than relying on constant jump scares. Overall, its a quality creature movie, better than most other such flicks that come out these days.

Now, I hadn't actually heard about this 2022 horror movie from writer and director Brad Rego, as I stumbled upon it by random luck here in 2023. And of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance on the account of it being a horror movie that I hadn't already seen. However, the narrative in the storyline just sort of failed to entertain me. Why? Well, simply because it was too slow paced and uneventful. It was a whole lot of yapping and not much of any interesting scenes with the creature. Sure, the production value of "Cryptid" was good and it was definitely a well-made movie. But the sheer lack of a properly interesting storyline just simply took away from the entertainment value and the enjoyment watching a horror movie. Visually then "Cryptid" wasn't all that interesting, simply because you don't get to see much of anything aside from Nicholas Baroudi (playing Max) and Ellen Adair (playing Harriet) wandering around in the woods or sitting around and chatting. If you enjoy horror movies, don't waste your time here, because it simply wasn't worth the effort. My rating of writer and director Brad Rego's 2022 movie "Cryptid" lands on a three out of ten stars.

The climax of this movie is a major letdown, and makes the sequel bait ending a wet noodle. The buildup is done really well except for a few character-related points, like Max being too whiny and Harriet talking like a guy in his early 20s instead of a woman. She's unnecessarily foul-mouthed and I just found the expressions she used to be... not very woman-like. It's not much of a mystery, she was obviously supposed to out-man the man in the movie, but it didn't work for either. Interesting creature, but didn't get to see enough of it, and like I said... the ending was meh. Wasted potential. I would've liked to see more focus on the research instead of just "I looked through 75 years of records and found exactly the thing I was looking for." Yeah, because that happens when you search old newspapers at the library. For a two-hour movie, it felt like there was more focus on the characters' unimportant backgrounds than necessary, when that time could've better been used to build up the monster, the legend, and giving us a satisfying climax.

It felt like it was going somewhere, but just quite made it. I was quite bored most of the time. The acting was ok. I think Nicholas Baroudi has a lot of potential to shine with the right role. The characters were all pretty much unlikable overall. The writing felt lazy, something written on an afternoon out of boredom. It felt like the story was dragging on just to fill space and time. The editing seemed really weak and was painfully noticeable. I wouldn't recommended this to anyone I like, and I don't feel it is even worth one viewing. I literally forgot about it after it ended. The high ratings are obviously film crew or something.

Not alot of movies are as interesting as this one. The scenery,suspense and the overall feeling of fright is everywhere. The 2 people Max and Harriet made a great team and spun off one another with not much effort. Charlie was very believable as the sheriff. The plot was really on que and the scares were often. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and i hope their will be a sequel. The direction was very well thought out and executed. I was never bored watching this and it kept me pretty focused and i was waitng for the next scare and it delivered perfectly. I hope all the actors will be back for # 2!!

To start, this is not a high budget, CGI filled horror film and that was done on purpose. This film was created to give the look and feel of the old days of horror films. In my opinion, Brad Rego has created exactly what he intended on creating and has done a brilliant job in the process. Cryptid starts off intensely and keeps you there throughout the film. Brad Rego wanted to bring a old style horror film back to the big screen and had worked through many tough times to get it done. This is a Pandemic created film that in my mind will be a hit as time goes on. For a lower budget movie you will definitely get your money's worth.